It was only 2 days ago that I was floating down the Holston River in my drift boat with Stan Smartt in the back seat and Tommy Vaughn in the front seat. It was sunny and 60 degrees. Tommy was wearing sandals and I was without a jacket, shirt sleeves rolled up, and pointing rising […]
It’s Official: We’ve got Spring Fever!
Spring fever is catching here in the Smoky Mountains and across Tennessee. Fly fishers have begun to disregard the weather report and just go fishing! We’ve got it about as bad as anyone. This is the time of year when we’re consumed with the mundane details of operating a guide service. We’ve been tending to […]
Warm days provide great tailwater fly fishing
We’ve had plenty of rain and some warm weather here in the mountains of East Tennessee. Local streams are just about where they need to be, perhaps even a little high, and more rain is on the way. For the first time in a long time our rainfall totals are caught up, even if it […]
Smoky Mountain Trout Populations Set to Rebound After the Drought of 2007
2007 saw the worst drought on record for the Southern Appalachian region. Water levels were at historic lows throughout East Tennessee, Western North Carolina, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Many fly fishers wrote the park off as a disaster area and headed to other destinations. While we couldn’t blame anyone, we experienced great fishing […]
New Regulations for Clinch River Trout and East Tennessee Smallmouth Bass
There are some new regulations that have taken effect and should help provide better fishing in the future. These regulations apply to trout in the Clinch River tailwater below Norris Dam and smallmouth bass in several East Tennessee rivers. Perhaps the most promising regulation is the new catch and release slot limit on the Clinch. […]
The Haystack: One of our Favorite Smoky Mountain Trout Flies
The Haystack is one of our favorite fly patterns for spring mayfly hatches in the Smoky Mountains. We’re providing the tying instructions because this fly isn’t readily available in most fly shops or catalogs, even in the Smoky Mountain region. This fly is easily tied with materials found on virtually any fly tying desk. There […]
Video preview of spring fly fishing in Tennessee and the Smokies
It’s been a long winter and we’re all itching to get back on the water. Here are a couple of video moments to help you remember what it’s like to be on the river when the sun is shining and the trout are rising. The first clip was filmed by our good friend Carl Babcock […]
Good Fly Fishing on the Way in the Smokies
Its been a tough few weeks for anyone who enjoys fly fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains. The recent cold snap has kept the water well below an optimum temperature for aggressively feeding trout. You can see from this snapshot of the guage on Little River that the water has just barely nipped at 40 […]
Beating Cabin Fever
Winter fly fishing in Tennessee isn’t that hard to endure compared to Michigan, Montana, and Maine among other places. That still doesn’t mean that it’s not cold though. We’ve had a string of days when the thermometer barely cracked 30, so needless to say, if you’re going fishing you’re gonna get cold. Earlier in the […]
Drought Diminishing in Tennessee and the Smokies
We’ve had a fair amount of wet weather in the past month and most of the streams are beginning to not only look good, but actually have the flow that they should for this time of year. We’ve got a wet week on tap with quite a bit of snow on the mountain tops so […]
