This past week I had the honor to take one of the legends in the fly fishing industry, Bob Clouser and his business manager, out smallmouth fishing on the Holston River near Kingsport, Tennessee. The weather conditions and water temperatures were not at their best for this float trip, but after getting in tune with the fish and river we were into some nice smallies throughout the day. The water was 49 degrees when we started and there was a cold rain. Trying several colors of flies in one of the better pools on the river gave us a quick answer the the color the smallies wanted, chartreuse. They took these flies aggressively. As you can see it was a day of good sized hard fighting fish. Not only did we get smallmouth bass, but we got some nice largemouth bass in the mix.
Getting the call to take such a legend out on the river makes you nervous and you over think everything leading up the the day of fishing. Bob Clouser is such a down to earth person that he puts you at ease quickly and just wants to be one of your good friends out on the river for a day of fishing. To watch him work the fly rod and flies was a excellent learning experience for me as well. I am a good guide, but there is always room to learn more and Bob is an excellent teacher. He showed me some things that I had been overlooking and this will make me a better guide and my clients will benefit from this as well.
When you come to Troutfest or any other event where is is in attendance, go talk with him and thank him for his contributions to our sport. I am glad that I can now call him a friend and fishing buddy.
Randy Ratliff
Troutfishers Guide Service
Orvis Endorsed Guide
www.trout-fishers.net
A panoramic shot of the Holston Proper with my new camera.
