Mike Bone, left, and fellow guide Jeff Keith work as volunteers to preserve their beloved Clinch, bringing in a load of tires during the 2014 Big Clinch River Cleanup organized by the Clinch River Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Image by Frances Hamilton Oates.

Professional guide Mike Bone will speak on fishing the Clinch and Holston rivers at a free, public meeting of the Clinch River Chapter, Trout Unlimited, on Thursday, Feb. 12. The program will start at 7 p.m. in the parish hall of St. Francis Episcopal Church, 158 W. Norris Road, Norris.

Bone says he started his professional fly fishing career as a cane rod builder, graduated to fly shop flunkie and guide in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, built his first wooden drift boat on his front porch and began guiding fly fishers on the Clinch near his home in Andersonville.

"With the help of some very good friends I was fortunate enough to have pioneered some of the floats and methods now considered standard on many of our rivers," he says. "It's been a great ride so far, and I'm looking forward to the next two decades and the adventures they hold.

"In the off season, only about eight weeks here in Tennessee, I raise, train and cuss bird dogs .... fly fishing and grouse hunting seem to go hand in hand, and I practice catch and release most of the time with both!"

Clinch River Chapter TU works to preserve and protect the Clinch River tailwater and its watershed through conservation projects and through education of children and adults in aquatic natural resources. Meetings are held the second Thursday of the month in the parish hall at St. Francis Episcopal Church, Norris, except when outdoor activities are scheduled. For more information, visit crctu.org.