Wet Weather Across East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains

It’s been pretty gray and wet across East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains for the last couple of weeks. So far we’ve seen some high water in the Smokies but have yet to see any sort of flooding here in Townsend or on the Little River system. Most of the precipitation has been localized and not necessarily widespread since it’s mainly been the product of afternoon thunderstorms.

A gray afternoon of fly fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains

Fishing has remained good for the most part, although there have been a few days when the fish seemed to turn off as frontal boundaries slid past or thunderstorms started to develop. The good news is that we don’t seem to be in any imminent danger of entering drought conditions any time soon.

Dry fly fishing has been excellent throughout the day but we’ve often resorted to a dropper rig with a small beadhead at times when the fish aren’t rising to our flies as aggressively.

An unreasonably beautiful wild rainbow trout caught on a dry fly in the Smokies

Wet wading is absolutely and an option right now, but there are days when temperatures remain in the mid to low 70’s so it can be pretty chilly to go without waders if there’s no sunshine or it’s raining.

You should probably check our stream flows page before heading out as flows are varying quite a bit from one stream to the next and one day to another. Lately we’ve seen the Tennessee side of the Smokies has had better flows than the North Carolina side where flows have been significantly higher.

This colorful brown trout ate a #16 Zelon Nymph fished under a #14 Stimulator

The tailwaters have been fishing well when we’ve been able to get on them. So far we’ve experienced quite a bit of volatility when it comes to flows. April and May are typically the most reliable times of year for consistent flows on our tailwaters, but this is the second consecutive year when that hasn’t been the case. High water levels and inflows into Cherokee and Norris reservoirs have resulted in relatively high flows from those dams. The Clinch below Norris Dam has had flows good for floating although too high for wading. Flows on the Holston have generally been too high with some windows of good water. Unfortunately the up and down nature of the flows has kept the fish and bugs from getting into a good groove.

Clinch River brown trout

Nymphing has been the best way to hook up on the Clinch although there are reliable hatches of Sulphurs most afternoons. The fish have been skittish and picky though, so the dry fly fishing hasn’t been great. Dead drifting Pheasant Tail or Zelon Nymphs deep under an indicator has been the the way to get on the fish most of the day and streamers have also provided some decent action under cloudy skies.