Spring fever is catching here in the Smoky Mountains and across Tennessee. Fly fishers have begun to disregard the weather report and just go fishing! We’ve got it about as bad as anyone. This is the time of year when we’re consumed with the mundane details of operating a guide service. We’ve been tending to […]
Warm days provide great tailwater fly fishing
We’ve had plenty of rain and some warm weather here in the mountains of East Tennessee. Local streams are just about where they need to be, perhaps even a little high, and more rain is on the way. For the first time in a long time our rainfall totals are caught up, even if it […]
Smoky Mountain Trout Populations Set to Rebound After the Drought of 2007
2007 saw the worst drought on record for the Southern Appalachian region. Water levels were at historic lows throughout East Tennessee, Western North Carolina, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Many fly fishers wrote the park off as a disaster area and headed to other destinations. While we couldn’t blame anyone, we experienced great fishing […]
The Haystack: One of our Favorite Smoky Mountain Trout Flies
The Haystack is one of our favorite fly patterns for spring mayfly hatches in the Smoky Mountains. We’re providing the tying instructions because this fly isn’t readily available in most fly shops or catalogs, even in the Smoky Mountain region. This fly is easily tied with materials found on virtually any fly tying desk. There […]
Video preview of spring fly fishing in Tennessee and the Smokies
It’s been a long winter and we’re all itching to get back on the water. Here are a couple of video moments to help you remember what it’s like to be on the river when the sun is shining and the trout are rising. The first clip was filmed by our good friend Carl Babcock […]
Tying Flies for Spring
It’s been a pretty cold week and things probably won’t get much better for close to another week. Water temperatures have been mostly in the 30’s with a few ventures into the low 40’s. It’s actually worth fishing if the water is over 40, but not real productive until you get over 45. Even when […]
Winter Days in the Smokies
We’re just getting over a bout with the cold here in the Rutter household. Our daughter Willow picked it up at a birthday party a couple of weeks ago, Charity succumbed a few days later, and I held on until the bitter end when I got it. We all seem to have turned the corner […]
Smoky Mountain and Tennessee Fishing Reports Resume
Where Have Ian & Charity Been? We’re still around and I suppose we’ve got some explaining to do. It’s been quite a while since we’ve posted anything and we’d like to assure everyone that we’re OK. Thanks to all who checked in to make sure we were still around. Some folks have made the reasonable […]
R&R Fly Fishing Back From the West
Charity and I returned from our Western trip a couple of days ago and are gearing up for the busy fall fly fishing season in Tennessee and North Carolina. We intended to post a few reports from the road but a lack of internet access and an abundance of fishing opportunities kept us from getting […]
Last day of “summer” fly fishing in the Smokies?
Today Tim Doyle and I took a group of guys from middle Tennessee for a day of fishing up in the park. We were glad to see the Laquieres were in good shape and took them into a section of stream that’s a little tougher to access. The fish weren’t exactly jumping on the hook, […]
