It was a tough week for fly fishers throughout the Smoky Mountain region. If water levels were negotiable the temperatures were freezing and if the weather was mild the streams were at flood stage. Then there were the hurricane force winds! Wind gusts over 100 mph were recorded in the Smokies during a powerful storm. […]
Nice Brown Trout on Little River
I’m going to take this opportunity to brag on Andy Harman of Johnson City, Tennessee. He emailed me a little while back asking for a good place to fly fish close to Knoxville over the Thanksgiving holiday. The Clinch was blown out and he was looking for an alternative. I recommended Little River because of […]
Seeing the Different Water Levels on Little River
We took a short trip up Little River yesterday. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we saw a few fish sitting up in what we think of as predictable spots. We didn’t even rig a rod though. I think that just being outside on a pretty day was enough. Here’s a quick look at a […]
Water’s a Bit High, But the Weather’s Great
The water is still rather high after all the wet weather we’ve seen this weekend, but the weather is great. There wasn’t much fishing to be done yesterday so we drove over to lower Abrams Creek to just get outside and take a hike. We both speculated that we could row the drift boat down […]
Best Smokies Trout of the Year
Last week I took John Coley out for a day of fly fishing in the Smoky Mountains. John was about as enthusiastic as fly fishers get and I was eager to get him on the water since fish have been rising like crazy. Seriously, this fall has fished like spring as far as fish rising […]
Fly Fishing in the Smokies; Just not for Trout
We spent the weekend out on the water, but not where most people might think. We live within spitting distance of the largest wilderness area and selection of wild trout streams in the eastern United States and only an hour or so from a few quality tailwaters so it only makes sense we’d be fishing […]
Smokies Stream Levels Don’t Get Any Better Than This in August
It’s been a kind of soggy week here in the Smoky Mountains but stream levels just don’t get any better in August. If I woke up one morning with amnesia and couldn’t find a calendar I’d think it was April or May judging by the amount of water in the streams. I’ve been on the […]
Tennessee’s tailwaters running high; Rain forecast for the Smokies
Weather has been pretty mild here in the Smoky Mountains and fly fishing conditions have remained very good. The biggest obstacle to fishing has been a rock slide on Little River Road. The road has been closed between Metcalf Bottoms and Elkmont Junction, the most popular section of the river for fly fishers. News reports […]
Good Fly Fishing in the Smokies and the Clinch plus More Bear Pictures
Water levels are well within fishable, but look much more like April than August. Here on the Tennessee side of the Smokies Tremont is fishing really well. I’ve been fishing nymphs about three feet under a yarn indicator, but dry flies will tempt plenty of fish. Just be sure to cast dries to spots that […]
Great Week of Fly Fishing in East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains
It’s been a great week of fly fishing here in the Smoky Mountains and East Tennessee. Charity, Tim, and I have been on the water in several locations and the fishing has been pretty good everywhere we’ve been. Our guide season has started and at least one of us will be on the water almost […]