I met Claude Mayer and David Howell just outside of Pigeon Forge today and headed to the Greenbrier section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We had some rain yesterday evening here at Townsend and from my deck I could see storm clouds from Thunderhead Mountain all the way north beyond Clingman’s Dome. I was […]
Low Water Conditions in the Smokies
Water conditions are low in the Smokies, not the lowest we’ve ever seen, but still low. We’re actually getting some rainfall several days a week. The Smoky Mountains shove warm, moist air high into the stratosphere where it condenses into thunderheads that provide brief showers. The problem is that the rain showers are relatively brief […]
Join R&R Fly Fishing at Turneffe Flats Belize
We’ve set the date for our 2008 trip to Turneffe Flats Belize. February 23 – March 1, 2008 We’ve hosted this trip twice and it’s one of the most incredible fly fishing experiences we have ever done. Join us for six days of guided fly fishing in the Turneffe Atoll off the coast of Belize. […]
Fly Fishing Terrestrials in the Smoky Mountains
This article about fishing terrestrial fly patterns in the Smoky Mountains originally ran in the Summer 2006 issue of Fish & Fly magazine although it was originally scheduled to run several summers earlier. In any case this has been of the most popular articles we’ve ever had published. We’ve received comments about it ever since […]
Fly Fishing report, June 9
Here it is June already! We’ve been locked into our busiest season of guiding ever, which explains the extreme lack of posting on the fishing reports. We’ll try to make up for it here since we’ve been all over the place in the past month. First of all let’s consider the severe drought we’re in […]
Fly Fishing report, May 9
It’s been a while since we’ve posted a report because we’ve been so busy. We’ve been on the water in a number of locations. Not only have we been floating the tailwaters and wading the creeks, but we recently returned from our weekend backcountry camp trip to Hazel Creek on the North Carolina side of […]
The Tennessee Fly Fishing Report, April 18
A relatively few quiet days as far as guiding has been concerned, but a few days that have actually allowed us to get out and fish for ourselves. Charity and I scheduled ourselves for a float that took place yesterday. If we don’t put it on the calendar like a guide date, we’ll usually end […]
Find Success Fly Fishing in the Winter: Effective Nymphing Methods
This article is written with a foucus on the freestome streams of the Smoky Mountains and the tailwaters of Tennessee but the information is just as applicable to waters in other parts of the country. Winter can be a tough time to catch trout in the Southeast. Hatches are sparse on most tailwaters like the […]
Fly Fishing in the Summer: The Best of Times & The Worst of Times
The main focus of this article deals with fly fishing streams in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina, but the information is just as applicable to streams in other parts of the country. It’s August and the temperatures back in town are forecast to be in the mid-90’s. It hasn’t rained […]
The Southerly Flow
This was first published in the August/September 2002 issue of Appalachian Life magazine. It is a short article that describes the natural history of brook trout in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina and the opportunities to fly fish for them. As the sun rises over the Great Smoky Mountains, twilight brightens […]
