Marvin: Hey, folks, it's Marvin Cash, the host of the Articulate Fly, Marvin: and we're back with another East Tennessee fishing report with Ellis Ward. Ellis, how are you? Ellis: I am doing well, Marv. How are you? Marvin: As always, just trying to stay out of trouble. And, you know, Marvin: we were hopeful that the hot weather was kind of going to be a thing of the Marvin: past, but I don't think that's necessarily going to be the case.
Ellis: You know i've been saying since i met you that i don't know why you're trying Ellis: to predict the weather it's your job is not meteorology yeah. Marvin: Um although you know matt and i said that you should be picking the uh the first Marvin: snowfall in johnson city. Ellis: What what was i like three months off of the last freeze date a couple of years ago. Marvin: Yeah. It was bad. Ellis: Yeah. It's same thing happens this time of year.
Ellis: It's, you know, we had a couple of mornings in the upper fifties and, Ellis: and that's kind of closer to not that I'm very near a quote unquote city, Ellis: but you start getting a little more elevation and, um, Ellis: The musky water is dropping from 71, 72 at peak temps in the afternoon to mid Ellis: to upper 60s by the morning. Ellis: Trout, the tailwaters are a little more insulated with the giant lakes feeding them. Ellis: So there's not a, I think, changing daylight.
Ellis: Large temperature arcs tend to influence. the trout a little more. Ellis: But, you know, all that said, of course, we're finding our way back to the mean Ellis: and it was nice and toasty today. Marvin: And so what does that translate to on the water for you? Ellis: Well, Ellis: the, you know, those fronts And depending on which side of these fronts you Ellis: might be on can encourage or discourage bug activity, Ellis: that's really where you can see it and almost feel it and hear it.
Ellis: That you're seeing ospreys and herons more. Ellis: The things are just a little more alive. Ellis: Now, I've mentioned that before, but being on the other side of it now for the Ellis: last couple days and now back into a warming trend, it's big skies. Ellis: And a couple days ago, actually, it's Monday, so Saturday... Ellis: I would qualify it as bad fishing conditions. Ellis: Very, very bright, very clear sky, and not super buggy.
Ellis: And there's a bunch of different dynamics that come into play for each of these seasons. Ellis: And honestly, day-to-day with the tailwaters as the flows change.
Ellis: Engine um we we Ellis: managed to pick off a few Ellis: risers i i Ellis: tried to encourage the angler to take one Ellis: or two horsepower off of the hook Ellis: set um but like really really Ellis: eagerly feeding trout in really big water and Ellis: then i i mean Ellis: we probably moved 20 two dozen Ellis: maybe um a couple nice ones in there and it was one of the dynamics that happens Ellis: this time of year and um forgive me for repeating myself from whether episodes
Ellis: pass for my time with you but you you lift up a rock in Ellis: mid to late august and and there's a couple little you know size 28 blue wing. Ellis: Maybe some straggler larger nymphs growing around there and um that that mayfly Ellis: food source that biomass has come and gone you're starting to see caddis.
Ellis: Build you know they look like size 36s but they're they're building their little homes for, Ellis: april of next year like that's Ellis: what you're seeing most of and go to different rocks with Ellis: a little bit of vegetation on them and you're you're finding a if Ellis: you shake it off your hand looks like a science experiment it's just full of Ellis: scuds and that just looks so different compared to the the same rock a month
Ellis: two months three months ago and so some of this activity like a, Ellis: a pretty darn good day of fishing on saturday um in pretty bad conditions generally speaking, Ellis: i i think can just be explained by what Ellis: they're eating and i don't i tend Ellis: to not lean on that as much because trout are very opportunistic that you know Ellis: the bigger they get the more moody and and the spookier they can be um but it Ellis: has been pretty bitey and in almost all.
Ellis: Conditions and in the the fishy conditions man the last month has just been Ellis: And since mid-July and up until through now, Ellis: it's been some of the best fishing I've seen. Ellis: I think that has a lot to do with I continue to fish and guide more.
Ellis: But just getting out Ellis: there and and doing the Ellis: high risk high reward stuff and and fishing in ways that i'm the only boat on Ellis: a lot of the runs that i'm doing and um you know that that includes mousing Ellis: which as you experienced you get that high risk comes with, Ellis: The other side of if you don't get rewarded is a big fat zero. Ellis: And so I've continued to go with that high risk, high reward.
Ellis: And yeah, it doesn't pay off sometimes, but a lot of times you miss a couple fish.
Ellis: Fish and heck if one's 20 and Ellis: one's 22 that could be the like all of a Ellis: sudden these these missed eats or those could Ellis: be the best that that could be quote-unquote the best fishing day of of someone's Ellis: life and and you go home with a goose egg so there's you know there's such a Ellis: learning curve to all of this and um it it's clearly if you can't tell from Ellis: me rambling it's been an exciting, Ellis: Last month or so, um, both guiding and fishing on my own.
Marvin: Yeah. It's funny. We were talking before we started recording and you're like, Marvin: you're so screwed up from your crazy fishing hours, daytime, Marvin: nighttime that you kind of, um, you're almost, you might have some form of like Marvin: a fishing delirium, right? Ellis: Yeah. I don't, I think they made a movie about me called Memento. Ellis: Some guy doesn't know where he is, and that's going to hit for like 1% of this Ellis: audience, but it should hit pretty hard.
Marvin: I see the movie poster right now and, you know, got a question for you from Marvin: a long-time listener, Fleas and Meat. Marvin: And he's got a mousing question for you, and he wanted to get your thoughts Marvin: on, you know, what you can do kind of from a cadence of strip and presentation, Marvin: you know, when you're mousing in difficult conditions like when it's cooler Marvin: or, you know, the bite's not really on. What are some of your tricks?
Ellis: Yeah, I mean, I find myself mousing, and specifically with clients, Ellis: just because it's at night and you can't see trees, mousing in areas that have Ellis: some of the froggiest water. Ellis: And, you know, when these tailwaters drop and you're fishing these flats with Ellis: weed beds, it's almost still water. Ellis: And it can be a little hard same with the stringer fishing it can be a little harder to.
Ellis: Get the sales pitch all the way across the finish line and I'm already stealing Ellis: from Tommy Lynch and calling this a sales pitch but I've moused with him a good deal and, Ellis: you know it's a very different ball game on the Ellis: Pierre Marquette um but i've Ellis: i've learned a good deal from him and i've employed and Ellis: retweaked and over the course of now five years have have Ellis: had a lot of success and a much more subtle presentation so people talk about
Ellis: you know milk in the gerbil and um almost two-handing and sometimes not almost Ellis: by literally two-handling a mouse fly with just these little tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. Ellis: I like to give it a lift or what would translate to a very long, slow, steady strip. Ellis: And then a drop or stopping it. Ellis: I like the lift because you get to, it's kind of a cheat code. Ellis: You lift, and it's creating a big B.
Ellis: And then when you drop, that's the kill. Talk about the strip and kill on string recreation. Ellis: You drop, and you give them an opportunity to eat. Ellis: And when you're doing that, you're taking some line in and getting ready to lift again.
Ellis: End and and a Ellis: lot of that's yeah Ellis: just off the top of my head the three biggest fish Ellis: which is say top three have come Ellis: on the lift and drop and you don't hear them you do not hear anything which Ellis: is spooky and it adds a little extra creepiness to night fishing that you're Ellis: You're getting a 25-inch fish and not hearing anything, not feeling it until...
Ellis: You go to lift again, and the glow tip or whatever is tensions pushing straight down or moving. Ellis: And then, I don't know if I've talked about the set or the no set, Ellis: but just don't. Don't set on. Ellis: It's not a dry fly, let it meet, then bang. Ellis: It's more of a gradual continue to apply pressure and drive that hook home.
Ellis: Because they're holding on to a little critter. They don't want, Ellis: they already have it and sometimes they'll spit it out and sometimes they'll miss it. Ellis: But most of the time they have that thing and it's your job to keep it in their mouth. Ellis: And, um, and then you have to angle like this is, you know, part of angling Ellis: part of fishing is casting your thing out there and getting a fish to eat it.
Ellis: The other part is bringing them into the boat. So there's the free lunches don't Ellis: exist when you're fishing for big routes. It's just, there's nothing easy about it. Ellis: And one of the most challenging parts is the, Ellis: the holy shoot moment of a giant fish is on the line and is six feet away from Ellis: the boat. Like, how do I get it in? Ellis: Um, I am, I employ the strategy of the sooner you can do it, Ellis: the better sufficient minimum 15 pound fluoro.
Ellis: But, you know, back to that retrieve cadence, I would say another maybe two Ellis: or three different variations would just be giving it a pop and then letting it die. Ellis: And these kills...
Ellis: Are count to three i mean they're painful it feels like you're not even fishing but, Ellis: the number of fish that have come on a mouse just drifting Ellis: after just a little bit of a lift they have Ellis: so much better vision than we give them Ellis: credit for and and yeah they're eating a little Ellis: bit from you know the wake and the noise of it splatting all that stuff but Ellis: they're tracking in that thing and and they don't really want to go after something
Ellis: that's trying to get away like that that defeats the purpose of of what they're Ellis: doing they're going after an easy meal so um, Ellis: i might misquote this guy but i heard a we we heard some swamp monster right Ellis: in front of the boat and uh my angler jumped out he was pulling his fly off Ellis: the water and he jumped back and, Ellis: remarked that it made him check for his wallet. Ellis: And it was just such a close, loud swirl.
Ellis: And, you know, there was no pump bake. There's no... Ellis: You got to give him an opportunity to eat. So really extend those kills. Ellis: And as much as it might not feel like you're fishing, if you're creating a small Ellis: wake on the surface and then you're giving it a full stop um. Ellis: That's the only thing that they really want to see, and you can do that a thousand different ways. Ellis: And for any more tips, you might have to get on my boat.
Marvin: Yeah, there you go. We'll get to that in just one second. Marvin: But, you know, folks, we love questions on the Articulate Fly. Marvin: You can email them to us or DM us on social media, whatever is easiest for you. Marvin: And if we use your question, I will send you some Articulate Fly swag. Marvin: And then we are drawing for some cool stuff from, uh, from Ellis at the, Marvin: uh, at the end of the season.
Marvin: And, uh, Ellis, before we talk about your calendar, we wanted to make sure we Marvin: gave a shout out to the newest fly shop in Johnson city. You want to tell folks about that? Ellis: Yeah, Tailwater Flyco. My boy, John, Ellis: who has been so supportive of me both as a friend and a client, Ellis: which is pretty largely unnecessary, Ellis: but he's actually the one who pushed me to find you, Marv. Marvin: Oh, wow.
Ellis: So, yeah, this was a couple years ago, and I just put a video on Instagram like, Ellis: hey, if folks have been following me, you know, I'm not really a consumer of Ellis: guides, and I'm wondering how to get my message out. Ellis: And had some helpful replies, and John was one of them saying, Ellis: you know, you should do some regional podcasts and mentioned yours.
Ellis: So John has opened Tailwater Fly Co. Ellis: Right next to the South Holston River and actually stopped in there with clients Ellis: a couple days ago when I forgot a net and went to grab his. And, yeah. Ellis: He might hate me for saying it, but he's close to opening up. Ellis: He's burning the candle at both ends. So he's getting a lot of stuff together. Ellis: And the amount of stuff that he had, I mean, it's a tire's paradise.
Ellis: The guy is so fishy in all respects, but specifically with tying and which hooks. Ellis: And, you know, recognizing that there are big differences between this hook Ellis: and that hook. So he's got all of them. Ellis: A-Rex, Partridge, Daiichi, everything from, you know, size 22s up to 6-0ts. Ellis: And all different materials. He's going to have local tires doing some stuff. Ellis: He's going to have some of my bucktail there.
Ellis: It's, we don't have that here. and you can go and get $2,000 waiters at a couple Ellis: different places, but you can't go and get, Ellis: oh man, he's got this silver grade, Ellis: he's got a bunch of silver grade whiting rooster saddles and nightmare musky fly stuff.
Ellis: It's just, he's taken so Ellis: much knowledge and I talk with him a lot and he talks to my buddy Jack and really Ellis: just cramming a lot of fishing experience and knowledge into a place for people Ellis: to get materials both locally and then, John, Ellis: I promise I'm not giving you a deadline, Ellis: but I think over the winter getting the online stuff situated as well.
Ellis: But it's already an impressive collection of tying materials, Ellis: and I know he's going to keep doing cool things there. Marvin: Very, very neat. And now to get to the booking stuff, right? Marvin: So we're kind of moving into pumpkin spice latte land, which means, Marvin: you know, at some point we're going to kind of start going down the mousing Marvin: roller coaster and start going up the musky roller coaster. Marvin: So what have you got and how should folks reach out?
Ellis: I mean, if those are the two things that I'm doing, I can't believe I haven't Ellis: been hospitalized yet, but I guess I'm on my way. Ellis: So yeah, mousing, stringer fishing for browns and sort of year round. Ellis: But I really like to around this time of year, next month or so, Ellis: start getting more trips over towards the musky water.
Ellis: And you can get more information on that or just ask me questions at elliswardwise.com Ellis: and request a trip, ask questions, whatever, Ellis: at my cell phone at 513-543-0019. Ellis: And Instagram is elliswardguides. Marvin: Yeah, well, there you go. Well, you know, folks, a couple things. Marvin: Don't forget, we have a great community at the Articulate Flyway hosted at Patreon. Marvin: There are two great ways to support the show and to support Ellis.
Marvin: At one level, you get a discount on bucktails, and that's going to be very important Marvin: here in about six to eight weeks. Marvin: And then the other is a tier where you actually get $100 per year guide credit Marvin: with Ellis. So you should check those out. Marvin: And then, of course, we're heading into a holiday weekend. I want everyone to Marvin: have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend. And as I always say, Marvin: you owe it to yourself to get out there and catch a few.
Marvin: Tight lines everybody tight lines ellis appreciate it.