It’s time for another installment of our Fly of the Month. This month we feature a midge pupa pattern that we frequently fish on our tailwaters. It’s been one of our favorites on the Clinch and Holston Rivers plus we’ve found opportunities to use it successfully on Western Rivers like the Madison, Henry’s Fork, and […]
Download a FREE Chapter of our Book Rise Rings & Rhododendron
This cold time of year when the fishing is slow is the perfect time to do some reading about great fishing. You can now download a chapter of our book Rise Rings & Rhododendron for free. This is a PDF that is readable on your computer or mobile devices. Enjoy! Click Here for your free […]
Cold in the Smokies and High Flows on the Tailwaters
We’re looking forward to some mild weather that’s been forecast for East Tennessee this week. It’s been pretty cold up in the Smokies even though the weather has been relatively mild for January. Water temperatures in the Smokies haven’t topped 40 degrees in some time. That means that while fishing isn’t an exercise in futility, […]
Back on the River
The combination of holiday get togethers and foul weather kept us off the water far more than is usual, but we still managed to get out a little bit over the past couple of weeks. It’s winter which means cold and wet in the Smokies. Water levels have been anywhere from average to high, which […]
Good Fishing Continues Well Into December
Right now it feels like the Mayan Apocalypse. Here in Townsend we’re seeing sustained winds over 20 mph with gusts over 40. If you’re reading this in Kansas you might be chuckling at out concern, but when you live in a heavy forest it disconcerting to see some many trees bent half way over! Yes, […]
Our Predictions for 2013
The end of our 2012 guide season has essentially arrived. We actually have a few more guide trips on the calendar for December, but we have fewer trips between now and New Year’s Day than we typically do in a short week at other times of the year. Now that there’s some time for reflection […]
Tailwaters Getting in Shape
There’s a steady rain falling here in East Tennessee as I write this and cooler weather is on the way. That’s OK, though. If it’s going to rain, it might as well do it while you have to be at work, right? Plus it was a beautiful, warm weekend. The weather was unseasonably warm, the […]
Pleasant Conditions Look to Extend Into December
Now that our schedule has freed up we’re pretty grateful for the nice weather we’re seeing plus more in the extended forecast. Overnight temperatures are frosty, but we’re still seeing afternoon temperatures in the 50’s with a few days even pushing on past 60. Dry fly fishing isn’t a given anymore, but there are still […]
Our Free Fly of the Month Download – Zelon Nymph
You may remember our Fly of the Month subscription. It was a wildly popular program we used to offer. Ian would write up a monthly digest about an appropriate fly for that month and include bits about how to fish it and step by step instructions to tie it. Unfortunately the Fly of the […]
Ten Years Down the River
It’s late November, the end of our guide season here in East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains. As we always do at this time of year, we savor every nice day, trying to fit in some good fishing before the cold weather sets in to only leave us with a few decent hours a day […]