Douglas launches at three different sites below the Wolf Creek Dam depending upon the length of the trip. Normally, most of his trips end at Winfrey's Ferry Ramp near Burkesville. The longest trip is about 14 miles, which begins at Hamm's Landing and ends in Burkesville.
Several years ago, Douglas had a specially built boat constructed for him in Idaho. It's the type of boat utilized by guides on the Snake River and handles well in slow-moving or fast-moving water. The boat has a shallow draft, which allows it to go through many of the riffles.
Although Douglas prefers to use dry flies, wet flies, streamers and other fly fishing techniques, he will, on occasion, allow clients to utilize live bait and spinning tackle.
Douglas said he likes to stop and wade-fish each of the riffles that they pass through because of the unique challenges and fishing opportunities those riffles and pools provide.
Fall, early spring are best times
The best times for trophy fish, according to Douglas, are in the fall and early spring. The best times of day are early morning and late evening. He said he has caught some very nice stripers during these trips, but cautions that stripers are exceptionally hard to land on the fly-fishing tackle.
Douglas also provides guided services on Rock Creek in McCreary County for wade-fishing only. It's wilderness, high mountain, stream-type fishing, without much pressure from other fishermen.
He advises that this type of wade fishing is physically taxing and requires the client to be in fairly good physical condition in order to access and fish this particular creek.
He also provides a guide service on the Hiwasee River near Reliance, Tenn. He prefers this river in late spring and early summer and notes that it is a better dry fly fishing river overall. Due to the distance required, however, an overnight stay is necessary.
After talking with Douglas, who is a painter by profession, I found he has a very intense passion for this flyfishing hobby of his.
Like most trout fishermen, he has studied the habitats he fishes in order to be able to tie the flies which match the hatch of the insect larvae and forage indigenous to each particular waterway. And he is quite knowledgeable about fishing techniques, rods, line weights and lure presentations.
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If you are interested in trout fishing, give him a call and I am sure he'd be happy to talk with you about trout fishing in general.
Thanks for reading, hope you've found something useful. Be sure to wear those life jackets when you are on the water.
