Yesterday Charity and I hitched up the drift boat and headed over to the Holston River. Our original intent was to focus our attention on smallmouth bass, but we were in a section of the river that has good trout populations in addition to smallies.
We put the boat in the river and the water was [...]

We had some soaking rains over the weekend and water levels are pretty good right now in the Smokies. Fly fishing last Sunday was a bit streaky as the morning started off rainy, weather cleared around noon, then a strong front with thunderstorms closed in during the afternoon. A number of runs were pretty stingy [...]

Fly fishing on the rivers of East Tennessee and the streams of the Smoky Mountains has been excellent this spring. Our fisheries seem to have only suffered minimal impacts from last year’s drought and water levels are excellent this year. Tailwater fishing was as good as we’ve seen it this spring. We’ve already moved into [...]

We haven’t had much of a chance to post a report because we’ve been on the water so much. Fly Fishing in East Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains is superb any where you turn right now. We’ve been on just about any kind of water you’d want to fish this past week and it’s all [...]

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 [...]