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 the Smokies and
midges on the [...]

We’ve been hard at it, guiding almost every day. In fact, we usually have a couple of trips out on the river. We took a few days off about a week ago to put a booth in at the Townsend TroutFest, but other than that we’ve been on the water.
Water levels in the Smoky Mountains [...]

It’s been a couple of days of cold, gray, and wet days on the rivers and streams. The fishing has been decent, but more sporadic through the day than consistent.
Fishing in the Smokies has been best in the afternoons and water levels are workable. Nymphs are the way to go in the mornings, but hatches [...]

Here are a few opportunities to volunteer to help fisheries biologists in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and have a great time along the way. You spend time with people who are experts on Smoky Mountain trout and see some amazing things. We try to set aside a few days each year to help out.
Here [...]

It was a cold weekend; one better suited to ice fishing than fly fishing here in the Smoky Mountains. Overnight temperatures were below zero high in the mountains and daytime highs were only in the 20’s. Needless to say, fishing wasn’t worth it, but we went out to see the rivers and streams.
Water just doesn’t [...]

Another year has come and gone. We’re gearing up for a busy 2009. We’ve got a hefty schedule of appearing at fly fishing expos in the next couple of months, we’ve got two new books that will be coming out within a month, and we’ve already booked a number of guided trips. But before we [...]

A New Book from Ian & Charity Rutter

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a haven for wild trout. The Smokies are one of the last big expanses of wild country in the eastern United States. Native brook trout still flourish here and fly fishers can cast into pristine streams that are still the way things [...]

We’ve been on the water almost every day which is why we haven’t posted a report in a while. East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains have reached peak fall color and the fly fishing has been great for the most part. There was a lull in the fishing earlier this week after the first snowfall [...]

We’ve floated the Clinch a few times this week and it has been fishing  very well. Both generators are down at Norris Dam and TVA is sluicing a steady flow of 420 cfs. That is, they have a gate cracked to keep a steady flow. The result has been great for fishing. While water is [...]

We’ve gone a little while without rain and the stream levels are starting to show it. Fortunately cool over night temperatures are keeping the fish and bugs happy. We’ve seen some really nice Trico hatches early in the day and they have kept fish watching the surface. These are extremely small mayflies so you’ll need [...]