Water levels are still pretty high but the good news is that they are starting to get negotiable for fishing again. Don’t expect to be able to wade anywhere and there’s a good chance you won’t be able to cross the stream, but there is a good chance you’ll be able to catch a fish. […]
Unprecedented Water Conditions Across East Tennessee & The Smoky Mountains
We’re not the oldest fly fishers in the region, but we have been guiding a long time now. Charity has been doing this professionally for about 12 years now and Ian has been at it since 1995 plus we’ve been around the area longer than that. We’ve never seen or heard of water conditions like […]
Keeping Our Fingers Crossed
Take a look at stream flows across East Tennessee and another look at TVA releases on the tailwaters and there’s good reason for optimism. After another week of rainy weather and blown out rivers and streams we’re off to a good start. But to be completely honest, we have a sense of deja vu because […]
Our Advice Is To Watch the Flows Carefully
To be clear, we’re used to flows on the tailwaters lacking absolute consistency. We get reliable flows in the spring when the reservoirs are filling, then in June you need to pay more attention but you can usually divine a pattern from it that you can work with. We came to terms with this fact […]
Fish When You Can
You’ve probably heard the old saying “When is the best time to fish? Any time you can!” We’ve always agreed with that sentiment but with the current water situation it’s taken on a deeper meaning. Our creeks have been blown out for more than half of the past week and our tailwaters… Well, at least […]
How Does All this Rain Affect the Fishing?
We hear it all the time. “How does (insert weather condition) affect the fishing?” At the moment we’re pushing a 14″ surplus for rainfall and the year isn’t even half way through yet. So, as you might imagine, we’re getting tons of questions about how all this water influences fishing and fish populations. In the […]
Another Round of High Water in the Smokies
This has been one helluva season… More high water than we can ever remember even though we get plenty of fishing in between rounds. You might say that we’ve been furloughed once again. Notice how under the best of days we running no less than twice the typical volume of water. And by the way, […]
Watching River Flows and the Weather Forecast
I won’t lie. It’s been a pretty frustrating couple of weeks for us and likely other fly fishing guides across East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountain region. Depending on the day, sometimes even the hour, we have flows that are blown out or fishable. That’s forced us and our anglers to be as flexible as […]
Rain Keeping the Rivers Full and Us On Our Toes
I’ve been on the water doing some smallmouth trips lately, but the current rain situation is keeping those rivers muddy. We’re waiting on them to clear and hope next week turns out better than this one. With the record drought years of 2007 – 08 still fresh in our mind it seems strange to complain […]
Dryer Weather & Better Water Conditions Across East Tennessee
Things have finally started to dry out here in East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains. The following graph might only look like a bad flashback from 12th grade math, but for those of us who closely watch river and stream levels it’s pretty significant. What you’re looking at is the lowest water levels we’ve seen […]