We had pretty cool weather in the Smokies over the 4th of July weekend. It was perfect on Saturday with sunny skies and temperatures that ranged from the mid 70’s to low 80’s depending on the exact location in the Smokies. We had scattered rain showers on Sunday and the weather was pretty cool. In […]
Fly Fishing Is Excellent Almost Anywhere You Go in East Tennessee
We’ve had a full week of fly fishing in the Smoky Mountains and East Tennessee this week. Mild weather and good water levels have made for perfect conditions from the brook trout streams high in the Smokies down to the smallmouth rivers in the valleys. This is peak season for hike-in trips in the Smokies. […]
Cooler Weather in the Forecast for East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains
After an oppressively hot weekend we’ve got some milder weather in the forecast this week. This should make for pleasant fishing in the Smokies where it’s already cooler than the surrounding area. I took Randy Ball and his fishing buddy Dennis on a float on the Clinch last Saturday. The weather was hot and muggy […]
Excellent Water Conditions in the Smokies; Spotty Fly Fishing for Smallmouths in Other Locations
Water conditions remain excellent for fly fishing in the Smoky Mountains. Recent rains are keeping streams at spring time levels. While dry fly fishing has been good in the medium to smaller streams, nymphing has accounted for more fish in the large to medium size streams. Smallmouth fishing has been a bit erratic lately. Some […]
Abundant Rain Makes Fly Fishing in the Smokies Easy, but Tougher in Other Parts of East Tennessee
We’re certainly in the middle of a wet thunderstorm season here in East Tennessee, receiving heavy downpours somewhere everyday. This has kept the trout streams in the Smoky Mountains full and the fish are happy. We’re still experiencing water levels similar to March and April and it’s a nice change after two previous years of […]
Clinch River Continues to Fish Well
Took Alan Barnes to the Clinch today for a quick primer before he takes a Western fly fishing trip in a few weeks. Nymphing was excellent. Most fish ate a #16 Beadhead Pheasant Tail Nymph, but we got a pretty good Sulphur hatch and landed some fish on dry fly. Generation schedules on the Clinch […]
Fly Fishing for Smallmouth Bass Heats Up as Summer Approaches
Had a phenomenal day of fly fishing for smallmouth bass on the Pigeon River here in East Tennessee. The river has miles of riffles, boulders, and aggressive bass. The float is beautiful as the Great Smoky Mountains loom in the distance. It’s usually pretty hard to get us off of poppers, but the fish were […]
Fly Fishing Photos from the Smoky Mountains and Tennessee’s Tailwaters
We’ve been pretty slack about getting fishing reports up in a timely fashion. The reason is that we’ve been incredibly busy guiding. In fact, it’s been the busiest guide season we’ve ever had and we’ve been going almost non-stop since mid-March. It’s been great to see all of our old friends this season, plus we’ve […]
A Look Back at Spring Fishing & Our Summer Fly Fishing Forecast for East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains
The big news is that the drought is officially over. In fact, we’re currently running a rainfall surplus here in East Tennessee. This has not only brought our stream levels back to normal, but also has implications for fly fishing on the tailwaters. Smoky Mountain Streams Spring hatches started strong with Quill Gordon mayflies in […]
Floating Tennessee Tailwaters – More Rain for National Park Waters
Charity here – As Ian floated the Holston River today I’ve been catching up on office work and book keeping. UGH! I’d rather be fishing! With all the rain we’ve received in the last 24 hours, Little River spiked up a bit overnight according to the river gauges, but has evened out and is starting […]
