Spring fly fishing in the Smoky Mountains and Tennessee has been nothing short of phenomenal. Our guide season has really kicked into gear over the last week and we’ve been spending lots of time on the water. In fact, this post is probably several days late, but we’ll get you up to date.

Fly Fishing the […]

And it was 70 degrees 2 days earlier…..
Fly fishing in the Smoky Mountains has gotten off to a great start this spring. We’ve been doing some guiding but our schedules don’t really kick in until next week so we’ve been spending as much time as possible fishing for ourselves. This last weekend saw a […]

We don’t mean to taunt, but I hope you’re getting something valuable accomplished if you haven’t been fishing in the past 3 days. I said it in the last report, but let me reiterate: Spring fly fishing in the Smokies is here!
I hit Little River yesterday with my good fishing buddy Doug Sanders and the […]

Spring seems to have arrived in the rivers and streams of the Smoky Mountains and East Tennessee along with the great fly fishing that goes with it. We’re now officially in the month of March. We picked up our new Tennessee fishing license yesterday on the way to the water.

Flowers and trout stream insects usually […]

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 […]

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 details […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]