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 […]
Easy Ways to Improve Your Casting Accuracy
Every day we help people catch fish on the fly and a big part of that is helping them to improve their cast. We don’t usually have much time and most people are far more interested in catching fish than spending time on casting lessons. Fortunately we’re pretty good at diagnosing casting problems and giving […]
Beautiful Fall Days in the Smokies
It’s been a bumpy ride when it comes to the weather we’ve had over the past week. We had some wet, windy, and cold weather over the weekend that was pretty miserable to be completely honest. Fortunately the sun has come out and warmed things up nicely. It took a while for the autumn colors […]
Tips to Catch More Trout: Changing Seasons and Changing Tactics
Fall has finally arrived here in East Tennessee. As the leaves change so should your tactics while you’re out on the water. This is something we think about more as we change our fishing location from the Smokies to our tailwaters andon our annual trip to the Henry’s Fork since all of those places are […]
Newsletter from Great Smoky Mountains National Park Fisheries Department
The fisheries department at Great Smoky Mountains National Park has started a PDF newsletter to communicate what they do in the Smokies. Most of us instantly think about trout and brook trout restoration but their job encompasses even more than that. These are some great folks doing great work. This newsletter does a great job […]
Unbalanced Weather in the Smokies
It’s been a strange October when you do nothing but watch weather and water flows like we do. Almost the first half of October was exceptionally warm, flirting with record highs most days while we continued to wet wade well beyond our usual time frame. What would usually be a colorful riot of autumn color […]