[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A49ZtxD6ptU[/youtube]
We’ve had a wet spring in the Smoky Mountains and East Tennessee and this has led to a few days of blown out streams, but fishing has been excellent for the most part. The large tailwater rivers have been too high most of the time for effective fishing, but we have found a few times to float the Tuckaseegee and Hiwassee Rivers.
Wildlife has been active and we regularly see wild turkeys along the stream.
Hatches have been very good. Quill Gordons, Blue Quill, and Early Brown Stoneflies have all pulled trout to the surface. Mornings are fishing best with nymphs and the hatches come on strong in the afternoon. All of the trout in Great Smoky Mountains National Park are wild. Although they rarely get very big, they are exceptionally colorful and put up a great fight.
When we have floated this spring we have focused our efforts on fishing with streamers. We typically use a six weight fly rod rigged with a 15′ sink tip fly line and large streamers in size #4. We have caught some nice rainbow trout and a few brookies on the Tuckaseegee, but brown trout have been the primary catch with this method.
