Over the course of the spring Charity and I have felt like the fishing was a little more difficult than usual. There were more days than usual when trout in the Smokies wouldn’t rise to a dry fly very well and the number of fish taking a fly on the tailwaters seemed light compared to […]
Peak of the Guide Season
It’s that time of year when we catch our breath, look up at the calendar and realize that it’s the middle of May already. We’ve been guiding quite a bit lately and the calendar doesn’t have much daylight until we’re well beyond Memorial Day. We’re at that time where Ian is spending most days in the […]
A Warm Week Ahead With Endless Possibilities
If you’re looking for a place to go fishing this week you likely won’t need to look far. Water levels on mountain streams are excellent, tailwater flows are about as good as you can hope for. You can’t float the Hiwassee or South Holston right now, but other than that you can wade on any […]
Looking for Some Consistency On the Way
This week’s fishing could be best summed up by Dickens’ opener to a Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Over the period of less than a week we saw gorgeous, sunny weather, snow, a couple of passing storm fronts, a temperature roller coaster, fantastic hatches, […]
Weather Improving After A Tough Week
It’s been an odd week around here. One that started with sunshine and flowers, regressed to freezing weather and light snow, then bounced back to warm rain. The freezing nights dropped water tempertures down to the high 30’s in some spots and the fish were locked down for most of the morning. We adjust our […]
Spring Kicks Into Gear
So far we’ve mostly seen some false starts as far as spring fishing has been concerned. Some nice weather with setbacks and little in the way of hatches. It finally seems as if that’s over and we’re really there! Saturday was easily the best day of fishing we’ve seen so far this year. And by […]
The Cruelest Month?
Yesterday the sun was shining brightly and wearing long sleeves made you sweat on the river. Today it’s raining and the thermometer is set to plunge tonight. Tomorrow morning we’ve been told to expect freezing temperatures in the low 20’s and teens up in the Smokies along with a dusting of snow on the mountains. […]
Spring Fishing Starts Now
It was an absolutely beautiful weekend here in the Smoky Mountains. In spite of warm weather the streams are still a little on the cold side, but things are certainly moving in the right direction. While there have been some insect hatches on the streams we have yet to see the best of the season. […]
Here We Go
It’s not red hot fishing, but we’re seeing bugs and that’s a start. Here’s a fresh arrival we saw on the river today in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. First of all, don’t panic. You’re not really missing much. There weren’t many bugs today and the fish let most of those drift on past unmolested. […]
Video: Fly Fishing the Blue Quill Hatch in the Great Smoky Mountains
March is here and it won’t be long before we see abundant hatches on the wild trout streams of the Great Smoky Mountains. Most experienced anglers in the region are familiar with Quill Gordons, Hendricksons, and March Browns but many are less aware of another very important mayfly hatch, the Blue Quill. Here’s a video […]