S7, Ep 63: Hot Days and Spicy Bites: An East Tennessee Fishing Report with Ellis Ward

Join Marvin Cash on The Articulate Fly for an East Tennessee Fishing Report with Ellis Ward, seasoned guide and custom predator fly tyer, covering prime summer conditions on the Watauga and French Broad Rivers.

Ellis breaks down how recent thunderstorms are creating explosive bite windows for brown trout, with fish hitting streamers aggressively and rising to dry flies during these barometric pressure changes. Learn his proven streamer techniques using Drunks and swim bug patterns fished closer to the surface, plus his go-to yellow bug selections in sizes 16-22 for consistent dry fly action.

Ellis explains his comprehensive bucktail grading system, detailing how he sorts premium deer tail into five distinct grades based on fiber length and density, with Grade 5 tails offering 3.5-inch fibers at competitive prices while rare Grade 1 tails feature exceptional length and fullness.

Discover how muddy plumes from tributaries like the Doe River create ideal streamer conditions for targeting large browns, and why the Upper French Broad's upper-60s morning water temperatures are setting up perfectly for musky fishing.

Whether you're targeting trophy browns with weighted streamers or capitalizing on those explosive surface feeding periods, this report delivers actionable insights for maximizing your summer East Tennessee fishing success.

To learn more about Ellis, check out our interview!

Related Content

S7, Ep 14 - The Streamer Playbook: Tips and Tactics for Targeting Big Trout in East Tennessee with Ellis Ward

S7, Ep 32 - Swim Flies and Trout Tactics: An East Tennessee Fishing Report with Ellis Ward

S6, Ep 98 - Navigating Late Summer Waters and Mousing Tactics with Ellis Ward

S6, Ep 139 - Exploring East Tennessee's Changing Waters with Ellis Ward

All Things Social Media

Follow Ellis and Flyzotics on Instagram.

Follow Ellis on YouTube.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Support the Show

Shop on Amazon

Become a Patreon Patron

Subscribe to the Podcast

Episode Transcript

(00:04):
Hey folks, it's Marvin Cash,the host of the Articulate Fly. We're
back with another EastTennessee fishing report with Ellis
Ward.
Ellis, how are you doing?Well, Marv, how are you?
As always, just trying to stayout of trouble. And I think we're
in the easy bake for the restof the summer. What are you seeing
on the water?
Yeah, independent oftemperatures being what they are,

(00:30):
which is for the uninitiatedhot, the humid, we're getting these,
I mean it's, it's been thisfor the last, God I want to say month
or more where we're justgetting wrecked like three or four
nights of the week with theselike, you know, 30, 45 minute bursts.

(00:59):
And so it's, it's put somenice color in the water. Not enough.
Now there's been some dayswhere it's, it's a little blown out
in terms of the clarity, butit's at the same time it's not enough
to create for example, 24 setof releases on, on both rivers. So

(01:24):
it has been very interesting.It's also created a few different
scenarios where the fish arejust going, you know, bugs, fish,
everything's just so, so on.And even when things are off this

(01:45):
time of year, it's, it's, itfeels different. Right there's, you
get these bite windows thatare, that are just so spicy and for
anyone who's fished for thelast month or so, they know exactly
what I'm talking about whereit's like all of a sudden you're

(02:05):
seeing fish not just hittingstreamers every other cast, but they're
rising everywhere. And, andyou know, I'm, I'm having to make
the call and, and have thediscussion of. All right, well, like
I'm going to have to row usout, like we're going to be late
and, but we're going to sithere and, and you know, hound fish

(02:29):
on dry pods for a little bit.So that's, that has been the case.
I think that, that theemphasized these, these bite windows
with exclamation points are,have a little bit to do with that
barometer and these, thesereally powerful storms that come

(02:51):
through that don't really lastall that long. But you know, same
deal, yellow bugs most of thetime and anything from a 16 to 22.
I, I kind of err on thesmaller side of things. And then
streamer fishing, it's, it'sbeen, it's been pretty consistent

(03:19):
and I, I have had a fewconverts from the. Let's reliably
get Some eats on flies thathave a little bit of weight to. I
will admit to somemanipulation on my end. Just getting

(03:43):
people to step out of thecomfort zone and fish a drunk and
fish a swim bug and fish theseflies that are closer to the surface,
closer to the boat in openwater and watch a brown come hit

(04:03):
it from below right in thebelly and look back at me and say,
oh my God, you were right. Andso there's, I don't know this, the
whole thing is. And we've,we've talked this to death, I think
probably before and duringpodcast. But the whole thing is streamer

(04:30):
fishing in general is kind ofa little bit of a journey and it
just depends on which path youwant to take. But I can summarize
that and say most paths havebeen leading to good sized brown
trout eating flies andoccasionally, depending on the hook
set, they end up in the net.So it's been a good last few weeks

(04:53):
and been sneaking in a littlemessy fishing too. Upper French Broad
has been hovering in the upper60s in the morning. So kind of looking,
looking towards that.September, October, November and,

(05:16):
and then just massing everyopportunity I can get, which is it
has, it's been productive.Kind of led to the development of
a new little mouse pattern.But maybe we'll talk about that next
time.
Yeah, we'll save that for nexttime. I do have one fishing question
for you though. So like withthe rain that you're getting, say
fishing downstream before thedoe comes into the Watauga, are you

(05:39):
getting like a really nicekind of like muddy plume coming out
of the doe that's good forstreamer fishing.
Yeah. So this is, we arejumping into like hyper local in
terms of both what I'm aboutto talk about and also specifically

(05:59):
the rainfall. We can getdumped on where the little ag creeks
are putting out color that,let's say I'm passing like the lower
end or like I'm pickingsomeone up on the, on the lower end
and it's, you know, it's off,it's, it's pretty colored up and

(06:20):
we're doing a big run. Go upabove the dough. We come by the dough
and it's low and clear. And soother times it's the opposite. The
little ant creeks, the littlestreams that are around here are,
are, are clear and the doughis just shoe scene. And it's, it's

(06:40):
that fully frothed latte brownthat I love for both for streamer
fishing, for browns and, andfor the prospect of catching stripers.
I don't like it for mousing.So it's. I just. I want my. To have

(07:03):
my cake in here too. But yeah,Short answer is yes. There's been.
There's. There continues to bea good amount of color in the water,
so the browns respondpositively to that.
Well, there you go. Well,we've got a question from Rodrigo
and he. He listens to a lot ofour stuff and he wanted to have you
explain how you grade your bucktails.

(07:28):
Yeah. So this has been likeeverything else that there's been
sort of an evolution in theprocess. And the short answer is
how rude of me. The shortanswer is there are five grades.

(07:56):
Grade 5 is all. All of thetails are. I had someone ask if,
you know, if there should besome sort of laundering. Like if
some like they should. Theywash it when they get it. I was like,
dude, these tails are cleanenough to eat off of when you get

(08:18):
them. And I brush them out sothey're. They're fun to tie. Like,
they're easy to tie with. Andso what you get with the grade five
is something that is slightlycheaper, a lower price point than
the. The, you know, the largedistributors and is. Is in the like

(08:43):
3.5 inch range. I have so manytails that I don't actually price
for sale, um, just becausethey're a little wimpy. So the grade
fives are like reliably A, youknow, 3, 3.5 inch, not that big tail,
but, you know, you're notgetting junk. Grand four is it basically

(09:11):
selected as something that's,you know, 80, 20, most of the time
gonna be better than whatyou're gonna get in the shop or online
or whatever for the sameprice, you know, 3.5 to 4 inch fibers

(09:33):
and people throw aroundnumbers like 5 and 6 inches. That's
if you've seen a tail with 6inch fiber. With lots of 6 inch fibers
that aren't just outliers,they look insane. The grade threes
are. I think that's kind ofthe sweet spot where you can be tying

(09:54):
really big flies. And they're,you know, they got the. The four
to four and a half, maybe withsome outliers that are longer. They're
pretty full. The, the gradetwo, it is a really big tale with
long fibers. And at thatpoint, it's like I'm pricing them

(10:19):
at 25 bucks for a reason. Ifthe supply and demand curve actually
existed for bucktail and thetails you normally see sell for,
you know, 15, 16, 17 bucks.The grade twos on that supply demand
curve would be like $200 ormore. I mean, it's just that. So

(10:41):
there aren't that many ofthose. The grade ones are the, the
ones that you just don't seeand they're very big. And so those
I, I tend to have, you know,that that might represent somewhere
between 1 and 5% of a givenbatch. And. Yeah, I'll stop there.

(11:05):
Well, there you go. Well, youknow, folks, we love questions on
the articulate fly. You canemail me or DM me on social media,
whatever's easiest for you.And if we use your question, I will
send you some articulate flyswag, which will probably include
a butcher shop sticker or two.We are drawing for some cool stuff
from Alice at the end of theseason. And I would say too, you
know, remember that we hostour community on Patreon. And one

(11:26):
of the perks of joining thatcommunity at various tiers, one of
the benefits is you get adiscount on Ellis's bucktail. So
if Ellis's description has yousalivating and you want to tie some
predator flies or jigs orwhatever, check it out and you can.
It's a win, win for everybody.And Ellis, before I let you hop this
evening, you want to let folksknow where they can find you to talk

(11:48):
about bucktails, fishing, getin the boat, all that kind of good
stuff.
Sure. Best way to do that isjust reach out to me directly at
513-543-0019. Website iselliswardflies.com and you can find

(12:09):
me on Instagram at Ellis Wardguides.
Well, there you go. As Ialways say, folks, this time of year,
first of all, stay cool, butshow it to yourself to get out there
and catch a few. Tight lines,everybody. Tight lines, Ellis.
Appreciate it, Mark.