We’ve got another full week of guided trips on the schedule this week so we don’t have a lot of time for a detailed report. We’ll try to post that in a few more days.

Here are a few photos for now.

Flame azalea in bloom along Hazel Creek

Plenty of wild rainbows and browns in this size range

March Brown

Charity and I went fishing between guiding and supper and it was worth it!

A nice Hazel Creek rainbow trout

Overall, most of the fish our group caught was on nymphs, but my anglers had a good day of dry fly fishing between the Sawdust Pile and Sugar Fork on Friday. We experienced heavy rain on Saturday night, but had plenty of dry space to hang out for dinner and socializing.

Here’s a quick video clip of what the fishing looked like on Friday upstream of the Sawdust Pile.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The creek was blown out Sunday morning, so we were able to make our return to civilization a few hours earlier than anticipated.

Steve Claxton treated us to his extraordinary camp cooking the whole time. Charity and I are returning to Hazel Creek again this weekend with another group and can’t wait!

Steve pulls his made from scratch biscuits out of the camp oven

Hazel Creek crew from Spring 2009

We provide all the necessities like large tents you can stand up in and padded cots to sleep on. You bring your sleeping bag, fishing tackle and personal items. We take care of the rest. We’ve taken all the hassle out of this trip. You only need to show up and have a great time.

The camp meals are incredible. In fact, many participants claim they gain weight on this trip!

BBQ Ribs over the open fire

Eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, and pancakes are all made for breakfast in camp

Hazel Creek is one of the most legendary trout streams in the Great Smoky Mountains. Its location puts it in one of the most remote locations in the Eastern United States. On the far shore of Fontana Lake our camp is nearly 20 miles from the nearest road, but a short boat ride puts us on the creek without a long hike.

Hazel Creek is a large stream in the backcountry of the Smokies

October is one of the best months of the year for fly fishing in the Smokies. The weather is perfect for camping and trout usually rise to dry flies. Most trout are in the 6″ – 9″ size range with good opportunities for fish up to 12″, but occasionally larger one are caught.

Charity caught this brown trout right next to camp

You can either fish with one of R&R’s Fly Fishing Guides or just come along for all of the amenities of camp and fish on your own.

$900 per person with a guide

$600 per person without a guide

This trip is always popular and often books up quickly. Space is limited.

Reserve your spot today!

Charity fishes Hazel Creek just upstream of the Calhoun place and our camp at Proctor

We had what may have been our best trip to Hazel Creek. The weather was beautiful, the company was great, and the food was awesome. We had sunny weather with temperatures in the 70′s every day and great nights in the 50′s. The skies were exceptionally clear and the sky was filled with stars.

Oh yeah…. The fishing was pretty good too! We caught some fish on dry flies, but nymphing was the best way to stay in fish. My best rig was a Beadhead Pheasant Tail fished tandem with a Pat’s Nymph. I’d pinch on a split shot in the swiftest, deepest runs of water.

Rainbows were the predominant catch among the anglers in our group, but there were also a few browns brought to hand. Unlike a couple of previous trips there weren’t any real lunkers hooked, but the fish were standard Smoky Mountain specimens. Most were in the 6″-9″ range.

Wayne Stowers hooked up in the "guage run"

Dinner and social time at the Hazel Creek Hilton

This pair of gobblers was our alarm clock on Hazel Creek. They were just across the stream from our camp each morning.

Hazel Creek Crew April 23-26, 2009

But Wait! That’s Not All!

We’ve been floating the tailwaters before and after the camping trip. The Holston has been fishing relatively well, but not as good as we’d like. Most of the fishing has been with nymphs. We’ve seen a few rising fish but they’ve been rather inconsistent. There was some overcast weather this morning and the fish were on top until the sun came out. Our anglers have been pleased with the number of trout they’ve hooked, but we’ve been wanting more fish to rise.

Michael Kennedy hooked up with a nice fish hooked on a dry fly from the drift boat

The Scenery

Abrams Creek on a snowy day last January

Misty spring day on Newfound Gap Road

Daffodils at Elkmont in March

Rhododendron blooms on a remote brook trout stream

Rainbow over Rich Mountain, Townsend, TN

The Fish from 2008

A Little River brown trout fooled by a Haystack

A native brook trout miles from the trailhead

A rainbow trout feeds in the current in a Smokies stream

Charity with a 18″ Hazel Creek brown trout

John Switow shows a beautiful rainbow that he caught on a caddis emerger on the Holston

A nice Holston brown trout caught by Chad Plumly last May

A family float on the Holston

A smallmouth bass from the Pigeon River

A different view of a Smokies rainbow trout

Underwater view of a Smoky Mountain brook trout

The rare big brown trout landed on Little River

Another very nice Little River brown trout

A rainbow rises to an emerging caddis on the Holston River

The Wildlife

A bull elk along the Oconaluftee River near Cherokee, NC

 A bull elk in Cataloochee Valley

Ruffed Grouse along Little River

River otter in Little River

River otters on Calderwood Lake

Bear tracks at the mouth of Hazel Creek

Black bear eating cherries in Cades Cove

This timber rattler was sunning along the trail up Fish Camp Prong

A colorful Clinch River rainbow trout caught last week

The Clinch has been fishing quite well this fall. I hate to act surprised, but this once remarkable tailwater has been on the slide for the past several years. While most of the trout we’ve been hooking have been less than 12″ long, each and every one is colorful and strong. There have also been a number of fish hooked up to around 16″ or so. We’re hoping that the slot limit imposed by TWRA earlier this year will continue to help bring this fishery back to its former glory days. We’ve also seen some of the huge brown trout that contributed to the river’s reputation for big fish. A couple of those browns were easily in the 8 -10 pound range.

We’ve been sticking with small beadhead nymphs in #16 – 20. Trout have been rising to midges and a small pupa pattern fished about 12″ – 18″ under an indicator or dry fly will hook far more fish than a dry fly.

Both turbines were down on Norris Dam for a couple of weeks. The constant flow of 420 cfs was superb for floats or wade fishing. One of the generators is now back on line so you can expect the typical day to day variation in flows, but expect good flows for wading. Those who want to float will need to keep an eye on the schedule to be sure the river isn’t too low.

Hazel Creek

Last weekend I was on Hazel Creek for our semi-annual fly fishing camp out. We had a fun group of folks and had a great time. I’m considering changing the name of this trip to “Smoky Mountain Drought Busters” since we always get some rain whenever we’ve done this trip. Fortunately the rain was short lived and seemed to bring on a decent hatch of Blue Wing Olives.

Bear tracks along the banks of Fontana Lake at the mouth of Hazel Creek

Wildlife on Hazel Creek was quite active. Members of the group saw about every large mammal in the Smokies. For bears were seen as well of tracks of a couple more. Deer, turkeys, and wild boar were also seen along the stream.  Both rainbow trout and brown trout were caught by our party. Water levels were low and fishing was a bit more difficult than we like to see it in the fall, but the fishing was still good enough for everyone to hook up with some fish. We’re looking forward to our next trip in the spring.