S7, Ep 87: Navigating the Waters: Ellis Ward's Tips for Fall Fishing and Boat Etiquette

In this East Tennessee Fishing Report on The Articulate Fly podcast, host Marvin Cash checks in with guide Ellis Ward for timely fall fishing insights and essential drift boat etiquette.

Ward breaks down why mouse patterns are producing exceptional results right now, explaining how recent field harvests push rodents to the water and trigger aggressive feeding windows even during bright moon phases.

The conversation delivers practical drift boat etiquette for new boat owners, emphasizing communication over rigid rules when navigating crowded tailwaters and boat ramps.

Ward shares strategic timing advice for mousing success, noting how water clarity, moon phases and agricultural schedules all factor into peak activity periods.

He also previews the upcoming musky season and explains his approach to maintaining solitude on busy East Tennessee and North Carolina rivers.

Whether you're targeting trout with mouse patterns or learning to navigate drift boat dynamics, this fishing report provides actionable intelligence for fall fishing on Tennessee tailwaters.

Related Content

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

S6, Ep 142 - Winter Musky Adventures and Streamer Tactics with Ellis Ward

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

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Episode Transcript

(00:04):
Folks, it's Marvin Cash, thehost of The Articulate Fly. We're
back with another EastTennessee fishing report with Ellis
Ward. Ellis, how are you?
I'm doing well, Marv, how are you?
As always, just trying to stayout of trouble. And I think before
we get to the fishing, weshould extol the virtues of vehicular
maintenance.
Yes. I am sitting in myvehicle waiting, tires, Waiting on

(00:30):
tires to be put on and lookingthrough a cracked windshield. So,
I mean, I have 120, 118,000miles on this car. I drive a Subaru
and treat it like a pickuptruck and have done really wild things.

(00:52):
My both drift boat and jetboat are aluminum, so I get pretty
sporty with the definition ofboat ramps and put ins and, you know,
like the muskies aren't goingto catch themselves and some of these
rivers don't have great putins. So you got to do what you got
to do.
Yeah. And so.

(01:12):
Yeah, so.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Spot costs can be high.
Yeah. So to, so to basicallyclue people in, give them the year
on your Subaru so they knowhow many miles you've been racking
up.
20. 20.
There you go. And we know that6,000 mile oil changes are aspirational,
correct?
Aspirational. That's a greatway. Ideal. We don't live in the

(01:34):
ideal. We work towardsprogress and we don't expect perfection.
Yes. You're a pragmatic realist.
That's right.
Yeah. So on the waterfront,you were telling me that the critters
are just going nuts right nowbecause it's actually kind of a little
bit unseasonably warm in the southeast.
Yeah, it makes things a littlemore comfortable for us. Honestly.

(01:58):
I, I had some folks last weekthat were here two or three weeks
prior and they had both comewith layers because the last time
they were here it was, it gotchilly and you know, they, one of

(02:18):
them was taking the jacket offafter about an hour because they
were anticipating it beingcold. But it's, it's been staying
in the, you know, 60s atnight. We had a little, it got chilly
for a couple nights, but yeah,it's been staying warm at night.
Honestly, you're, you're on atail water with very cold water and,

(02:41):
and it is getting down to, youknow, in the 60s. So it's, it's wearing
jackets and, and jeansregardless. But yeah, the, the mousing
activity has been really goodin the last few weeks. Whether or

(03:09):
not it's, you know, a littlefree tip for anyone curious and listening
and with the availability todrive by fields and have the farmer
schedule. You get variationsfrom a harvest. Right. If you have
a river near cornfield or justa big field of grass, when they chop

(03:33):
it down and bail it up, those.Everything in there has nowhere to
go and everything that's preyneeds to find its shelter. And so
until it gets really, reallycold, which here is also, there's
some asterisks around therebecause it doesn't get or stay that

(03:57):
cold. And until that doeshappen, though, there's, you know,
you have, you have theimplications of those things. You
have the implications of waterclarity and flows and whether or

(04:17):
not the moon is bright and.And then it's just everything lines
up and you go out and. Andyou're fishing and it's. You are
beholden to buy windows. It's.At the end of the day you can have,
you can have all thismovement. You can have everything's

(04:39):
lined up perfectly and mousingreally is. I compare it to muskie
fishing often, and I think oneof the reasons is because you just
have to go out and do it andyou really can't have too many expectations.
And then when it happens, itwould benefit everyone for you to

(05:04):
hold it together and insteadof ripping your rod out of the water,
let them eat for a second andthen strip set firmly. Um, but like,
is it, is it seasonal? Is thisthe hot time? Yeah, we got bugs going
out of the system.Everything's hatched. There's some

(05:24):
fall activity. It's. I've hadsome really buggy nights or some
buggy evenings recently, butmouse, mouse has been very active.
And honestly, I'm starting togo out on just, just two days ago,
we're almost towards a fullmoon and.

(05:45):
We.
Were getting chewed apart upuntil almost the moon apex. I mean,
that thing was. We could havebeen catching a suntan and we're
still getting eats from goodfish. So it's. It's been a good,
good fall so far.
Very cool. And got a questionfor you from Adam Talley. He's a
new drift boat owner and hewants to be part of the solution

(06:08):
and not part of the problem.And wanted to kind of get your thoughts
on kind of the do's anddon'ts. And I think he actually thinks
the don'ts are probably moreimportant than the do's, you know,
for. You know, how to beresponsible when you're on the stick
so that you don'tinadvertently piss people off and
ruin their day on the water.
Yeah, I, I operate, I thinkunder two Major schools of thought,

(06:32):
one of which is I care verylittle about what other people do
as it relates to fishing. Youknow, if, if we're over a pot of
risers and, and they're beingpretty active, I've seen, I've seen
a kayaker just come by andwaving, smiling, totally clueless,

(06:53):
just putting his paddle intofishing spaces and you just wait
by, send it back. And so if Iweren't me, right, if I were someone
else, maybe if I were manyother boats that are on the rivers
regularly, that would be a bigproblem. And so oftentimes when you're

(07:14):
coming around a bend or comingup on a pool and you see someone
anchored up, you can tell veryclearly where they're fishing. And
I mean, this is. We gotmetaphors from fishing and rowing
for life all over the place.Communicate like, there's no, you

(07:36):
don't have to be cool. Youdon't have to be. This is the right
thing to do and I know it.This is what everyone does. I have
to do it this way. If you'rerolling up on someone and you feel
a little uncomfortable withwhat's going on, yell, hey, buddy,
I'm about to come behind you.Is that cool? Or which way do you
want me to go? If you'repushing past you mind if I push past

(07:59):
you? I don't want to beleapfrogging you or I don't want
to play leapfrog. You know,you go past someone and then you
anchor up and they go pass byyou and banker up. So a lot of the
times I, I prefer to fish bothpersonally and with clients in, in

(08:20):
our own space, in solitude. Sowe're not sharing flats with people.
We're not sharing holes withpeople. Really. With my start times,
we don't see many other boats.And so when I do encounter that,
or there is one instance ofleapfrog, I'm going to say something
and I'm going to be very clearwith the other guide that I'm the

(08:41):
one who is going to. I'mgiving you space, I'm going to push
forward. Does that work? I'mgoing to give you this flat. We're
just going to keep movingforward. Does that work for you?
And it's 50, 50. A lot oftimes you're just like, oh, dude,
we're about to pull out. Or I,I was actually going to do that for
you. You know, we're takingout down here at 2. What time are

(09:03):
you taking out? Everyone wantsthe same thing. So no one wants to
have you Know any. No onewants to be crowded. No one wants
to get spots blown orwhatever. And, and ultimately just
the more in front of, youknow, communication and, and like
that's, that's really theetiquette there. I would say. You

(09:27):
are going to be in time, youknow, situations where it isn't necessarily
possible to, to have that typeof communication. So for example,
someone is anchored prettyclose to the bottom of rapid, and
it doesn't really make a wholelot of sense for you to be going

(09:49):
down that rapid, going down achute since they're there. Sure,
that might be rude. I mean,look, are we all in a hurry? Wait,
wait 10 or 15 minutes. That'spretty egregious. They should know
that someone's up there andthey shouldn't be anchored there.
But like, that's a good.Don't, don't go down a chute and

(10:12):
anchor and just hit that firstzone, certainly without looking behind
you. But also definitely don'tdo that without pulling off to the
side and really making surethat someone can go through where
you are. And then if you areanchored up in a situation like that,
just expect that you're goingto get. Now you're going to get run

(10:35):
through. The other one's goingto be boat ramps, which I dislike
as, as a rule because I liketo take my time in fishing. So boat

(10:56):
ramps are like you. Onceyou're on the ramp, it's go time
and you're gonna have peoplecoming up. I honestly, I prefer a
lot of the times when if I'm.If I'm there about to put in and
someone's approaching, I knowthey've been on the water for eight
hours. And sure, I'm excitedto get on the water or whatever.

(11:18):
I ask them, do you want me topull up so you can take out again?
It's 50, 50, maybe more oftenthe case, people say, oh, dude, don't
worry about it. Just, youknow, put in personal preference
just to not be rushed in thatfront. But yeah, it's really just
communication and, you know,certain degree of acknowledgment

(11:40):
that none of us, as much as weall do it and how frequently we do
it, there's not like rulesthat you need to follow outside of
being considerate and asking.If you're unsure at all, you just
ask.
Yeah, and I would say on theboat ramp thing too, if the ramp

(12:02):
is busy, get your boat readybefore you drop it to your point.
Because, I mean, you need tokind of drop your boat, get it out
of the way and move yourtrailer so other people can do the
exact same thing.
Yeah, it's, it really is. Getdown to the bottom of the ramp, slide
the boat off, pull up, haveyour client hold it, have your buddy

(12:24):
hold the boat and then you'regone. So getting all your stuff together
and, and boat prepped up andtaking your time and shooting the
breeze as they might say thatthat all happens in the parking lot.
Well, there you go. Wellfolks, you know we love questions
on the articulate fly. You canemail me or DM me on social media,

(12:46):
whatever's easiest for you.And if we use your question, I'll
send you some articulate flyswag. And when you're in a drawing
for some cool stuff from Ellisat the end of the season and Ellis,
you know you got a lot ofstuff going on, right. Gun season
is coming in across thesoutheast. Means bucktails, you got
dates, we're talking muskie,all kinds of good stuff. You want
to let folks know kind ofwhere to find you to get on the boat.
Talk about fly tying, buybucktails and all that kind of good

(13:07):
stuff.
Yeah, I forgot that I had somuch work to do. Elliswardflies.com
is going to be the place whereyou can get bucktail from me directly.
I will have bucktail in storesat a couple shops. We'll, we'll wait

(13:29):
to give the green light onannouncing where those are specifically.
I, I think at this point Ihave enough of a reputation for sure
my customers and all of theword of mouth business for the bucktail
for people understand whatthey get and to the extent that that

(13:50):
isn't the case, which isstill, you know, it's really important
to go put your hands onmaterials. I think having a few shops
around the east coast will becreating again that's ellisforge
flies.com and you can alsofind information there and my cell

(14:11):
phone number there which is513-543-0019. Use the website, use
calling me, texting me anyquestions you might have about trips
and mousie and muskiedefinitely right now. And then I

(14:35):
already, I got a coupleweekend dates booked up in January.
This is the time of year to.
Start.
Thinking about getting thoseJanuary February dates booked. That's
two handing seven inch crapperchangers and having a pretty darn

(14:59):
good chance of watchingsomething over two feet try to blow
it through the surface of thewater. Time. I think that's all for
now.
Well, there you go. Well folksas always say yo to yourself to get
out there. And catch a few.Tight lines, everybody. Tight lines,
Ellis.
Appreciate it, Marv.