It’s been a busy week of guiding and great fly fishing here in East Tennessee. We’ve been getting around quite a bit. We’ve been on several large streams in the Smokies, back country streams, floating the Holston, and even floated lower Little River for smallmouth bass. The weather has been pretty warm but we’re still […]

Spring is truly here in East Tennessee and fly fishing has been great this week. The dogwoods are starting to bloom, hatches are taking place on the rivers, trout are rising, and even the smallmouth bass are beginning to take flies.
We started the week in the Smokies. Greg and Frank Norris walked into the back […]

While Charity was guiding anglers in the Smokies Tim Doyle and I headed out to scout the smallmouth situation. Last season’s drought made trout fishing pretty tough on a lot of rivers and streams in Tennessee, but we had exceptional fly fishing for smallies on several rivers.
Tennessee is blessed with a tremendous number of quality […]

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 […]

I kind of feel like Garrison Keeler when I say it’s been a quiet week in my hometown, Townsend on the edge of the Smokies. I’ve been out on the water with folks a few days this week. Last Sunday I walked above Elkmont with Craig Ward and his son Anderson. Craig went to Hazel […]

Yesterday I took Kenny and Harry Macintosh for a float on the Holston River. Kenny was well aware of the drought situation and heat wave and told me to take them wherever the fishing was good. My suggestion was that we float the Holston and fly fish for smallmouth bass. Fishing with poppers has been […]

After an intensely physical day of fishing high elevation streams in the Smokies I took Walt West and his son-in-law Michael for a day of fly fishing for smallmouth bass on the Holston River. As many of you know, this is a favorite pastime of mine in the hot summer months. I had the guys […]