Smoky Mountain Fly Fishing Report

[MACFLY]

Greeting All

Well I have been traveling a great deal since my last post and checking in occasionally but I managed to get some fly fishing in while down in Tennessee a couple of weeks ago. We rented a cabin in the smokies for 3 days on our way back from Nashville. Nashville was great and Opry was a hoot but the Smokies were the highlight of the trip. In any event, I took the opportunity to fish the Little River for half a day while my wife and her parents did some sightseeing. I had read about some excellent fishing in the park for brookies, browns, and rainbows ranging from the small natives up to some 20 plus inch specimens and decided to give it a shot.

Woke up to a sunny day with moderate wind and temps in the 50s. Got to the smoky mountain angler around 8am to pick up some supplies and we headed out to the river (well its really a creek). Water was low and gin clear as you will see from the pictures with water temp around 50 degrees. We were about a week past the prime fall colors and the leaves were falling in earnest but all in all it did not dampen the fishing much. Started with a dry and dropper combo using a BHPT for the dropper and stimulator for the dry. Before we cast a fly, we did some scouting from a rock outcropping of the first pool to see if any Browns were on the spawn. The browns were running a bit late due to the warmer temps and lack of rain. I was surprised to find out that this area gets little snow but a good deal of rain does make up for it. Showers were forecast for the following week but I did spot some redds later on in the day.

Hooked up on my 3rd cast with a 12 inch rainbow that took the dropper. Fished for about another 15 minute and then started trekking upstream fishing all of the likely spots. Had several more bumps on the dropper but the dry was not seeing any action. I finally decided to put on a nice bushy looking caddis and then the fish were interested. These fish were fairly spooky but a decent cast normally invoked a response. Mostly small fish with another 11 inch rainbow and smaller brown rounding out the action. As the sun rose, the breeze picked up but again it didnt hurt the fishing at all. I did not see anyone else on the river other than leaf peepers and hikers. The river is laden with boulders and ledges and more rocks. It was a constant scramble over and around to get a good angle as well as to tuck casts under the ledges where the water eddied up and a good froth line presented itself.

I would have loved to fish this stream all day but alas it was not to be. I packed it up after 4 hours and headed back into town. All in all a good day and a much needed respite from the whirlwind travel I have been doing lately. My impression of the Little River is that it is a top notch creek with a good number of fish. I dont get the impression these fish are picky but in the conditions we saw the fish are easily spooked. It just so happened the initial stretch I fished had placed the sun at my back and this quickly became an issue. Luckily you only need to walk or take a quick drive to get in more suitable surroundings. I almost headed up to higher elevations but the brookies had already spawned and I didnt want to go walking through the redds since apparently they are everywhere.

I would definitely recommend giving this area a try. Besides the Little River, there are dozens of streams to fish and the Tennessee tailwaters are not far away. Some of those streams are holding trout in the 5-20 pound class which I was aware of but never fully appreciated until I drove over these rivers. Its 10 hours in the car to the smokies from where I live but without the family it could go much quicker so I may check this area out again next spring. Enjoy the photos. Hope all is well!!!