Conditions are dry but relatively cool across the Smoky Mountain region of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. Fly fishing will be best on the Tennessee side of the Smokies and on the tailwaters. Cataloochee is at or near record low flows right now. The Oconaluftee is a little better, but still quite low. Little […]
Smokies Fishing Well; Fishing Report from the Rocky Mountains
Rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ike brought some beneficial rain to the Smoky Mountains without creating any flooding. A touch of fall is in the air now that overnight temperatures are sinking into the 50’s and afternoon temperatures are in the 70’s in the mountains. Dry fly fishing is good right now. The basic […]
Water’s a Bit Low in the Smoky Mountains; Temperatures Cool
We’ve gone a little while without rain and the stream levels are starting to show it. Fortunately cool over night temperatures are keeping the fish and bugs happy. We’ve seen some really nice Trico hatches early in the day and they have kept fish watching the surface. These are extremely small mayflies so you’ll need […]
Fly Tying: The Hi-Vis Parachute Blue Wing Olive
Fall is almost upon us and with it comes some great dry fly fishing. Rising trout in the fall are more difficult to coax to a dry fly than they are in the spring. Spring hatches are usually more robust with more bugs on the water. Additionally, the bugs are much larger. Low water conditions […]
Fly Fish With Dropper Rigs to Catch More Trout
Fly fishing with dropper rigs is one of the most effective methods for catching trout with flies. First, it allows a fly fisher to fish two different fly patterns which doubles your chances of fishing the right fly at the right time. Second, it makes it possible to have a fly in two places at […]
Fly Fishing in Cataloochee Valley and Upper Little River; Last Chance to Fish on Lynn Camp Prong
We’ve had a few personal days to do some fly fishing here in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. First, I took a hike well upstream of Elkmont to fish upper Little River well above Fish Camp Prong. This is the area where Meigs Post Prong enters the stream and brook trout start […]
Rivers & Streams in Great Shape for Fly Fishing on Labor Day Weekend
We’ve had several days of steady rains here in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. This will have excellent results for anyone planning to do some fly fishing over the coming weekend. Yesterday we received a shade less than an inch of rain here in Townsend and about the same in Galinburg. However, […]
Rain Falls on the Smokies; Great Time for Wildlife Watching
Rain is forecast for the next few days over the Smokies Things have gotten a tad crispy and the most of the streams were beginning to look pretty dry, but today we’ve gotten our wish. The remnants of tropical storm Fay are forecast to bring rain to East Tennessee and Western North Carolina for the […]
Fishing’s Pretty Good; Just Go to the Right Spot
I’m a tad reluctant to say fishing has been excellent. We’re in the hottest part of summer and still in the dry grip of a drought that just won’t seem to break, even steering a tropical storm around us. However, I’ve got to say that everywhere we’ve been fishing this week has been pretty good! […]
Fly Fishing for Brookies in the Smoky Mountain Wildnerness
Now that school has started back up there’s a bit of a lull in the guiding. That’s usually the way it goes, busy through spring and summer, a lull in mid-August, the rush of Labor Day weekend, then another lull as college football gets going strong in September. The cool weather and autumn color of […]
