Jeff is from Northern Ohio and does a lot of Steelhead fishing. When he called me for a trip, I imagined a trip targeting bigger fish, but that wasn’t the case. Jeff had never caught a wild brook trout and it had been bugging him for a while. The weather was perfect for some dry fly fishing, cloudy and sprinkles here and there.

You can see that wearing natural colors while fishing helps you blend in to the background.

The fish were very active and didn’t hesitate to eat a dry. Brook trout aren’t known for being the pickiest of fish when it comes to fly selection, so concentrate on attractor patterns such as an Adams, Thunderhead or smaller caddis for this time of year. This nice brookie fell for an Adams.

Mission accomplished!

After Jeff got the hang of these Smoky Mountain fish, I really challenged his skills that he learned and put him in some pretty tight areas.

Jeff using the “Bow” cast.

Towards the end of the trip Jeff said he wanted to try and finish out with a solid fish, two casts later he landed this nice rainbow which blew up on his fly. It was funny, because we were pretty high up on the mountain and that is when Jeff catches the biggest fish of the day. This fish had been gorging on bugs and was a fatty.

Awesome job Jeff, I look forward to fishing with you again in the future.

 

 

 

Wow the weather has been up and down the last couple of days with heavy rains and the temperature gauge changing daily. The fishing on the other hand has only improved from it. In fact, Thursday we had a great day on the water with Joan and J.J. for some smallmouth action. The topwater bite was all day long and the fish were very aggressive. This was the first time for Joan and J.J. to be in a drift boat and they seemed to handle it very well.

     

 

 

Here are the first 2 fish for both Joan and J.J. Watching these fish blow up on poppers was very exciting.

 

There would only be a few sections on the float that we didn’t land fish, but still had action. With the cooler weather, the smallmouth were  not picky and they would definitely eat a decently presented fly. Every once and a while a fish would sneak up behind the fly and sip it and it was usually a nice fish, but most of them would give us a show. Here are some more fish that we caught throughout the day.

    

It was a great day on the water with Joan and J.J. and getting to show them our world of fly fishing for smallies was awesome. If you think that this would be your type of trip give us a call and let us put you on fish like this. I had to throw in this picture of us anchored up for lunch. It just doesn’t get any better than this.

 

 

 

We have had a long streak of dry days with really warm temperatures and the fishing in the park has been good at certain times of the day, but with the water low and clear they are really spooky. Being stealthy will definitely be the way to keep up the numbers and wearing natural colors. Wednesday, I got to take Steve and Andrew fishing up in the National Park for their first Smokies trip. Andrew has been getting ready for med school at Vanderbilt and has had his head in a book for several months and needed a break.

     

The fish were finicky and gave subtle strikes, but we still managed to catch a few. Terrestrials are still the big hitters during the days with yellow sallies in the evenings. Also, using some 6x tippet and crouching doesn’t hurt. We have always said that if the fisherman is getting strikes, they are doing their job and making the fly look real and catching the fish is an added bonus. Steve and Andrew were great fisherman and now they have another notch on their wading belt.

 

Joan is from Ohio and Pennsylvania and now will be living in East TN. She is a good trout fisherman, but has never tried fly fishing for smallmouth and wanted to learn, so that’s exactly what we did. It was also her birthday present to herself. Now this time of year the smallmouth act a lot like trout sitting in slow riffles and sipping poppers out of the bubble lines, so Joan was used to that aspect of it. It took some getting used to throwing the heavier gear, but it paid off when she stuck her first fish. Unfortunately the fish jumped and we lost it, but not a minute later she caught this guy.

The water is a little low in the park and in the Little River so using the popper aggressively won’t do very well. Instead, make it plop on the water and just give it subtle twitches every once and a while. Also don’t let a smallmouth fool you, just when you think you need to make another cast just wait and let the fly drift through the entire run. If one does come to it and sits underneath, give it a twitch. This is what has been working the best for us.

     

I had to get a shot of Joan fishing in the riffles to show how beautiful the Smokies are. We messed with one about 16 or 17 inches for about 5 minutes, but he would just stare at it and bump it. Which brings me to say that a good fisherman always know when to move on. Be safe while fishing and bring lots of water and maybe a snack and watch out for snakes. If you see Joan on the stream stop and say hi, she is a pretty cool lady.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday was Tyler’s birthday and his one wish was to go float for smallies. That is usually my birthday wish too and every other day. The fishing was really good and again it was all topwater. With the heat really picking up, the fish are getting weary when they come up to the fly. If you see a fish looking at your popper just let it rest with maybe a subtle twitch (not pop). Also spend time in the shade and be patient. Just because you can’t see anything underneath your fly doesn’t mean he isn’t there. Tyler saw this technique first hand and realized how effective it can be for quality fish.

     

Cicadas are all over our rivers and every once and a while when they are struggling to fly it means they are about to die and they will fall in the water. We have a cicada that we came up with this year that make a good plop. Well we ran across some fish that would follow a fly then turn off so I plopped the cicada in the water and he didn’t think twice about it (whamo).

     

I mean what could be better than dead drifting big bugs in front of smallmouth and watching a big one sip it. It wasn’t  long before we were back to the popper. Remember that in the day topwater flies should be lighter colors and darker colors in the morning and evening. We were about to wrap up the day when I saw one more fish and made a cast, this fish was one to test your patience because he looked at it for a while.

If you still haven’t experienced this type of fishing I highly suggest it. Our state is the smallmouth capital and we are located right in the heart of it so give us a call if you are looking for a good time with some hard fighting fish.

 

 

The smallmouth fishing around East TN has been grade A and it has been all topwater flies. Streamers are still working well, but who cares when fish are leaping out of the water to get a popper. I had the opportunity to take Ryan Hicks, a Florida native, on his first fly fishing trip and it was one to remember. These guys were fired up about some topwater,which is great because Ryan got to see just how mean a smallmouth can get.

Shortly after we started fishing Ryan had a blow up on his fly and said this is a nice fish, he was in for a surprise.

After missing a few fish, Ryan decided to buckle down and get serious. It didn’t take long before he caught several more fish and some nice ones. Needless to say, he was the one that was hooked.

Smallmouth have eyes that are sensitive to light so when that sun gets high, they will find shade and cover to hide from it. This time of year when the sun stays out for a long time, the fish will spend a lot of their time in cover, making it hard to get to them and hard to see. Patience can be the key this time of year when it starts to get warm. Trust me, when you throw a fly in the shade and let it sit, something is looking at it so give it time to reveal itself. It could also hit it as soon as it touches the water so stay focused.

Ask Ryan about it he will tell you the same thing.

 

Yesterday Tim Doyle and I had a trip with 3 guys from Georgia, John, Daniel and Charles. Since it was supposed to be really hot we decided to stay up high on the mountain. It’s funny because in the morning it was cloudy and cool, so I put on my rain jacket and was actually comfortable. The fishing was a little slow from the get go, but after the sun came out the fish were pretty active. It was dry fly action all day even when the sun was directly above us.

The yellow sallies are still coming off in the evenings, but it is terrestrials throughout the biggest part of the day. Also when it gets hot, stick to shady areas of the river and stay low. If you have natural colors or camo, that wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

Fish like this one were the average and watching them come out from underneath a boulder and rise slowly to sip a big bug off the surface is something you have to see for yourself. The heat has not affected the fishing, so don’t let it shy you away from hitting the river. I mean, what better to do in the heat of the summer than stand in a stream with cool water on your legs in the shade. I hope that if you decide to fish that you drink plenty of water and wear your sunscreen. It can be dangerous without the two. If you would like to book a trip give us a call and we will show you all about Smoky Mountain Fly Fishing.

First, I want to start off by bragging on Pat and Don from Mississippi on their first successful trip to the Smoky Mountains. They had fished here before with no love, but just a little bit of guidance put them on track. Our trout in the park are known for striking a fly quickly, so it took a few shots before they hooked the first ones. Don shows off his first.

The water has been a little off color and high due to all the pop up showers we have gotten, so we tried some big nymphs under indicators, which is a good way to catch fish on high water. Pat was trying this technique when her indicator went down and realized she had something big on. My first thought is always a big brown, but after getting a glimpse of the fish I understood why it pulled so hard.

Did I mention she was throwing a 3 wt. I don’t think I have to say she had fun catching this guy. Remember that these showers can pop up very quickly and the water can rise rapidly while your fishing, so keep your eye on the weather. Also terrestrials are still working well and when the water gets back down to normal, stay low. It might be a good idea to keep some big nymphs on you just in case. Otherwise enjoy the fishing and good luck. If you need any advise about our area feel free to contact us with any questions.

I have fished with Bob and Gail Dosser a couple of times and they are great folks. This time, Bob and Gail came up from Louisiana to get there hands on some smallies. The start of the float was pretty good and we had a lot of strikes, Gail even caught her first bass on a fly rod, heck on topwater, but soon after we started, the rain slammed us and the trip was ended. We did get to see a small fawn on an island on the way down, though. I look forward to taking them again for some of these hard hitters.

On the other hand, I took Jamie, Joe and Tom who are smallie fishermen from Kentucky into the park for some trout and they did pretty good. They grew up in an area similar to the National Park so they were right at home. Tom fishes a river in Kentucky that has class 4 whitewater during certain parts of the year and he floats it in a one man pontoon rig, so rock hopping in the Smokys was nothing.

Fishing the Smokys has been great with the fish really eating dries, especially terrestrials. When fishing bugs like beetles, ants, hoppers, crickets, and inchworms, stay focused on the fly because the fish tend to “sip” the fly more than blast it. With the air temps getting warmer, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to find higher elevation streams and fish in the morning and evenings.

Tyler and I made plans to have a small mancation for 2 days of solid fishing and camping. We planned on floating for smallies 1 day, then driving up to the South Holston and night fishing, then floating the South Holston the next day on the 240 cfs. Our plans changed quickly when TVA decided to run every tailwater full blast all day long for 4 days straight and not run the South Holston at all. In this business, you learn to make lemonade out of lemons, so we traded the drifter for the raft and decided to float the Little for smallies, then hike up Little River trail the next day for some dry fly action.

This is why I love smallies, because they are gluttons.

We have spent a lot of the last week fishing for smallmouth, especially on the Little River and Holston. Both are fishing really good throughout the day with streamers and poppers, but don’t forget about our friends with claws because we have caught several fish with claws in their throats. Whatever you are into we have it and it is top notch right now. So if you are thinking about a trip, give us a call or shoot us an email. Have a blessed day  and see you on the river.

Thursday, I had the pleasure of showing John and Joe Horning how to fish the Smokies. Wednesday night it rained a lot and it raised the water a solid foot and turned it a tea color. The fishing was a little off and we didn’t see many bugs coming off. The nymph activity was pretty good in the morning, but when the sun came out we couldn’t resist throwing some dries and had several strikes on them. Most of the strikes that we got were pretty subtle, but it only took a few times missing fish to sharpen their reflexes.

As the afternoon crept up on us, the fishing slowed down some, so we hiked in a ways to find higher ground and maybe even some dry fly fishing. It paid off too, because John and Joe both had strikes on yellow sally patterns and were sight casting to fish that were barely breaking the service. We caught a few more fish at the end of the trip and one of them was a brown. It was a good day and I think that these two guys will be fishing more together in the future.

If you are thinking about fishing the park, Yellow Sallies are coming off strong in the evenings but you can catch fish on them all throughout the day. I would probably use a pheasanttail or haresear nymph in the afternoon and dries the rest of the time. Also find water higher up away from highly populated areas.