Fall Fishing Season Draws to a Close

This fall was exceptionally colorful in the Smokies

Somehow we’ve looked up and it’s almost Thanksgiving. It’s been another year with long weeks but a short season. We still have some trips on the calendar but our busy season is behind us. This fall was exceptionally colorful with some great weather. The biggest drawback came in the form of low water conditions and dry weather. We thought we’d get heavy rain and wind in the aftermath of hurricane Ian, but got nothing more than some drizzle.

Water conditions got very low by early November, but last weekend we received some much needed rain that brought flows back to normal. Not only did the weather bring better water conditions, but cold weather to go along with it. There was about 3″ of snow on Mount Leconte and other high peaks of the Smokies. Daytime highs are forecast to be in the 40’s through Thanksgiving with overnight lows in the 20’s. That’s the middle to low elevations and the high ridges will be even colder.

A solid brown trout that took a Stimulator this fall

The best dry fly fishing of the year is certainly behind us, but there will likely be a few fish willing to look up. The smart money will be on double nymph rigs with small to medium flies in #12 – 16. We have an affinity for fishing Beadhead Pheasant Tails, Pat’s Nymphs, Prince Nymphs, and Tellico Nymphs but there are plenty of good flies out there to choose from. We try to fish one a little bigger and the other a bit smaller. Something like a #10 – 12 Prince Nymph and #14 – 16 Pheasant Tail. That allows for different looks and different sizes.

Don’t give up on dry flies entirely though. Expect fish to still look up here and there, especially on sunny afternoons. All the old favorites should be good. Think Stimulators, Parachute Adams, and Thunderheads in #14 – 16.

On another note, we thought we’d pass along a cool photo of a herd of elk just inside the park from Cherokee, NC. This was the most elk we’ve seen in one place at the same time. And to be clear, all of the elk wouldn’t fit in frame. This photo is perhaps 1/3 or fewer of the elk that were present. There was at least 50 here and we’ve seen many others in several locations throughout the Smokies this season.

The total herd seems to be healthy and growing. One thing you can notice from the photo above is that there are plenty of calves. These were born back in June. Ian even happened on a newborn along Newfound Gap Road while driving to meet a guide client one morning.

A newborn elk calf with its mother last June