We’re beginning to see signs that spring fishing is almost upon us here in the Smokies. It’s been a relatively mild winter, but bouts of high water interspersed with cold snaps have kept us deprived of good fishing. It looks as if all that may change soon though.
We had some rain last night and water levels did rise, but not on the same scale we’ve seen lately. Streams are fishable today but several roads are closed on account of downed trees. That should be taken care of by lunch time.
A tight close up of a Blue Quill. This fly is a #18.
The water is still cold but we’re seeing a very few sporadic rises. Only a few spots where fish usually rise are seeing any regular dry fly action and you need hard won local knowledge to know these spots. Fishing with nymphs is still the way to go, but we’re beginning to see some bugs moving around.
There are a few dun caddis along with a few more Blue Quills, but right now we’re seeing more Early Brown Stoneflies than anything else. Late afternoon is the best time to try a dry fly right now, but any good holding water that’s about knee deep in the sunshine could rise a fish.
We’re still keeping an eye on the tailwater flows, but not expecting those rivers to be fishable any time soon. TVA still has to drop the reservoirs quite a bit before we can even start to look for flows to drop. We’ll keep you posted.
Update: Only Cades Cove Loop was still closed as of 9:23 AM due to down trees and that will likely be open soon.
