We’re on the backside of summer, at least as far as vacation schedules go. We’re still experiencing summer weather but that will all change soon. A few buckeyes and acorns have started dropping, but those aren’t the only signs of autumn. Bull elk on the North Carolina side of the Smokies have moved down from […]
Summer Wet Wading Season Has Arrived in the Smokies
We still haven’t seen what we’d call “hot” weather, but wet wading season has arrived. Overnight temperatures aren’t as cold and afternoons are pretty warm. Couple that with reduced stream flows where you don’t wade very deep and there’s not much reason to wear a full set of waders. This allows anglers to hike in […]
Fall Fishing Season Draws to a Close
Somehow we’ve looked up and it’s almost Thanksgiving. It’s been another year with long weeks but a short season. We still have some trips on the calendar but our busy season is behind us. This fall was exceptionally colorful with some great weather. The biggest drawback came in the form of low water conditions and […]
Wet Weather in the Smokies is Keeping Stream Levels Optimal for Fly Fishing
We’ve been in a bit of a wet weather pattern for over a year now. That’s had mixed results on the fishing in East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains. River fishing on the large tailwaters has been spotty at best because of high flows. Typically we’re in a pretty predictable pattern in June. We usually […]
A New Age of Fly Fishing in the Smokies
We’ve been guiding 100 days or more per year in the Smokies on top of plenty of fishing over the many years now. In all that time on the water I’ve been aware of changes but last week a couple of things happened on the same day to make me realize I’m fishing in a […]
R&R Fly Fishing Unplugged
Summers are pretty short when you guide for a living and you have a couple of school age kids. Work is busy and seemingly constant and the kids are already back in school here in Townsend, Tennessee now that the calendar has turned to August. The absolute best part of self employment is the ability […]
Fall wildlife in the Smokies
Here’s another beautifully filmed piece from the Great Smoky Mountains Association. Take a two minute vacation to the Smokies to see bugling elk, black bears, and wild turkeys in the autumn. [youtube]http://youtu.be/Tu-pUpQE-oc[/youtube]
Fly Fishing Around Elk This Fall
Fall fishing is almost here, but so is the elk rut. Anyone who will be fly fishing over at Cataloochee or Oconaluftee this fall should probably take a quick look at this video posted by the Great Smoky Mountains Association. Honestly, it’s mostly common sense, but we’ve spent a considerable amount of time fishing around […]
Smoky Mountain Elk and Photographer Butt Heads
We posted this video yesterday to Twitter and our Facebook page but thought it would be a good addition to the blog as well. The video is from Cataloochee Valley and looks like it’s very close to where Palmer Fork and Rough Fork join to form Cataloochee creek near the church. This video probably won’t […]
Report from the Field: Cataloochee Creek
With school starting up next week we looked up from work to see we hadn’t taken a family camping trip this summer. Most of the summer vacationers have already started to thin out here in the Smokies and it seems that many might have simply given up on account of all the rainy days, so […]