David Anderson shows off this beast he caught on our first smallmouth bass float of the season. Fishing was generally slow as the water was murky with only about three feet of visibility from thunderstorms the night before. All fish were caught on streamers stripped slow in quiet water with sink tip fly lines. While […]
Our Spring Fly Fishing Forecast for East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains
Even though we had a good chunk of winter left we’re taking phone calls and answering emails everyday from folks wondering when the best fly fishing will arrive. Here in East Tennessee good conditions arrive much earlier than they do in other parts of the country. We have a nice variety of mountain streams and […]
A Look Back at Our Favorite Pictures from 2009
We’ve covered a lot of water in 2009! Here are some of our favorite moments from the mountains and rivers captured with a camera. We hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed being there! View from the fly tying desk on a cold day last January, Townsend, TN Little River rainbow trout, Great […]
Our Recommendation: Get on the Water Now!
Water levels and water temperatures continue to only get better! Even our tailwaters have cut back on generation this week, allowing for plenty of chances for waders to hit the river. There was a huge band of thunderstorms that blew through yesterday, but none of the streams in Great Smoky Mountains National Park seem to […]
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 […]
Unseasonably Cool Weather Makes for Excellent Fly Fishing Across East Tennessee and The Smoky Mountains
The weather across East Tennessee and Western North Carolina barely cracked 80 degrees over the weekend. We managed to fly fish in a variety of locations for a variety of fish species and it was excellent everywhere. Generation at Cherokee Dam fell off significantly over the weekend so we hitched up the drift boat and […]
Unusually High Water for August in East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains
Water levels are better this August than they were in the spring of 2007 and 2008. Abundant rainfall has created some high water in the creeks in the Smokies, but they are subsiding quickly. Large streams like Little River and Abrams Creek are difficult to wade, but are certainly fishable in many spots. Brook trout […]
A Variety of Fly Fishing in the Smoky Mountains and East Tennessee
It’s been too long since I’ve posted a report and the reason is because we’ve been fishing so much. Fishing in the Smokies, fishing on the tailwaters, fishing for smallmouth. You name it, we’ve done it over the past two weeks. Smoky Mountains Water levels have come down to where you’d expect them to be […]
We Return to the Holston River
After several weeks of high flows we’ve seen water levels subside a bit on the Holston River. Charity and I managed to sneak off for a day and headed for a section of the river where smallmouth bass tend to dominate in the warm months. We caught several nice bass, but trout were far more […]
Excellent Water Conditions in the Smokies; Spotty Fly Fishing for Smallmouths in Other Locations
Water conditions remain excellent for fly fishing in the Smoky Mountains. Recent rains are keeping streams at spring time levels. While dry fly fishing has been good in the medium to smaller streams, nymphing has accounted for more fish in the large to medium size streams. Smallmouth fishing has been a bit erratic lately. Some […]