Fly fishing for trout is pretty good all over East Tennessee right now. Streams inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park are fishing great, water levels are excellent, and tailwater flows are pretty good. In short, life is good.
No doubt Tom at Trout Underground will believe those of us fortunate enough to live a in a great place are taunting him, but we’re not. (Ummmm… Okay, maybe we are just a little bit.)
Dry fly fishing has kicked in and in a big way. Quill Gordons are hatching in the Smokies along with smaller Blue Quills. We’re seeing most of the bugs get started after 2:00, but that should creep up a little earlier everyday.
The tailwaters are fishing great right now and the midges are thick on the water. We’ve done best with #18 midge pupa patterns. We’re excited just thinking about the hatches we’ll see in about another month.
We’ve had about three good days of slow, steady rain. The streams are running great. We’re right on target for our annual rainfall so it looks like we may be out of the drought we’ve experienced over the past two years.