Russ and I had fished together before in the Smokies but this was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. Russ had insider information on the South Holston and I had always wanted to fish this Tennessee jewel. I met Russ sometime after 4:00 am at the local Hardee’s parking lot where I was introduced to John and Dave. We piled into Russ’s Ridgeline and like a shot from a canon we were off. I remember thinking as we passed the Bristol Motor Speedway how fitting it was to see the speedway because after the two hours in the back seat of Russ’s truck I felt like part of a Nascar team. We drove to the spot we had been given directions to and suited up. We waded into the water and right away we began to question either our location or the directions. We were told to expect ankle deep water but instead we found nearly thigh deep water that was difficult to wade. This prompted a double check of the TVA release schedule and just as it stated the generators were sluicing minimal waters flows. Our failure was to look past the generator schedule to the actually flow rate. The water was still high from the previous night’s release. 
We made the best of the situation; walked up to the second bridge and began to fish. The water was waist deep and choppy and my enthusiasm for this mythical river began to wane. There were a few pockets of very nice water but there was no activity on or below the surface. There was a very nice hatch of Sulfurs and still there were no fish rising. A drift boat moved over an area too deep for us to wade and had several strikes confirming this water actually holds trout. An hour into fishing this area and Russ finally hooked up and it lifted the spirits of the whole group. We decided to explore and as we drove down the road we were greeted by pulls off already full of fishermen and cars or private property signs. We eventually made our way below the dam, picked our spots and fished. I hooked up within thirty minutes and the trout were very active but finding a fly to interest them was very difficult.
I could see other fishermen catching fish but in all I managed one fish and Russ likewise only brought one fish to hand. It was around 4:00 when we decided we would prepare for the long drive home. Feeling somewhat defeated and disappointed we drove down river road and headed home. The pull off areas were now empty and we decided we would try one more spot before calling it a day. The wading was treacherous due to the amount of water and the slope of the rocks. Standing on the top of the rocks was a safe bet but the down slope was immediate and any false steps would surely result in waders full of water or worse. I began to see random splashes of water and realized a light hatch of Hendrickson’s or Light Cahill were coming off. This was all it took to wake the trout up and I saw large beautiful trout leaping from the water. It was very technical trying to cast to these locations because there were only small pockets in which to lay the fly in order to get a good drift. I tied a Light Cahill in size 16 and surveyed the area. I looked down stream and Russ, Dave, and John had abandoned their fly rod but all three were catching large Brown trout on spinning rigs. Scanning the water before me I would wait for the trout to give away their location and I would cast into the lane where the trout waited to ambush its prey. The time passed rapidly and for two hours the four of us enjoyed our best fishing of the day. I began to realize how magical this place must be by drift boat. The large Brown’s I saw leaping from the water like Humpback whales were out of reach. They were simply too far to reach by casting and too dangerous to attempt to wade to. We all managed some nice fish that evening and as we drove back to Knoxville we had all but forgotten the difficultly we encountered most of the day. Three hours of solid fishing made up for the six hours of disappointment. This sense of expectancy is what brings the fishermen back to the river’s edge time and time again. 