It’s been a busy summer for us here in the Smokies! Fly fishing around East Tennessee has been great this summer and the season has slowed a bit now that school is back in session. We’ve had some new customers this season while still getting plenty of our old regular anglers out on the water. Our kids are growing up fast and we’re spending every last bit of time with them possible. That’s included some time at guitar lessons and in a karate studio, but the kids are outside most of the time.
Long time guide customer Tom Ellison lands one of many nice trout on his annual pilgrimage to fly fish the Smoky Mountains
It’s been a hot summer, but also a wet one here in the Smokies. We’re in a rainfall surplus for the year and water levels have been great all summer long. Now that we’re in late August we’ve finally gotten a mild dry streak, but this year that means we’ve gone about four or five days without any rain.
Most of the rain has come in the form of afternoon and evening thunderstorms, so we haven’t had many days lost due to weather. Still, there were a few days over the we had to cancel trips because of high water. We even had one exceptionally rare summer time flood on Little River that temporarily closed Little River Road and Elkmont Campground. Fortunately there wasn’t any damage and water levels receded to fishable levels in a few days.
A timber rattlesnake along a stream in the Tremont section of the Smokies
We’ve seen tons of wildlife this year. Bears have been an almost constant fixture everywhere we go along with turkeys and a few snakes. We’ve even seen a few elk on the Tennessee side of the park this year!
A black bear eating cherries high up in a tree near the Chimneys
Flows on our local TVA tailwaters have been OK, but it still gives us considerable heartburn trying to predict if or when flows will be worth fishing. Three of the last five years we’ve had flows that have caused us to either cancel or postpone a considerable number of floats. This has caused problems for everyone trying to plan trips and us trying to put anglers on the water with ideal conditions. As a result we’re not booking any float trips very far in advance. We may book a float on short notice if conditions are good and we have availability, but we’ve had so many issues lately we’d prefer to focus on guiding in the Smokies where conditions are far more predictable.
Wendy Williams caught this thick bodied 20″ rainbow on a float in July
Bill Boyd got in on some great late summer smallmouth bass on poppers
Fall is coming on fast! October and early November are among the best times for fly fishing in the Smokies. Dry fly fishing is usually great. You can’t beat the weather with cool mornings and comfortable, sunny afternoons plus the fall color in the Smokies is some of the best you’ll find anywhere.
A brook trout cruises the shallows in autumn
An October morning view across the Smokies