While it hasn’t been as cold a winter as we’ve had in recent years, we have had plenty of cold weather and a bit of snow in the Smokies. The coldest weather was late in January and early this month but that was immediately followed by exceptionally unseasonable warmth. We crushed a daily temperature record […]
Mountain Streams Fishable While Tailwaters Remain Too High
Local rainfall here in East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains has tapered off to merely “normal” from soaking wet. As a result our streams have fallen to negotiable fishing conditions if not a bit on the high side. The tailwater rivers remain exceptionally high, and to an almost unbelievable degree. While we haven’t experienced any […]
Wet and Gray Weather
As I’m writing this fishing report from R&R Fly Fishing world headquarters in Townsend, Tennessee I’m glad to say the sun is shining! That’s the first bit of sun we’ve seen in a long while. The weather has varied somewhat between gray and damp all the way to wet and cold. I’m as easy to […]
Tough Fly Fishing Conditions Around East Tennessee and the Smokies
It’s that time of year when everyone seems to be busy with any number of things, but fly fishing doesn’t seem to be one of them. In our case our children have been in some holiday productions including chorale concerts and the Nutcracker. Between rehearsals and shows we’ve been coming or going somewhere nearly everyday. […]
Winter Fly Fishing Sets In
Oops! I put the wrong link in the newsletter that was emailed on December 4. Click here for the post I meant for you to see. There are still plenty of days on the calendar in 2018 and there are some great days left to get out on the water, but the season has pretty […]
Go Barbless or Stick With Barbed Hooks?
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 […]
High Water and Cold Weather Across East Tennessee and the Smokies
Today is the fourth consecutive day of daily high flows for many rivers and streams across Southern Appalachia. Unfortunately this isn’t doing anything for fishing this week and we’ve been forced to cancel or reschedule several guide days. One of my favorite things to point out to anglers is that you can fish with some […]
The Seasons Are in Motion
We’ve seen a dramatic shift in the weather over the past three weeks. As temperatures remained in the low 80’s through nearly half of October we wandered if and when we would ever break out the waders. Within just a few days the weather cooled dramatically. Now it’s November and I’m writing this from R&R […]
Leaves Are Starting to Drop
The calendar has flipped to November and one thing for sure is that all these colorful autumn leaves won’t last much longer. Color is starting to fade in some places while it will certainly last a little longer in some locations. This past weekend we saw some pretty soupy conditions on the streams due to […]
Dry Fly, Nymph, or Streamer?
One of the biggest questions we get in the fall is what kind of fly to cast in the Smokies. Many anglers have misconceptions about the best flies to use in the autumn. There are a number of things going on in the fall and that gets anglers thinking about their fly selections. The weather […]