High water has undoubtedly gave the fish an opportunity to move to prespawn mode and stack up on the usual spots. I'm gonna say this was the worst winter fishing I've seen in years. The ice made it bad. I'm gonna miss the winter bite. Maybe a cold spell could push em back to deep water but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say I'll be catching fish in less than 4' water this weekend.
I like the river to be up 2 to 3 ft. It pushes the fish to the breaks in the flow. So I go to my favorite winter holes and look for a major current break. Sometimes that might be inches from the bank and possibly a car hood sized spot chock full of fish ready to eat whatever drops in front of them
I fished all day Saturday and Sunday. The river was tough. Both days. Saturday in the snow for a hour was phenomenal.then awkward silence for hours. Yesterday it just never happened. Caught 11 keepers in 7 hours.
Brown. I'm in gatlinburg right now and there is trout literally everywhere I look. There's a crik running under the sidewalk with trout that eat at every price of bread I throw in. If your a trout freak you need to come here. They are in every trickle of water