GONE FISHING.
If you have, you need an expert guide.
WELCOME TO TOLLIVER’S GUIDE SERVICE
Operating independently out of the Boone, North Carolina region, Tolliver’s Guide Service offers guided fly fishing trips to high country veteran explorers and newbie vacationers alike. Book trips in either Virginia, Tennessee, or North Carolina, and receive waders and fly rods, free of charge with every experience. Newcomers will love the affordable opportunities to enjoy the sport, and experienced anglers will learn more about the area than they knew before.
Your guide, former park ranger Jesse Tolliver, comes with 20 years of experience fishing the high country streams of Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. He has three years of guiding experience, including two at an Orvis endorsed lodge in Virginia. In addition to knowledge, he is fully licensed and insured, so you have nothing to worry about when planning your trip.
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Today was a good day to roam the east tennessee hills for native southern strain brook trout. These guys don't get near as big as the northern strain brook trout. They make up for lack of size with their beauty. In my opinion, there is no prettier fish in the world. The southern strain has a disposition unlike it's northern strain cousin. They generally are not too prone on eating in the higher elevations this time of year. These ice cold nights would barely slow down a northern strain fish. And like clockwork, once I reached a higher elevation, the bite shut down. It was still nice to get out for a few hours and catch these beauties.
I've been out on the creeks harassing the first trout of 2019. The big wild rainbows are very happy to eat a stonefly nymph. The tailwaters are spilling huge amounts of water to lower the reservoirs, making them mostly unfishable to those of us on foot. All the other watersheds are borderline blown out. The rain tomorrow will set them over the top. This is looking like a tribuatary/brookie kind of weekend.
With close to 12 miles hiked over the past several days, I can now mark the end of an incredible fishing trip. I caught lots of large native brook trout in Virginia on various streams, as did my friend Jacob. They all fished extremely well. 10 inches is a big native, and 12 inches is huge. We saw lots of high caliber fish on this trip, but Virginia always delivers the goods for a brook trout aficionado.
"Virginia is for lovers" is a marketing slogan. In all honesty, the slogan should change to : "Virginia is for brook trout lovers". Since native brook trout are my favorite quarry, I made the drive north on I-81 to experience southern brook trout fishing at it's finest. These fish are native trout, not hatchery produced pellet pigs. The strain that I was catching is the northern strain of brook trout. The new river is the dividing line, where the southern strain begins to appear. The creeks in the area were all swollen from several days of heavy rain. I fished in a frog strangler yesterday and caught 30 fish. It was too wet to take pictures without fogging the lenses. Today was dry, but considerably colder. The natives were hunkered down in the torrent, and you pretty much had to bump them on the head to get consistent strikes. The creek I fished has no name on any maps, but it sure holds some really big natives.
All trout were released.
I think I know where you were. But, I ain't sayin'.
Ya did good.
Put that trout back in the water practice catch-and-release not hook and cook
Wow Jacob Vinson! You are a true fisherman! It's wonderful you can do what you enjoy so much!
Nice Jesse!
Greetings from my home at the base of grandfather mountain. My little rescue dog Bandit is a South Carolina boy, so naturally he hates snow and cold weather. This is his first blizzard. It's deeper snow then he is tall. He jumped out of the path a few times and disappeared in the snow drifts.
Just in time for the holiday season, gift certificates are now available. Give the gift of fly fishing to a friend or family member this year. I offer fly fishing trips in WNC around Boone, East Tennessee in the tri cities area, or SW VA around Abingdon. I can handle groups of up to four people. Give me a call at 423-943-3725 or send me a message to purchase your gift certificate today. I can accept a credit card through square, or I can accept PayPal or a check. My rates are as follows:
1/2 day for one angler, $130.00
Full day for one angler $160.00
Half day, 2 anglers $160.00
Full day, 2 anglers $200.00
Full day, three anglers $275.00
Full day, four anglers $300.00
The fishing in a select few small streams has been incredible over the past two days. Good to see some waters at a nice fishable level again. My clients over the past two days caught over 100 rainbow trout. The fish are still hitting dry flies in some creeks despite this recent cold snap. My calendar is beginning to open up again for fall bookings. Call me to discuss your trip!
This is a feeder creek to the upper Watauga in foscoe. It's flowing high and angry. The Watauga is out of it's banks and the highest I've seen it all year. We've got 4 more inches of rain on the way tomorrow. Stay safe out there people.
