Warm weather has arrived in the Smoky Mountains and there isn’t any cold weather in the extended forecast. We’ve experienced the usual roller coaster of conditions that are so common in late winter and early spring; a few days of unseasonable warmth followed by a return to winter. Then some rain and high water with […]
Winter Weather Returns to the Smokies After Unseasonable Warmth
Snow is in the forecast for the Smoky Mountains this week after we experienced a couple of weeks of nearly record warmth. A few days flirted with 70 degrees in the mountains, but it was at or above 50 most days since Christmas. It’s not unheard of for a few days like that in the […]
Winter Fly Fishing Season Arrives in the Smokies
The warm, sunny days of autumn are behind us and we’re looking at the gray, cold days of winter here in the Smoky Mountains. That doesn’t mean our fly fishing opportunities are gone, but they certainly are limited. It’s no longer October when every stream on the map was fishing well. Anglers will need to […]
Fall Fly Fishing in the Smokies Continues as the Season Winds Down
The bulk of fall color in the Smokies has passed, but there are still some good days on the water left in the year. We had a stunning autumn season with colors popping up high in early October and quickly filtering into the lower elevations as the weeks and days passed. We’ve had great water […]
Cool Fall Weather with Peak Colors in the Smokies
There’s no doubt about it anymore, fall is in full swing. Foliage is at peak color in many locations and the highest ridge lines have already shed most of their leaves in the Smokies. We will likely see our first frost here around Townsend this week as well. Fall is one of our favorite seasons […]
Fly Fishing Through the Government Shutdown in Great Smoky Mountains National Park
This is an important update for anyone coming to the Smokies to fly fish in the near term. There is a shutdown of the federal government. National parks are a division of the federal government and their employees have been told not to come to work as their funding has expired. We’ve weathered every one […]
Fall Fly Fishing in the Smokies Upon Us!
We’ve returned from Yellowstone and it’s late September in the Smokies. There’s a bit of fall in the air, but the weather is currently more “late summer” than fall. However, the equinox is upon us and the nights are so much longer than they were in June. The mornings are very cool too, usually in […]
Yellowstone Trip Report
We’re back from our group trip to West Yellowstone, Montana and WOW was it a good one! Charity and I hosted a group of 18 fly fishers from across the country at the Golden Stone Inn and we fished with our favorite guides from Big Sky Anglers. Everyone in the group was such a pleasure […]
An Early Taste of Fall in the Smoky Mountains
We’re rounding out August here in the Smokies with the best weather we’ve seen in a long time. Daytime temperatures in Townsend have been in the 70’s and overnights have been in the 50’s. Shave off another 10 degrees if you’re further up in the mountains and 15-20 up on the high ridges over 5000′. […]
Good Stream Flows During the Heat of Summer
This July has been a hot one in the Southeast. Daytime highs have been at or about 90 here in Townsend for the past few weeks. That has led to higher water temperatures in some area streams, but fortunately things are far from all doom and gloom. July is typically the wettest month of the […]
