It’s been another week of good mayfly hatches in the Smoky Mountains and midge fishing on the tailwaters. Fishing continues to be spotty on the Clinch River with slow periods broken up by several minutes of really good activity. It doesn’t seem like there has been very much insect activity on the Clinch so that [...]

It looks like winter didn’t really go away so much as give us a quick head fake before charging right back into our fly fishing in the Smokies. Yesterday was a relatively miserable kind of day; cold, wet, and snowy. The water was a little high after rain on Sunday.
I was actually expecting a pretty [...]

Charity and I noticed some blank days on the guide calendar and decided we needed to take advantage of the break. Even those of us who live in the Smoky Mountains like to take a few days to get away and do nothing more than camp and fly fish.
After a quick scan of a map [...]

It’s only a short time before our spring guide season gets under way so we’re trying to get as much fishing in for ourselves as we can. While driving to a show about a month ago one of us said that we’re both on the river hundreds of days each year, but relatively few are [...]

Many fly fishers put the importance of the fly above all, but there are several factors that are far more important than fly selection. These are exceptionally easy to accomplish, but not practiced as often as they should.
As fly fishers we have an advantage over natural predators like osprey, herons, water snakes, and otters. They [...]

Last week’s mild weather energized us for spring fishing, but winter isn’t over just yet. We woke up yesterday morning to see the following scene out of our window.
The temperature struggled to reach 30 degrees and the three inches of snow we received is still here today. It was a bit of a jolt since [...]

Our job as fly fishing guides is to help anglers catch fish. Most of the people who fish with us are competent casters, have decent equipment, and can find good flies on their own. In spite of the fact that they have most of the tools to catch fish, they lack the knowledge to use [...]

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 [...]

Fly fishing in the winter can be a difficult proposition. The weather is cold, hatches can be sparse, and the fish are generally sluggish. However, there are plenty of reasons to go fishing. Crowds are at a minimum, the fish aren’t so jaded since few anglers are casting at them, and keeping in practice makes [...]

Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone and the guide season left with it. It’s snowing pretty hard right now in Townsend, but nothing’s sticking. Regardless it’s a strong reminder that the guide season is essentially over.
It’s always the same every fall. September is a period of relatively light guiding as the kids are back in [...]