For years I have carried more flies then ever needed. Add on 20+ pounds of additional equipment with a fully loaded vest, fly boxes, net, accessories hanging off a lanyard and more, but caught no more fish nor any fewer.

Today I now enjoy the Fall fishing of the South Holston Valley with really only 6 flies, which I call my 6 pack! These flies have proven to me to meet most conditions on the South Holston and Watauga rivers. And they are easy to carry with back-ups all loaded into one fly box that fits nicely in a shirt pocket!

Give them a go. You too, may find your day at Tenn'Clave a lot more enjoyable!

Bead Head Prince Nymph

Hook: TMC 3769 or 3761 Size #14-18 (or any standard nymph hook)
Thread: Brown 8/0 Uni-Thread
Tail: 2 Brown Goose Biots
Body: Peacock Herl
Tail: Optional Gray hackle fibers
Head/Thorax: 1/8 or 3/32 Gold Bead
Wingcase: 2 White Goose Biots
Legs: Brown Partridge or Brown Hackle Fibers

Instructions:
Slip the gold bead onto the hook and place the hook in the vise.
Push the bead to the eye of the fly and tie in the thread just behind the bead.
Wrap the thread back to the bend and build a small "bump" of thread near the bend.
Place the 2 brown biots side by side and tie in at the bend. Tension on the thread combined with the bump should cause the biots to flare out slightly.
Tie in 3-4 strands of peacock herl and the gold wire along the length of the hook with the long ends hanging out the back.
Make one wrap up the shank to just behind the bead.
Wrap the peacock forward creating the body and then counterwrap forward with the wire.
Tie off the peacock and the wire and trim.
Tie in the partridge or hackle fibers under the hook behind the bead. Place a few wraps under the hackle to adjust the angle and flair of the legs.
Place 2 white goose biots along the top of the hook (tips back) and tie them in. They should be about the length of the hook shank.
Trim the excess, whip finish, and cement carefully.
Variations & Comments: You can try copper or silver beads and dubbed bodies for different effects. However, I prefer the traditional pattern to others I've tried. This pattern in a size 18 is a killer lower river pattern anywhere from the end of the quality water down through the entire lower river. A lot of nice browns have fallen for this offering.

Goddard Caddis

Hook: Daiichi #1100, Size 12-16
Thread: Brown 8/0 Uni-Thread
Tail: Elk Hair
Body: Elk Hair
Legs: Brown Hackle on Body and Grizzly Hackle on Thorax
Wing: Elk Hair
Antennae: Stripped Hackle Stems.

Instructions:
Place the hook in the vise.
Secure thread and wrap back to bend.
Tie in a clump of elk hair and spin on the hook.
Repeat step 3 again 2-3 times until you cover about 2/3 of the hook shank.
Trim the body to shape as in the picture above. Leave some longer hair pointing out the rear and trim the rest rounded to form a nice even body.
Tie in a sized brown hackle at the 2/3 point where you finished the hair body.
Wrap the thread forward to the head and tie in two stripped brown hackle stems for the antennae.
Make a few wraps between the antennae to splay them slightly.
Wind the hackle for ward the the head with even spacing.
Trim the hackle and whip finishby bending the antennae back, trim thread, and apply head cement.

Tuck Bugger

HOOK: 5263, sizes 2-10BEAD: Copper/Brass
THREAD: To match body
TAIL: Marabou that matches body. Add 3-5 strands of Krystal Flash.
RIB: Gold, silver, or copper wire
BODY: Chenille or chenille plus rabbit
HACKLE: Palmered black saddle hackle, or color to match body

Fish deep pools with a slow strip, rerieve, slow strip.

Soft Hackle

Hook: 5262, 3761, 900BL, or 200R, sizes 10-18
Thread: To match body
Abdomen: Floss or Haretron
Thorax: Haretron
Legs: Gray or brown partridge tied so fibers extend past hook point

Soft Hackles suggest everything from emerging mayflies to caddis pupae or egg-laying caddis.They can be effective when there is no hatch in progress.Tied in yellow or green.

Miller's Nymph

Hook: Mustad #3906-B, 1XL, Size #6-#10
Thread: Monocord, Orange, Waxed,
Body: Lead Wire, (.015)
Dubbing: Blend of natural Light Beaver, Muskrat, and Fly Rite #21 Light Gray
Rib: Monocord, Orange
Wing Case: Mottled Wild Turkey Feather (coated with Dave's Flexament)
Legs: 3-4 turns of Brown Saddle Hackle, Hoffman, Super Saddle
Thorax: 3-4 Strands of Peacock Herl
Head: Monocord, Orange

1. Debarb and sharpen hook as desired.

2. Lay a base of thread from the eye to the bend stopping just past the barb. Make a small bump of thread by criss-crossing with 6-8 thread wraps. Mount and tie on goose biots above the barb position and around the mounting bump. Secure down with 2-3 wraps and a single wrap under the biots to keep them spread out and from falling downwards.

3. Tie on lead wire (.015) at thread position and make 20-25 wraps (size #8 hook) forward to just before the eye and return with 10-12 wire wraps to form the thorax base. Snip wire off with your fingernail and turn the wire butt ends into the spiralís turns. Reinforce wire weighting with thread wraps back and forth over the body and thorax making graduated thread ramps before and after the thorax. Bring thread to rear of thorax ramp and let bobbin hang.

4. Touch the end of a dubbing wax tube and rub it between your thumb and digit finger to warm it and thin the wax out. Gently pull sparse strings of dubbing apart from the blended dubbing supply and twist on to tying thread with waxed thumb and digit finger tips. Wrap the dubbing noodle to a thickness a little heavier than the thorax and build the body rearwards to the tail. Start the ribbing at the tail position and make orange ribs (3-4 evenly spaced) throughout body by wrapping thread 6-8 times with consecutive tight turns on top of each other.

5. Cut a strip of mottled turkey feather (3/8" or 1/2 CM wide and 1 " long) and tie on at thorax with reverse (dull) side upwards. Tie in a brown saddle hackle sized to just below the gap, wet fly style (shiny side upwards). Select 3-4 peacock herls, even off and snip the coarse white ends. Lay peacock butts over thorax next to the hackle and tie down with 2-3 thread wraps. Select one of the herls and braid it around the remaining 2-3 herls to form a reinforced peacock rope. Build the thorax by wrapping the herl rope 5-6 times towards the eye. Tie off with 2-3 turns of thread. Trim excess peacock around the eye. Bring hackle forward 4-5 turns and tie off. Snip and trim around eye. Trim hackle barbs flat on top of thorax. Bring turkey feather wing case forward and hold snug while you tie it down with 2-3 thread wraps. Clip excess turkey butts. Form a large orange head with 6-8 turns of thread and whip finish.

6. Apply head cement to the wing case and around the head being careful not to let cement run on to the hackle. Pull hackle legs straight down below the nymph, trim errant fibers, and go fishiní!!

This fly was reported to be originally tied by Dave Miller who lived in the Great Smokies on the North Carolina side. It can be tied in sizes #6-#12 and is very effective fished around dark, deep pools bumping it along the bottom and along the rocks. As it resembles a crawfish at birth, the takes are fast and hard. My largest consistent trout catches have been with this fly tied in sizes #6 and #8 with lead paste applied 14"-18" up from the fly on 6í tapered leader to 5X tippets. It is an excellent nymph for fishing cold waters when there is a need to get a heavily weighted nymph down to dormant bottom feeders.

Sulphur Comparadun

Hook: Partridge SLD (shown), Mustad 94840, R50 or equivalent
Thread: Lt. Olive or Yellow
Wing: Dyed dun/sulphur deer hair
Tail: Dun/sulphur Microfibetts
Abdomen: Lt. Olive or Sulphur colored Fly Rite or Superfine Dubbing

Tie a small thread bump to mount splayed microfibets to keep fly on plane in the film.