It’s safe to say we’ve crossed the line from autumn to winter here in the Smoky Mountains. We’ve had to scrape frost from the windshield before taking our son to school in the morning. Our view of Thunderhead Mountain and the Smokies’ crest has been white too. We had a little snow up high last […]
Late Summer Adventures Before Autumn Arrives
It’s been pretty hot and relatively dry here in East Tennessee, but things have been much more varied in the Smokies. While the Tennessee side of the mountains was extremely dry in July, the North Carolina side was wetter with more moisture from thunderstorms. Water conditions improved all over at the end of the month […]
Fly Fishing in the Smokies Slows Down with the Cold Weather
It’s officially the slow season here in the Smokies. It’s nearly 8:00 AM when the sun peaks up over the mountains and it’s dark shortly after 5:00. Overnight temperatures here in Townsend are regularly in the 20’s and 30’s but much colder up on the crest of the Smokies. Water temperatures have been hovering somewhere […]
The Fall Fishing Season Comes to a Close
It was a busy November here in the Smokies with a roller coaster ride of temperatures. We had several mornings of hard frost with lows waaay down in the 20’s, but the weather was quite pleasant overall. There were even a couple of days with record high temperatures near 80 in the afternoon. The big […]
Summer Wet Wading Season Has Arrived in the Smokies
We still haven’t seen what we’d call “hot” weather, but wet wading season has arrived. Overnight temperatures aren’t as cold and afternoons are pretty warm. Couple that with reduced stream flows where you don’t wade very deep and there’s not much reason to wear a full set of waders. This allows anglers to hike in […]
Classic Spring Fly Fishing in the Smokies
It’s been a phenomenal spring season here in the Smoky Mountains. The forest is greening up more and more everyday and the slopes are carpeted with wildflowers. Bears have gone from absent to relatively common. And of course, dry fly fishing has come on strong… Water levels have been very good. We’ve seen very little […]
Looks Like an Early Spring
It’s popular to follow the groundhog in February to get a sense of how long winter will be, but we’ve found our trout stream insects to be more reliable. This past week has seen a dramatic warm up accompanied by the first emergences of insects. We’ve already seen brown stoneflies, Blue Quills, Quill Gordons, and […]
Looking Forward to the New Year
We’ve just emerged from what will likely be the coldest weather of the season and landed in some remarkably mild conditions. Rivers and streams in the Smokies were frozen over for the better part of a week during Christmas. Fortunately our weather has warmed up quite a bit and we’ve been able to get out […]
Settling Into the Winter Rhythm
We’re well into December and the guide season is getting further in the rearview mirror now. November was colder than average. Along with low water conditions that made for some tough fishing as we rounded out our season. It typically draws to a close after Thanksgiving weekend every year. December has been exceptionally mild, though, […]
Fall Fishing Season Draws to a Close
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 […]