We’ve had a full week of fly fishing in the Smoky Mountains and East Tennessee this week. Mild weather and good water levels have made for perfect conditions from the brook trout streams high in the Smokies down to the smallmouth rivers in the valleys. This is peak season for hike-in trips in the Smokies. […]
Cooler Weather in the Forecast for East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains
After an oppressively hot weekend we’ve got some milder weather in the forecast this week. This should make for pleasant fishing in the Smokies where it’s already cooler than the surrounding area. I took Randy Ball and his fishing buddy Dennis on a float on the Clinch last Saturday. The weather was hot and muggy […]
Excellent Water Conditions in the Smokies; Spotty Fly Fishing for Smallmouths in Other Locations
Water conditions remain excellent for fly fishing in the Smoky Mountains. Recent rains are keeping streams at spring time levels. While dry fly fishing has been good in the medium to smaller streams, nymphing has accounted for more fish in the large to medium size streams. Smallmouth fishing has been a bit erratic lately. Some […]
Abundant Rain Makes Fly Fishing in the Smokies Easy, but Tougher in Other Parts of East Tennessee
We’re certainly in the middle of a wet thunderstorm season here in East Tennessee, receiving heavy downpours somewhere everyday. This has kept the trout streams in the Smoky Mountains full and the fish are happy. We’re still experiencing water levels similar to March and April and it’s a nice change after two previous years of […]
Clinch River Continues to Fish Well
Took Alan Barnes to the Clinch today for a quick primer before he takes a Western fly fishing trip in a few weeks. Nymphing was excellent. Most fish ate a #16 Beadhead Pheasant Tail Nymph, but we got a pretty good Sulphur hatch and landed some fish on dry fly. Generation schedules on the Clinch […]
Fly Fishing for Smallmouth Bass Heats Up as Summer Approaches
Had a phenomenal day of fly fishing for smallmouth bass on the Pigeon River here in East Tennessee. The river has miles of riffles, boulders, and aggressive bass. The float is beautiful as the Great Smoky Mountains loom in the distance. It’s usually pretty hard to get us off of poppers, but the fish were […]
Fly Fishing Photos from the Smoky Mountains and Tennessee’s Tailwaters
We’ve been pretty slack about getting fishing reports up in a timely fashion. The reason is that we’ve been incredibly busy guiding. In fact, it’s been the busiest guide season we’ve ever had and we’ve been going almost non-stop since mid-March. It’s been great to see all of our old friends this season, plus we’ve […]
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. […]
A Look Back at Spring Fishing & Our Summer Fly Fishing Forecast for East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains
The big news is that the drought is officially over. In fact, we’re currently running a rainfall surplus here in East Tennessee. This has not only brought our stream levels back to normal, but also has implications for fly fishing on the tailwaters. Smoky Mountain Streams Spring hatches started strong with Quill Gordon mayflies in […]
Hazel Creek Camp Set for October 8 – 11, 2009
Summer isn’t even here yet but it’s already time to start planning for fall! We’ve set the date for our fall Hazel Creek fish camp. We do these camps in the spring and autumn and they’re always the highlight of the season! We provide all the necessities like large tents you can stand up in […]
