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 […]
Best Fly Fishing in the Smokies in Several Years
We’ve been hard at it, guiding almost every day. In fact, we usually have a couple of trips out on the river. We took a few days off about a week ago to put a booth in at the Townsend TroutFest, but other than that we’ve been on the water. Water levels in the Smoky […]
Back from Hazel Creek But the Busy Guide Schedule Continues
We had what may have been our best trip to Hazel Creek. The weather was beautiful, the company was great, and the food was awesome. We had sunny weather with temperatures in the 70’s every day and great nights in the 50’s. The skies were exceptionally clear and the sky was filled with stars. Oh […]
OK… Enough of the Cold, Dreary Weather
It’s been a couple of days of cold, gray, and wet days on the rivers and streams. The fishing has been decent, but more sporadic through the day than consistent. Fishing in the Smokies has been best in the afternoons and water levels are workable. Nymphs are the way to go in the mornings, but […]
Great Week of Fly Fishing in East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains
It’s been a great week of fly fishing here in the Smoky Mountains and East Tennessee. Charity, Tim, and I have been on the water in several locations and the fishing has been pretty good everywhere we’ve been. Our guide season has started and at least one of us will be on the water almost […]
Spring Hatches Kick Off; Excellent Stream Flows in the Smokies
Fly fishing for trout is pretty good all over East Tennessee right now. Streams inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park are fishing great, water levels are excellent, and tailwater flows are pretty good. In short, life is good. No doubt Tom at Trout Underground will believe those of us fortunate enough to live a in […]
Four Word Fishing Report; Spring Hatches Arrive in the Smokies
Charity and I spoke at the Atlanta Fly Fishing Club on Wednesday night, so we haven’t been on the water for the past two days, but we do have a fishing report to pass on from our neighbor and fishing buddy Doug Sanders. There we sat in a hotel room in mid-town Atlanta, checking our […]
Midging Trout on the Tailwaters and some Streamer Fishing
It’s only a short time before our spring guide season gets under way so we’re trying to get as much fishing in for ourselves as we can. While driving to a show about a month ago one of us said that we’re both on the river hundreds of days each year, but relatively few are […]
Another Winter Blast in the Smokies; Good Fly Fishing Just Around the Corner
Last week’s mild weather energized us for spring fishing, but winter isn’t over just yet. We woke up yesterday morning to see the following scene out of our window. The temperature struggled to reach 30 degrees and the three inches of snow we received is still here today. It was a bit of a jolt […]
Icy Weekend on Smoky Mountain Streams
It was a cold weekend; one better suited to ice fishing than fly fishing here in the Smoky Mountains. Overnight temperatures were below zero high in the mountains and daytime highs were only in the 20’s. Needless to say, fishing wasn’t worth it, but we went out to see the rivers and streams. Water just […]