One of the most common questions we’ll hear when we have anglers on the water is “Did you just pinch the barb on the hook?” We’re always a little bit startled because most of the time there’s a bit of an accusing tone as if we don’t want them to actually catch a fish, but […]
Fly Fishing with Streamers on the Clinch River
The Clinch has had a long run with one of our favorite flows, one generator, but the fishing remains a little tough. I had a guided float today and the river produced, but didn’t exactly show off. Absolutely nothing happened on nymphs today and there were few insects moving. Everything we saw was midges, no […]
Clinch River was a Tough Nut
Flows on the Clinch River finally dropped to a fishable level and while conditions weren’t what I’d term perfect, they were the best we’d seen in a while. Besides, the drift boat hasn’t seen much action this spring so I was eager to get back behind the oars after last week’s float on the Tuckaseegee. […]
Our Fall Fishing “To Do” List
Our guide calendar has quite a bit of daylight now that we’ve moved out of fall color season here in East Tennessee. We don’t necessarily view that as a bad thing, though. That means we can get out on the water and do some fishing for ourselves. So much water, so little time. Water conditions […]
Water Levels Variable But Better Conditions This Week
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. […]
Advice from the Guides
What’s size leader and tippet should I use? This varies depending on which rivers and streams you’re fishing. For most water in the Smokies we use a 7 1/2′ leader tapered to 5X. This is probably the best overall leader for the Smokies. We’ll sometimes use longer 9′ leaders on larger streams like Little River. […]