This is the time to find big brown trout in the Smoky Mountains. The water is low and clear and the the fish are on the move seeking out a partner for the upcoming spawn.
Notice I said “find”, not catch. Yes, we catch them this time of year too, but this is usually how things go. This brown trout was on Little River and is somewhere in the 20-21″ range.
Just because they’re sitting out in the open doesn’t mean they’ll eat. In fact, if just 10% of the fish we’ve seen like this would eat you’d think the Smokies were overrun with big brown trout. We repeated this scenario three times in two hours yesterday. Occasionally there will be a day when they eat really well, but most of the time they have this ultra cautious attitude. Sometimes they leave before you even get the line stripped off the reel.
We’ll keep trying though!
Travis Smith says
Yep, had that happen to me twice last Saturday on Deep Creek. One of them actually took a swipe at my #14 cinnamon caddis before he disappeared on the next cast. But I’ll keep trying too…………
Ian says
Any time you get a chance is a good thing in these streams!