After water levels finally leveled out a little bit and streams in the Smokies were starting to look normal… BAM! More heavy rain and more high water! We still haven’t seen official rainfall totals for the national park, but there was over 3″ of rain in just a few hours around most of East Tennessee. […]
Fly of the Month: Skull & Bones
It’s time for another installment of our Fly of the Month. This month we feature a midge pupa pattern that we frequently fish on our tailwaters. It’s been one of our favorites on the Clinch and Holston Rivers plus we’ve found opportunities to use it successfully on Western Rivers like the Madison, Henry’s Fork, and […]
Rising Trout
As it always is, the dry fly fishing was fantastic this fall. We spent an afternoon up on the river just enjoying the nice weather and watching the fish rise. Here are some of the highlights. [youtube]http://youtu.be/NtCceXOoWVI[/youtube] Be sure to view this in full screen. After clicking play, click on the sprocket icon at the […]
Brown Trout As You Probably Haven’t Seen Them Before
There’s been a brief cold snap and the water levels have continued to creep up due to some rain and mountain snow, but fishing continues to plug along. We’re seeing some rising trout in the Smokies in the afternoons and the brown trout continue to be active. Some are spawning while others are regaining their […]
A Look Back at Some Beautiful Fall Color
Maybe you’ve been living in a cave lately or possibly had your power knocked out by the storm of the century, but if you haven’t heard, there’s snow in the Smokies. This is primarily in the highest elevations with nothing but cool and damp weather in Townsend and other communities surrounding the park. Here are […]
Fall is Here
We’ve been out on the water most of this week and quite simply, fall is here. Leaves are certainly changing and the Fall Color Report from Great Smoky Mountains Association says that colors are at peak in the highest elevations near Clingmans dome and other peaks approaching 6000′. Fishing has been pretty good, although the […]
A Big Year for Black Bears
It’s not unusual for us to see black bears every week in the Smokies or even here at our home in Townsend, Tennessee. In fact, Ian went on a backpacking trip with our daughter in July and didn’t see any bears while one sauntered down our driveway that evening. We have a bounty of wild […]
A New Perspective on Brook Trout
Here’s a short, fun clip we managed to capture. This brook trout is not on a line, and believe me, it took some patience and luck to get this piece of video. Honestly, we were pretty shocked we got something that came out this good. Enjoy…
The Arrival of Spring
Last time we checked it was still February, but it looks as if the spring weather is here to stay. Yesterday I was fishing Little River and the daffodils were in full bloom in front of the old Townsend cabin near the Little River trailhead. It’s not just flowers either. We’ve had several thunderstorms this […]
Red Sky in Morning Fly Fishers Take Warning
Yet another wet weather system has moved across East Tennessee and brought above average river levels even higher. That came after an exceptionally windy day. Here is a time lapse video from yesterday of the sunrise that foretold there was some weather on the way. You can tell something is up by looking at the […]