EDC Guide Blog | with Jason Bromwell in Tennessee

Redington: Where do you do most of your guiding?

Jason: Currently, all of my guiding is in East Tennessee on the South Holston and Watauga Rivers. Both rivers are top notch tailwaters that provide wonderful year round trout fishing opportunities!

Redington: What’s your go-to set up for clients when you need to catch fish?

Jason: For these heavily-pressured river systems, technical nymphing is the name of the game. My go-to rig for my guests is a 9’6” five weight rod with an all-fluorocarbon leader I tie up. My leader formula is typically 4ft of 4X, to 5ft of 5X and my first nymph off a tag, down to 18in of 6X to a second nymph. Finish that off with an indicator that matches the flows and weight of the bugs. Most of the time, yarn is the best option out here. When it comes to flies, it's always smart to start with midges and mayflies.

Redington: What’s your favorite way to catch fish?

Jason: As much as I love a subtle dry fly eat, or a boat side explosion on a streamer, I have to say I’m a bobber bro. I personally want to catch fish year round, no matter the conditions or time of the day, and to do that indicator fishing is the move. I struggled the first 10 years of fly fishing and then I learned to nymph.

Redington: What’s one thing you’d like to teach all of your clients?

Jason: Don't forget to look up once in while, celebrate the small wins, and remember that the fish are just a bonus… oh and to mend :) I spent too many years letting the amount of fish I caught be the deciding factor of the day's success. I was so hyper-focused on the number of fish that I was missing everything else, and there is so much more.

Redington: What’s your favorite thing to carry with you as a luxury or fun item?

Jason: I’d say either my little single burner stove for hot river lunches on cold days or my Megaboom speaker. Sorry Turtlebox, it’s from before your time.

Redington: Favorite river snack?

Jason: Cold fried chicken and a grape Smash.

Redington: If you could fish with any person in the world once who would that be?

Jason: I’d have to say it would be my late Grandma Corky. Every summer as a child, my brother and I would spend a few weeks with her up in the Appalachian Mountains. We would go on walks on the AT and play in the Nantahala watching the fisherman and rafters go by. Such wonderful memories were made and it was there that I fell in love with the outdoors and the water. I would do anything to share my now-overwhelming passion for the rivers with her today.