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 […]
Clinch River Flows Remain Good
Anyone who has spent much time fly fishing for trout around East Tennessee has probably heard about the Clinch River’s reputation. Just exactly what that reputation is depends on who you talk to. Depending on the day it can be the best river you’ve ever fished or the toughest damn river you’ve ever cast a […]
Seasons Change to Summer on the River in East Tennessee
We’ve had a cool, wet spring season in East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains, but now it seems summer is upon us as we’ve had a pretty sunny week with warm temperatures in the 80’s. The Smokies are still fishing great and we’ve had at least one tailwater to chase trout. Sulphurs are showing up […]
Tailwater Flows Much Improved As Mountain Streams Rise & Fall With Thunderstorms
We’ve been holding our breath a bit as we’ve watched the weather radar over the past few days. Streams in the Smokies can’t be uniformly rated as “high” or “ideal” as a number of thunderstorms have hit the region in a hit or miss fashion. It’s safe to say that streams in North Georgia are […]
Water Levels in the Smokies Looking Great! Tailwaters… Not So Much
A wild Smoky Mountain brown trout below a plunge It looks as if we’re finally getting a reasonable break in the weather! The forecast for this week may be the best one we’ve seen all spring with tons of sunshine and daytime temperatures in the 60’s to high 70’s in the Smoky Mountains this week. […]
What a Difference One Day Makes
I remember it like it was only yesterday. In fact, it was yesterday. A good float with two fun anglers who have been fishing with me for years now. Overall the day was a little bit streaky. They’d have a slow stretch of water with only a few strikes, then hit a run where the […]
Hazel Creek Camp Report
We spent the last four days on Hazel Creek on the North Carolina side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. At this point we can’t even remember how many of these camps we’ve hosted, but we typically do at least two every year. By now we’ve probably done close to two months worth of these […]
Busy Days Guiding the Smokies & Tailwaters
Yup, the guide season is in full swing and we’re covering some water now. Water levels in the Smokies are still a touch on the high side, but compared to the truly high levels we’ve become accustomed to they seem pretty good. We just got our first look at the Carolina side of the Smokies […]
Hatches Building in the Smokies While Water Dropping on the Tailwaters
This weekend was one of those typical early season events that we always seem to forget, then remember that’s usually how things play out. There were plenty of bugs, but just a few rising fish. Looks like the fishermen are just a little ahead of the fish. It’s still February, the water is in the […]
Hatches Are About To Start in the Smokies
It looks like another early spring will soon be upon us here in the Smokies. There was snow falling on the rivers and streams in the Smokies only a few days ago but a relatively mild winter seems to have the insects ready to get started hatching and the fish seem to sense it. Up […]