may 9, 2003 South Holston and Watauga river report

There has been a lot of rain here in East Tennessee. The small streams are better if you have a day or more without rain, so the water level can drop. There are mayflies, stoneflies and caddis hatching on the small streams. We are getting to the part of the season where the bugs start to get tan and yellow instead of brown and olive.

The float on high water has been good on the Watauga and South Holston. When the generators are off, the wading and floating on the Watauga is great. There are caddis, mayflies and a few craneflies hatching on the Watauga. The sulphurs have started to hatch on the South Holston and offer some great technical dry fly fishing.