It’s May and you’ll find all kinds of bugs hatching wherever you go around East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains. There are some Hendricksons still hatching plus some huge March Browns on the bigger streams. In the evenings the yellow mayflies are showing up in several species. All you really need to know is they […]
Most Area Streams Fishable After Heavy Rains
Last night was certainly an interesting one here in East Tennessee as we had strong winds, heavy rain, and even some hail in a few locations. The “on the scene” report from the Smokies is that most of the streams are in good shape. The bulk of rain fell west of the mountains in Tennessee. […]
Camera Voodoo
Fishermen are a superstitious lot and we’re no exception. Anyone who’s followed us over the years knows about our devotion to Rain Jacket Voodoo. (Yes, capitalized.) Rain Jacket Voodoo is where you can carry rain gear for months and never use it, but the first time you venture out without it you’ll get soaked. We […]
First High Country Expedition for Native Broook Trout in the Smokies This Season
It’s about that time. Spring is in full effect, wildflowers are blooming in the Smokies and shades of bright green are ascending the mountains slowly one day at a time. It’s time to start hiking in for native brook trout known as specks in the southern mountains. While the fishing featured more nymphing than is […]
We’re guiding all around East Tennessee and the Smokies
The season is in full swing and every day finds us in a different place. One day rowing the drift boat, wading a stream in the Smokies the next day. This week we’ve had a true blend of fly fishing for trout in our home waters. We saw a little more snow this week and […]
Quick Pic: Golden Stonefly Nymph
Here’s a golden stonefly nymph we recently found in a stream while flipping rocks. These guys are very common in the Smokies and are very distinctive in appearance so they’re easy to identify. Now you know why the Tellico Nymph does so well in streams across the region.
A Beautiful Weekend on Hazel Creek
After last spring’s “Wet & Wild” Hazel Creek camp that featured torrential downpours for the second half of the weekend, it was a breath of fresh air to have nothing but blue skies and sunshine for all four days of our stay this past weekend. In spite of nearly perfect conditions, the fishing was a […]
High Water in the Smokies Before the Great Weather Arrives
Last week was just one of those weeks… This is my twentieth season guiding and Charity’s thirteenth so it’s not new, but you certainly don’t like it. A constant parade of weather disturbances came through featuring everything from snow, to rain, to high winds. It was just a tough week with yo-yo-ing water temps and […]
A Week of Ups & Downs
This past week was quite a roller coaster ride for us fishing guides. It started last weekend with a fresh 4″ of snow in the Smokies that flat out shut down fishing in park streams last Sunday. Trust me. As a guide it wasn’t pretty. But the weather quickly warmed up and our new drift […]
Good Bye to an Old Friend
The phone rang about dinner time last night and it all became a little more real. It was a truck driver on the outskirts of St Louis heading this way with a load of Hyde drift boats. One of them is ours. “You’re the guy with the trade-in, right?” That was our cue to get […]