Sunday, I took Chris Baker and his son Chase into the Smokies for some dry fly fishing. The weather has been crazy lately with all of the rain we have been getting. It had rained the night before so I didn’t know how bad the water would be, but it wasn’t high, although it was a little stained. If you are in the area and the conditions are like that, take advantage of it because it can be really good. Be careful though, if it’s too high just wait another day. It wasn’t long before they started catching fish and getting the hang of it. Terrestrials are still the key in the park; beetles, ants, hoppers and even cicada’s.

Here was Chase’s first fish of the day. Chase also landed a nice fish around 10 inches, but I was with his dad and couldn’t get a shot of it because Chris and I were trying to get a nice fish to come up and eat. The big one stayed down but here is one that got curious.

After a while Chris and Chase were in a groove and getting fish to rise in every pool.

These guys have done a lot of fishing in the Catskills, so they were used to fishing small streams like this. High sticking is a good technique to use when fishing the streams in the Smoky Mountains and it’s what we used a lot of on Sunday. On top of that, use light tippet and stay hidden from the fish and you should do pretty good. Also watch for the fish to be subtle we he rises for the fly. The Bakers take an annual fly fishing trip somewhere every year and I was glad that they chose to go through us this year in the Smokies because we had a lot of fun together and will look forward to going again.

The Park is still fishing really good with terrestrials during the day and yellow sallies in the evenings. The heat is not going to let up, so bring plenty of water and sunscreen and if it gets too hot, take a break and jump in the water. We are also getting a lot of pop up showers so bring the rain jacket as well.

I had the opportunity to take the Alexander family fishing on Tuesday and we had a ball. They are new to fly fishing and wanted to learn how to catch trout in the Smoky Mountains. They are outdoorsman, spending most of their time deer hunting, camping and farming so fly fishing was next on their list. It wasn’t long before the boys were catching some nice rainbows. Dry fly fishing all day long has been the norm, along with thin leaders and staying low. Beetles and ants have been the top flies for us, but thunderheads and adams will also do the job.

I had a lot of fun with these boys and by the look on their face I think they had fun too. I had ask Judd what he liked more fly fishing or deer hunting and he said ” maybe fly fishing” and I thought that was pretty cool. If you are thinking of fishing in the summer try to go early in the morning or late in the evening. Also with these pop ups showers, watch for the water to rise quickly. If you don’t feel like being in the heat and want to find some fish that aren’t to bright head up higher on the mountain for some Brook Trout.

I will look forward to fishing with these guys again and watching these guys grow in the sport. It is awesome to see young kids fly fishing because that means we are passing it on. Be safe in the mountains and keep potatoes peeled for snakes on the trail and the side of the road, but most of all have fun.

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.

It’s unusual to get a Saturday off in this business, especially during fishing season and summer break, but we seemed to make the best of it. Ashley and I don’t get to fish together much, so it was nice to have a care free saturday to float for, you guessed it, SMALLMOUTH. The weather was great, the water temp and flow were perfect and the fish were fired up.

We caught most of our fish on streamers and missed quite a few on topwater. Clousers always work well in a variety of colors and sizes,but don’t forget about crawdads. It seems that most of the smallmouth we catch have claws deep in the throats. Ashley was getting in some rowing and I was explaining what run to take, when I looked at my fly and noticed a nice fish mouthing it, but I missed him. It was a great day and it was really nice to see Ashley landing some nice smallmouth, like the one in the photo.

Every bit of water around us is fishing great, the National Park is incredible in the morning and evening and floating for trout and smallmouth on our tailwaters  has been really good. We have also been hearing Cicadas in the Smokies so keep some on you just in case. Don’t let the heat shy you away from fishing, we just work around it and alter our days. Call or email us for one of these trips and don’t let the summer pass you by. I hope that you have a blessed day and catch a few fish, but be careful in the heat.