We’re at the end of another fly fishing guide season here in the Great Smoky Mountain of East Tennessee. It was my 26th and Charity’s 19th and we’re glad to say we’re still plugging along with gas still in the tank. Today is the Monday after Thanksgiving, the day we usually look at as the day tourism business grinds to a sudden halt. Not only are things quiet here in Townsend, but cold and gloomy as well with snow in the forecast; up to 3″ here in Townsend and perhaps a foot or more along the crest of the Smokies.
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While we’ve certainly seen some cool weather this fall, it’s been relatively mild up to this point. While the fish continued to rise well to dry flies deep into November, there was a definite lull in the action over the last week. Nymphs also became more necessary with far fewer fish rising to the surface. We may have used our last dry and dropper rig for a while as winter has surely arrived along with the nymph fishing that goes along with it.
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We’ll be doing some fishing during the winter as always, but recommend taking it slow and easy if you’re heading to the wild trout streams. No point in getting there early. The best action will usually be between 11 AM and 4 PM. Expect to fish nymphs, but go ahead and experiment with attractor dry flies like Thunderheads, Royal Wulffs, and Stimulators. Try to shoot for water temperatures 42 or above. At 45 or more the fish should be moving. Below 38 and it will be tough. Not impossible, but few fish will be feeding and the ones that are probably won’t go out of their way to get hooked.
From this point until March we only guide afternoon half days and generally keep things tentative based on weather. The past few years have been exceptionally wet with relatively few good opportunities for fishing. We’re hoping this year is different and we get to spend more of our off season on the water.