Quill Gordon: The surest sign of spring on the streams in the Smokies Spring really has arrived early, at least from a fly fisher’s view. Here in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee we’ve already experienced about a week of afternoon hatches with rising fish. This doesn’t usually happen until early March or the last […]
Spring in February
It’s been an extremely mild winter, even for the Southeast. Here in the Smokies we tend to get a more distinct winter season than neighboring areas in the Tennessee Valley. For instance, the last two winters were pretty severe and we had plenty of snow. In fact, almost six feet of snow accumulated on Mount […]
Video Fishing Report: Early April 2011
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A49ZtxD6ptU[/youtube] We’ve had a wet spring in the Smoky Mountains and East Tennessee and this has led to a few days of blown out streams, but fishing has been excellent for the most part. The large tailwater rivers have been too high most of the time for effective fishing, but we have found a few […]
Video Fly Fishing Report – Early March 2011
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JxXhuq6NCE&feature=player_embedded[/youtube] We got off to an early start with nice weather arriving in late February. It looks like we’re making up for it now since we’ve had quite a bit of rain over the last week or so. This has caused plenty of high water. The Quill Gordons started to hatch but the high water […]
Dry Fly Fishing in the Smokies Only Gets Better
We’re about to start a bit more fishing and floating on the Holston and Clinch Rivers, but right now we’re still enjoying all the great dry fly fishing in the Smokies. Today Charity reported that the fish started to rise by 10 AM and was best when the sun was out. The weather forecast for […]
We Make the Rounds on the Tailwaters and Streams
The fly fishing is starting to get rolling here in East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains. We’re guiding anglers on the rivers and streams and we’ve put some miles on the wading boots and drift boat this week. The weather has been sketchy, but those who have been able to tolerate it have been into […]
Spring Hatches: Watch for These Important Trout Stream Insects in Tennessee and North Carolina
Spring is arguably the best time of year for fly fishing. The reason is that there are more insects hatching on the rivers and streams than any other time. The smart fly fisher knows this and comes to the water prepared. Here are the insects we watch for on the tailwaters and streams in the […]
More Snow in the Smokies but Spring Hatches Are Nearly Here
The Smoky Mountains received as much as 7″ of snow yesterday. There was 2″ at our house in Townsend, but you didn’t have to go very far into the mountains to see that there was far more at higher elevations. This will probably keep things pretty quiet on the streams this weekend as that snow […]
Spring Hatches Kick Off; Excellent Stream Flows in the Smokies
Fly fishing for trout is pretty good all over East Tennessee right now. Streams inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park are fishing great, water levels are excellent, and tailwater flows are pretty good. In short, life is good. No doubt Tom at Trout Underground will believe those of us fortunate enough to live a in […]
Quill Gordons? Almost…
It was a beautiful weekend for fly fishing in the Smoky Mountains and East Tennessee. Temperatures topped out over 70 degrees and we all have a big case of spring fever. Our guide season is officially under way, but we’re still fishing almost everyday to take advantage of the great conditions. We started fishing dry […]