We hate to put a jinx on the whole thing (it’s not like fly fishers are superstitious or anything) but it sure looks like the best week of the fishing season so far is coming up. We’re looking at sunshine at temperatures flirting with 70 degrees. Add in some good river flows and you can’t help but be optimistic.
There still aren’t many leaves on the trees, but expect streams in the Smokies to look like this soon.
Stream levels were pretty high last week and we had some folks determined to get some fishing in while they were in town. It wasn’t great but we managed to keep folks in some fish even as we delayed most of those trips as much as possible.
Heading to the Smokies? Expect water levels to still be a bit on the high side but very workable. You’ll need to exercise caution on big streams like Little River but the dry fly fishing should be great in the afternoons. Small stream enthusiasts will have a ball.
The Clinch and Holston Rivers are seeing the most consistently good flows we’ve seen in months. We’ve had some good flows in the past but they changed on an almost daily basis. Right now it looks like this should last for some time, although the reservoirs are filling fast.
We’ve seen some excellent rainbows & browns on the Clinch this year as well as some pretty nice brookies