It’s been in the 60’s and we’ve been fishing without a jacket. In fact, we’ve had our sleeves rolled up. There are bugs on the stream, but the fish haven’t quite gotten on them just yet. Every nice run or pool has yielded a rise, but as of yesterday (March 9) we still haven’t seen [...]

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 [...]

Fly fishing for trout is pretty good all over East Tennessee right now. Streams inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park are fishing great, water levels are excellent, and tailwater flows are pretty good. In short, life is good.
No doubt Tom at Trout Underground will believe those of us fortunate enough to live a in a [...]

It was a beautiful weekend for fly fishing in the Smoky Mountains and East Tennessee. Temperatures topped out over 70 degrees and we all have a big case of spring fever. Our guide season is officially under way, but we’re still fishing almost everyday to take advantage of the great conditions.
We started fishing dry flies [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ike brought some beneficial rain to the Smoky Mountains without creating any flooding. A touch of fall is in the air now that overnight temperatures are sinking into the 50’s and afternoon temperatures are in the 70’s in the mountains.
Dry fly fishing is good right now. The basic Parachute [...]

Fall is almost upon us and with it comes some great dry fly fishing. Rising trout in the fall are more difficult to coax to a dry fly than they are in the spring. Spring hatches are usually more robust with more bugs on the water. Additionally, the bugs are much larger.

Low water conditions in [...]

Fly fishing with dropper rigs is one of the most effective methods for catching trout with flies. First, it allows a fly fisher to fish two different fly patterns which doubles your chances of fishing the right fly at the right time. Second, it makes it possible to have a fly in two places at [...]