This week marks a milestone in Smoky Mountain trout fisheries. Steve Moore, the head fisheries biologist at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, will be retiring from his post. His impact on the fishery, relations with anglers, and regulations shouldn’t be underestimated. Steve’s biggest impact was to bring hard science to the fisheries management. Previous management […]
2014 Starts Out Wet & Cold Across East Tennessee & the Smoky Mountains
As I sit down to write this Townsend, TN is under a winter storm warning through tomorrow morning. Right now it’s raining but we awoke this morning to the gentle tap of sleet outside. The Smokies are forecast to receive several inches of snow as temperatures fall late this afternoon through the night. All I […]
We Take a Look Back at 2013
We’ll always remember 2013, but probably won’t look back at it so fondly as we do other years. We’ll always remember the severe drought of 2007 and the way it stretched a bit into 2008, but those years weren’t so tough as 2013. Without a doubt 2013 was the toughest we’ve seen in our eleven […]
Video Retrospective of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2013
Here’s another great video from the Great Smoky Mountains Association filled with stunning time lapse images from the Smokies coupled with local events from 2013. Flooding rains, tornadoes, the government shutdown, brilliant fall colors, and snowfalls are all covered. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTsZwRkZbgM&feature=sharecontrol&list=UUGgSN2xOftPusuRNvpnVLaA[/youtube]
Rivers & Streams Blown Out
Our suggestion right now is to finish up your Christmas shopping and have another glass of eggnog because there’s not much point in heading out to the river for a couple of days. Flows are high across East Tennessee and Western North Carolina and not really worth the effort for the time being. Those with […]
Mild Weather Across East Tennessee
Every day that’s gone by hasn’t been quite so cold in the morning and a bit warmer in the afternoon. Yesterday it was pretty comfortable on the stream with just a light jacket. Today we’ve gotten out of bed with flat out warm temperatures but the wind doesn’t bode well for what’s to come. Any […]
The Perfect Drift: Winter Fly Fishing Video
We spotted this short video over on Chi-Wulff and decided to cherry pick it for ourselves as well. It doesn’t look like the Smokies, but it’s close enough when you look at the water and the fish. Maybe you can’t get to the stream right now or just don’t have that mental defect to make […]
Back Behind the Oars
For the past few weeks we’ve seen some negotiable, if not consistent, flows on our local tailwaters. Last weeks cold, high flows in the Smokies meant that we should hitch up the drift boat to find the best opportunities to hook some trout. There were some very nice fish in the mix and it was […]
High Water Across East Tennessee and Western North Carolina
Looks like it’s a rough week to be a fly fisher around East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. We’ve seen quite a bit of rain over the weekend and more continues to fall. All the mountain streams are running high and the TVA has the tailwaters running at the moment to keep reservoirs levels at […]
Tis the Season for Winter Nymphing
It’s that time of year here in the Smokies. We’d really like to get over on the Clinch, Holston, or Hiwassee more but erratic generation schedules are keeping us tight to the Smokies most of the time. If you only get to the Smokies every few weeks or months you don’t see the day to […]