Jack Gotcher got the lifetime achievement award on our Hazel Creek campout a couple of weeks ago for this slab of a brown trout. Charity and I have both been on the water. I’ve been primarily behind the oars of the drift boat and she’s been working the Smokies plus we had TroutFest in Townsend […]
Fly Fishing with Streamers on the Clinch River
The Clinch has had a long run with one of our favorite flows, one generator, but the fishing remains a little tough. I had a guided float today and the river produced, but didn’t exactly show off. Absolutely nothing happened on nymphs today and there were few insects moving. Everything we saw was midges, no […]
Here’s to Improving Weather
It’s been a tough couple of days. The wind howled on Monday. Strong storms came in Monday night and a few local rivers were muddied as a result. I tried to float the Clinch Tuesday, but the combination of muddy water, steady rain, and gusty wind caused us to hit the eject button. The Smokies […]
Clinch River was a Tough Nut
Flows on the Clinch River finally dropped to a fishable level and while conditions weren’t what I’d term perfect, they were the best we’d seen in a while. Besides, the drift boat hasn’t seen much action this spring so I was eager to get back behind the oars after last week’s float on the Tuckaseegee. […]
The Calendar Says Winter, But It’s Fishing Like Spring
February is definitely a winter month. Here in East Tennessee it’s not unusual to get a good break for a few days, but it’s unusual for spring to be in full swing by the end of the month. That’s what it’s beginning to look like. One of many trout that have succumbed to the dry […]
Our Spring Fly Fishing Forecast for East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains
Even though we had a good chunk of winter left we’re taking phone calls and answering emails everyday from folks wondering when the best fly fishing will arrive. Here in East Tennessee good conditions arrive much earlier than they do in other parts of the country. We have a nice variety of mountain streams and […]
Water levels fall in the Smokies but increase on the Clinch
Charity and I got out on the water for a few hours in the Smokies yesterday. Stream levels were generally high, but the fishing wasn’t bad. We fished nymphs deep in calm pockets and got a surprisingly good number of strikes. Charity fished a Zelon Nymph and Pats Nymph with a split shot under a […]
Video Fishing Report – Late November in the Smokies and the Clinch River
It’s been beautiful if not a bit cooler for the last couple of weeks here in the Smoky Mountains and East Tennessee. We’ve got another good video fishing report from the stream to share. It’s pretty tough to guide from the drift boat and get much in the way of good video, particularly on a […]
Cold Weather Arrives Right on Time
Here in East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains we can usually count on two things Thanksgiving week. It’s typically our last busy week of the guide season and cold weather usually sets in sometime that week. This year the best weather was on the front side of the holiday with near record warmth. Not much […]
Nymphing is the Best Method for Catching Trout
The warm weather has continued for quite a while here in East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains and we’ve taken as much advantage as we’ve been able. A front moved through the area yesterday with some rain and cooler temperatures, but nothing has changed much. Water conditions are just about perfect in the Smokies. I […]