I’ve lived in south Louisiana all my life, and I’m leaving my boat behind for my dad. We’re moving in September. This is alllll new territory for me so any tips for ponds or any clubs needing co anglers or a felloW member would be appreciated. This is new territory but my wife got the big job she’s been looking for and I’m excited to be up there

I grew up and lived in the region for 58 years before retiring to Florida. There's lots of lakes, but obviously you need a boat to fish. You could use a kayak, but there's a ton of boats on the lakes at any given time. There are some excellent rivers to wade fish for smallmouth though. Closest to JC is the Nolichucky in Unicoi. Other good nearby rivers with smallmouth action include the Holston river in Sullivan and Hawkins counties, North Fork of the Holston in Scott and Washington counties of Virginia and the New River in Grayson, Pulaski and Giles counties in VA.  

1 hour ago, JDHoss said:

I grew up and lived in the region for 58 years before retiring to Florida. There's lots of lakes, but obviously you need a boat to fish. You could use a kayak, but there's a ton of boats on the lakes at any given time. There are some excellent rivers to wade fish for smallmouth though. Closest to JC is the Nolichucky in Unicoi. Other good nearby rivers with smallmouth action include the Holston river in Sullivan and Hawkins counties, North Fork of the Holston in Scott and Washington counties of Virginia and the New River in Grayson, Pulaski and Giles counties in VA.  

^good advice here!

 

theres also a good many people that bank fish watauga and south Holston lakes. Just pick a nice point and set up on it, big smallies are everywhere. 
 

be prepared for some foul weather up that way, lots of storms/floods all summer and a decent amount of cold and snow in winter 

37 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

^good advice here!

 

theres also a good many people that bank fish watauga and south Holston lakes. Just pick a nice point and set up on it, big smallies are everywhere. 
 

be prepared for some foul weather up that way, lots of storms/floods all summer and a decent amount of cold and snow in winter 

Good point about the flooding possibilities, and if you're wading, it's a good idea to check the TVA generation schedule. https://www.tva.com/environment/lake-levels

 

Always check the weather forecast too. I took a float trip on the Clinch in Virginia back in the day before we had the internet. The radio said there was a 40% chance of storms, but we got an absolute monster of a storm that dumped around 3" of rain in a short amount of time. It was really scary as we had to find a spot where we could land the boat and get it up out of the water before we got swamped. 

1 minute ago, JDHoss said:

Good point about the flooding possibilities, and if you're wading, it's a good idea to check the TVA generation schedule. https://www.tva.com/environment/lake-levels

 

Always check the weather forecast too. I took a float trip on the Clinch in Virginia back in the day before we had the internet. The radio said there was a 40% chance of storms, but we got an absolute monster of a storm that dumped around 3" of rain in a short amount of time. It was really scary as we had to find a spot where we could land the boat and get it up out of the water before we got swamped. 

It still works the same way even with the internet 

So let me ask this. Would their still be a pitching and flipping bite to be had on these said lakes during summer fall and spring or even some during the winter or do I just need to retire those rods ? 

Also I’ve never fished for smallies and own mostly casting rods. I do have a dobyns champ 733c so how are like finesse jigs and maybe  tube bite there

Get a good med heavy fast spinning to fish tubes and other soft plastics and a med light fast/ultra fast to drop shot with. Pitch/flip spring and summer on docks and lay downs.

 

get ready to learn to fish offshore on the ledges. S Holston lake is the first real lake on the TN river system and seems to fish differently than Douglas and Cherokee. I haven’t fished below that but possibly will be on watts bar in sept. I would look to fish the volunteer division in bfl’s. I have not had any luck finding a club to fish seems like anything else is team related. I’m just up the road in Bristol. You will enjoy the smallmouths, best bass to catch hands down.

1 hour ago, SWVABass said:

Get a good med heavy fast spinning to fish tubes and other soft plastics and a med light fast/ultra fast to drop shot with. Pitch/flip spring and summer on docks and lay downs.

 

get ready to learn to fish offshore on the ledges. S Holston lake is the first real lake on the TN river system and seems to fish differently than Douglas and Cherokee. I haven’t fished below that but possibly will be on watts bar in sept. I would look to fish the volunteer division in bfl’s. I have not had any luck finding a club to fish seems like anything else is team related. I’m just up the road in Bristol. You will enjoy the smallmouths, best bass to catch hands down.

we are going to be living awfully close to Boone as well which looks intriguing but I still don’t know much about it ? 

Also if you ever wanna link up to fish I’m down. I do come packing gas money ? 

I forgot about Boone. It has only been recently re filled after being drawn down 30 feet for a long time, maybe 6-8 years. There are laydowns for flipping on every lake but a bunch of bushes grew where Boone was lowered so I bet there’s bushes galore there now. It’s also an excellent lake for trophy striper and brown trout 

 

fort Patrick Henry is usually tournament fisherman’s least favorite lake but I have seen some pictures of big ones from there, green and brown 

@kingmotorboat while I would love to say hop in I don’t think my hobie would be pleased with us. Kayaks are a great way to fish most of these lakes. Be heads up if you get one, the pleasure boaters will not be looking for you at all!!!!!

 

with all that new water in Boone I bet it’s super tough fishing. But in another two years that place might be lights out.

14 hours ago, SWVABass said:

@kingmotorboat while I would love to say hop in I don’t think my hobie would be pleased with us. Kayaks are a great way to fish most of these lakes. Be heads up if you get one, the pleasure boaters will not be looking for you at all!!!!!

 

with all that new water in Boone I bet it’s super tough fishing. But in another two years that place might be lights out.

 

I’ve read some decent reports and I’ve also read about the restocking program on it.  And yea I’m a big boy so I’m not very kayak friendly in the first place ? 

I used to live in Nc, used to do most of our shopping in Johnson City Tn, it was closest. 
Tons of wade fishing spots, Nolichucky, South Toe and French Broad. Smaller ones too, keep a rod and stuff in your car.

Lake Watauga is great too. 

Appreciate all the advice guys. One month away from moving up there. I’m excited and bringing sausage and roux to make gumbo and jambalaya. Si when we move y’all bring yallselves on down and I’ll cook

38 minutes ago, kingmotorboat said:

Appreciate all the advice guys. One month away from moving up there. I’m excited and bringing sausage and roux to make gumbo and jambalaya. Si when we move y’all bring yallselves on down and I’ll cook

Now we talkin!!!!

On 8/18/2022 at 9:00 PM, kingmotorboat said:

Appreciate all the advice guys. One month away from moving up there. I’m excited and bringing sausage and roux to make gumbo and jambalaya. Si when we move y’all bring yallselves on down and I’ll cook

You may already know about it, but this place is pretty good...

https://bayouboysjctn.com/

On 8/18/2022 at 8:00 PM, kingmotorboat said:

Appreciate all the advice guys. One month away from moving up there. I’m excited and bringing sausage and roux to make gumbo and jambalaya. Si when we move y’all bring yallselves on down and I’ll cook

Best bring alot if you're inviting these boys!

On 9/1/2022 at 10:38 AM, Blue Raider Bob said:

Best bring alot if you're inviting these boys!

? I’m from Louisiana we always cook for the neighborhood 

And the Cajun has arrived to your neck of the woods

10 hours ago, kingmotorboat said:

And the Cajun has arrived to your neck of the woods

Cool deal! I actually had to work in roan mountain last week, rolled right thru Johnson city 

10 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Cool deal! I actually had to work in roan mountain last week, rolled right thru Johnson city 

We’re living in between jonesborough and gray. Very nice area at the place we’re renting 

1 minute ago, kingmotorboat said:

We’re living in between jonesborough and gray. Very nice area at the place we’re renting 

Ah. That’s out in the sticks haha

12 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Ah. That’s out in the sticks haha

Yessir but I mean the view from the front and back

porch is impeccable.