Spring arrives today, and with it has come a hard freeze in the Smokies. That’s pretty typical this time of year. Sunny and 70 degrees one day, windy with rain the next, freezing the day after that…. All part of a Smoky Mountain spring. The first good hatches of the year have started and seemed […]
Excellent Water Conditions Are Continuing Into the Heart of Summer
We’re well into the month of July and water levels and temperatures have remained excellent in the Smokies. We haven’t seen the usual pattern of afternoon thunderstorms that pop up randomly over the mountains between 3:00 and 7:00. That has happened on some days but we’ve seen more organized rain systems drop precipitation over the […]
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 […]
Looking Forward to the New Year
We’ve just emerged from what will likely be the coldest weather of the season and landed in some remarkably mild conditions. Rivers and streams in the Smokies were frozen over for the better part of a week during Christmas. Fortunately our weather has warmed up quite a bit and we’ve been able to get out […]
Fall is Around the Corner
To be clear, there’s not much difference between the weather we’ve experienced this week and numerous days last summer. Overnight lows here in Townsend have been in the 60’s and afternoon highs in the 80’s. However, there have been no high 80’s nor any sign of 90’s in the forecast and we’ve even seen a […]
Typical May Weather Producing Some Great Fishing
We’re at the point in the season where we’ve already seen a few hatches come and go, but we’re in the peak of insect emergences on our streams. We’ve had to cancel or postpone a few trips due to some stormy weather or high and muddy water, but that’s a fact of spring fishing in […]
Fall Fishing Starting to Cool Down
2020 has been a long year for all of us, but we have to say it was pretty good as far as fly fishing in the Smoky Mountains was concerned. Water levels never got low. In fact, our flow issues were related to high water, but fortunately they usually correct within a few days. Autumn […]
A Wet August Sets Up the Smokies for Prime Fall Fishing
We’ve seen the typical heat and humidity that come with August in the Smokies, but with well above average rainfall. Most of this has come in the form of afternoon thunderstorms so it’s not like we’ve seen days upon days of dreary weather. While August hasn’t officially come to an end and there’s more rain […]
Daily Thunderstorms Keeping Stream Flows and Temperatures Optimal for Summer Fly Fishing
We’ve had an exceptionally busy summer guide season this year. After the park re-opened in May visitation has been very high and our guide calendar has been booked solid. Flows got a little skinny as July progressed but it seems we have moved passed that. The mountains have seen daily thunderstorms for a couple of […]
Summer Fly Fishing Is In Full Swing in the Smokies and East Tennessee
We’ve been wet wading for a week and water conditions have been perfect (finally!!) in the Smokies. Charity and I have both been guiding quite a bit as folks with cabin fever (not Covid-19) have been getting away to the mountains. We’ve been fishing a lot of dry and dropper set ups, but most days […]