Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 10/10/16

Posted on October 10, 2016 by eshuler

Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 10/10/16, Fly Fishing the Smokies, Brown Trout Great Smoky Mountains National Park,

Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 10/10/16

The fishing Great Smoky Mountains and surrounding region has been off to a good start for October! We have several fisheries hitting their stride this past week and the action has been very consistent and down right incredible on several rivers!

We guide many area rivers and streams around the Great Smoky Mountains region, so occasionally we will be reporting on those as well.

Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 10/10/16

Tuckasegee River Fly Fishing is hot!

The Tuckasegee River was stocked last week in Bryson City and Dillsboro. The section in Bryson City was loaded with 11,000 trout per mile! That’s a massive amount of trout per mile and that number only continues to grow with each passing month. By November when stocked again that number swells to 17,000 trout per mile. We’re talking Rainbow, Brown and Brook trout with fish averaging 12-28 inches. Not too shabby! The action on the Tuck right now is phenomenal. We’re catching trout on dries, nymphs, and streamers. Pretty much anything you want to throw will catch a trout. Wading has been good on the Tuckasegee as the water levels are low even during generation it hasn’t been too high to wade. Float Trips from our drift boats have been good too. We can get to the deeper sections of water and fish where most folks can’t get.

The streams inside the Smokies saw some rain over the weekend. Hurricane Matthew which ripped through the east coast and brought a little rain to the mountains. Stream levels came up on several Smokies streams, although water is dropping out of most of them now.

Dry fly action continues to be strong in the national park. Good hatches of October Caddis and Cinnamon Caddis have kept the trout on the surface and feeding aggressively. Terrestrial patterns have also worked well, especially the last couple of days with the high winds which have knocked inch worms, ants, and beetles into the water.

We have a cooler start to the week with overnight lows dropping to around 40 degrees in Gatlinburg and Bryson City. Temps in the high country of the Smokies will certainly hit mid 30’s. Day time highs will reach low 70’s in the valley floors and low 60’s in the back country. It’s really going to feel like Fall here now and should turn the fish on even more.

Fall colors are awesome in the high elevations. Newfound Gap was beautiful over the weekend with lots of bright yellows contrasting with clear blue skies. It was an awesome sight to see! The cooler temps are going to cause even more leaves to turn at a rapid rate, so visitors this week should be in a for a visual treat.

Its going to be a dry week and perfect tempratures for getting out on the streams and trails. If you are in the area we hope you enjoy your time here in our mountains!

Faith, Family, and Fishing!

 

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Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 10/03/16

Posted on October 3, 2016 by eshuler
Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 10/03/16, Great Smoky Mountains, Fly Fishing the Smokies, Eugene Shuler Fly Fishing Guide, Gatlinburg Trout Fishing Guides,

Great Smoky Mountains at day break

Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 10/03/16

It was a cool morning again in the Smoky Mountains. The high country saw lows into the upper 30’s on Mt LeConte and Clingmans Dome. In Bryson City and Gatlinburg the day started out mid 40’s. It’s finally starting to feel like Fall and football weather around here!

Speaking of football, how about them VOLS! Yes I’m a die hard Tennessee fan. Knoxville and most of the Smokies towns are still taking about this past Saturdays game against Georgia. The radio stations I listen to on my drive each morning driving across the Smokies have been nothing but UT football talk. I love it!

The leaves are starting to turn a little more each day. The high country of course is seeing more color early on than lower elevations. This years color season is expected to be longer than normal mainly due to lack of rain in August and September. It’s highly possible that we will be enjoying Fall colors for up to six weeks along the Smokies and Blue Ridge Mountains. Personally some of my favorite things about living in the mountains are the fall colors and the fact we have year around trout fishing.

Rainfall totals for the year are at a 6.75 inch deficit according to forecasters at WLOS out of Asheville NC. I would suspect those numbers are a bit skewed as we have not had much rain to speak of most of the Summer and early Fall. We did however get more than our fair share from January to May which would account for a deficit not reflecting conditions as of late.

The fishing of course is very good despite streams being low. Dry fly action has been incredible so far this Fall season! I’ve seen more rising trout lately than Spring and Summer combined. Today we watched as Ocotober Caddis females came back to the water to lay eggs and the trout would just sit and gobble them up as fast as possible. Of course we tied on some of our good friend James Conner’s pattern for the October Caddis which works exceptionally well inside the park. James is the oldest commercial fly tier in the South! It’s pretty cool to have that level of experience as a friend and neighbor. We spend many hours talking about the old traditional fly patterns of the Smoky Mountains. Little known to most, I started tying my own flies at age 9, and was tying flies for local tackle shops and anglers at the ripe old age of 11. I’m sure they bought them out of pity as I doubt any of my early flies held up to the first trout that hit them! Lol!

This week is forecasted to be fairly dry. We do have a slight chance of rain each day with that chance increasing to 60% on Friday. Highs for most of the Smokies are expected to be in the mid 70’s all week. Hurricane Matthew is expected come near the coast of South Carolina and North Carolina. It’s up in the air just yet if that will bring any rain our direction. As bad as we need rain, the devastation this storm will bring to the Caribbean is horrific. Please keep those folks in your prayers this week.

Faith, Family, and Fishing

We’ll see you on the water!

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Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 10/1/16

Posted on October 1, 2016 by eshuler

Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 10/1/16Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 10/1/16

Its October 1st,  and what a day it has been in the Smoky Mountains! The weather is much cooler this weekend with lows in the Smoky Mountains dropping into the mid 30’s on Mt Leconte and Cingmans Dome! Wow talk about a drastic change from last weeks heat wave. Gatlinburg and Bryson City were down in the low 40’s this morning and reached a high of 76 degrees. No rain today unfortunately as streams are still very low across the region.

Trout were very active today especially in the afternoon where light winds blew and knocked many ants and beetles into the water making a terrestrial bite on top very good. We saw lots of October Caddis hatching which of course brought fish to the surface to feed too. We haven’t said it enough, but dry fly fishing in the Fall in the Smoky Mountains is top notch. Wild trout here crush your flies at 40mph, you better be paying attention or they’re gone in a blink!

This week looks like a dry week, chances of rain each day are only 10%. Tempratures are expected be in the mid to low 70’s all week and lows hovering around upper 40’s to low 50’s depending on elevation. Of course the temps are very different in high country. There could be as much as a 10 degree difference in areas like Mt Guyout and Mt Leconte.

Traffic in the Smokies is really starting to get congested. Plan to give yourself extra driving time when traveling across the park. This afternoon it took just a little over an hour to get from Gatlinburg to Cherokee. Partly due to the Elk out putting on a show near Towstring the Job Corps fields on the Cherokee side of the park.

Fall colors are just starting to turn in the high country. We expect this weekend to be a pretty sight near the peaks over 6,000ft. Leconte and Clingmans Dome will be beautiful by the weekend.

Hope you guys have a good week and et some fishing in.

We’ll see you on the water!

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October Fly Fishing, Trout Galore!

Posted on October 1, 2016 by eshuler

October Fly Fishing the Great Smoky Mountains, Fly Fishing the Smokies

October Fly Fishing

October Fly Fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains region should be on your list of things to do! Imagine yourself standing in a stream casting to rising trout in scenery that bursts with color and unmatched vibrance. October is one of the top months to fly fish in the region for trout!

October Fly Fishing in the Smokies has several options. We have the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for wild trout. The Smoky Mountains have 2910 miles of streams full of wild Rainbow, Brown, and Brook trout. That’s a lot of water in a national park that is just over 550,000 acres. These are the prettiest fish and streams in the region. Not much compares to the solitude and scenery of the Smokies.

October Fly Fishing, Fall Fly Fishing Smoky Mountains, Fly Fishing the Smokies, Trout Fishing Guides in Smoky Mountains Gatlinburg Pigeon Forge Sevierville Tennessee

Along with wild trout in the Smokies, we have the Cherokee Tropy Trout section. This is a fly fishing only section of the Raven Fork that is world renowned for its massive Rainbows and Browns. Many anglers fishing with us here catch the trout of a lifetime! These beasts offer a challenge for anglers and will fight as hard as any trout in the country.

The most prolific fishery in the region is the Tuckasegee River! The Tuckasegee is located just off the park boundary and flows through the mountain hamlet of Bryson City. The “Tuck” as most people call it has 11,000 trout per mile in October, by November it boasts 17,000 trout per mile. Fish here average 16-18 inches and fight very hard. Our clients catch many fish going well over 20 inches and weighing several pounds! The Tuckasegee River is stocked by the NC Wildlife and is home to Rainbow, Brown, and Brook trout. We offer both Wade Trips and Drift Boat Fishing on the Tuckasegee River.

October is THE time to Fly Fish the Smoky Mountains!

Call us at 828-488-7665 or Book Online!

 

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Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 9/30/16

Posted on September 30, 2016 by eshuler
Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 9/30/16, Fly Fishing the Smokies

Tipton Barn in Cade’s Cove

Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 9/30/16

The big news in the Smokies right now is the drop in temperatures all across the region. Lows dropped into the high 40’s across the Smoky Mountains overnight. That’s the coldest we have been in months! That’s great news to the trout angler as this helps bring stream temperatures down and triggers increased feeding activity from the trout!

October Caddis hatches are in full swing across the Smoky Mountains. Fishing dries has been very productive and of course are always a blast to fish! Love dry fly fishing this time of year in the Smokies. We had a good Caddis hatch on the Little River yesterday that brought fish to the surface for several hours. Trout were literally everywhere you looked gorging themselves on caddis. Air temps were cool and the wind picked up by late afternoon causing many terrestrials to fall in the water too. Once the winds picked up we quickly swithced over to bettles and ants and kept the dry fly bite going for hours on end.

It’s a chilly morning here and I’m sipping in coffee which I rarely do by the way, getting ready to hit the water in the NRS Clearwater Drifter and float the Tuckasegee River for Smallmouth Bass. If coffee tasted like it smells I’d probably enjoy the stuff more. My wife and daughter have all these foo-foo creamers and lattes that I’m never going to try. A revocation of ones man card might be in order if some of those were caught in any red blooded guide’s hands. So no thank you to the Creame Brûlée truffle whatever. I’ll take my coffee like my heroes Clint Eastwood and John Wayne did. Just black.

The highs for today are going to be around 70 for Gatlinburg and 68 for Bryson City. The weekend will be much of the same. Lows will hoover around mid 40’s across the region with highs only in the low 70’s  It’s a far cry from last weekends record setting heat wave. I’ll take it, finally some Fall weather to get the trout biting and the leaves changing. Rain chances are very slight over the next few days. 10% forecasted for each day through Wednesday. The rain we received helped but wasn’t enough to make any significant impact to the low water levels we have currently. The fishing is still very good and will only get better as Ocotber progresses. Our reservations are almost full for the next three weeks, so if you plan to come outside fish with us, please get your dates booked soon.

Traffic is already heavy around Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Although there’s not much leaf color yet we are starting to see an early crowd of folks traveling through taking pictures of the colors we do have.

We hope you have a great weekend in the Smoky Mountains!

We’ll see you on the water!

 

 

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Tuckasegee River Fishing

Posted on September 28, 2016 by eshuler

Tuckasegee River Fishing, Fly Fishing the Smokies

Tuckasegee River Fishing

The Tuckasegee River will be stocked with 11,000 trout per mile starting October 6th. By November 7th, that number will rise to 17,000 trout per mile! What are you waiting for?! Get your trip booked early with us for a spot to fish this legendary southern tailwater!

The Tuckasegee River is one of the hottest Fly Fishing destinations in the East. Fly Fishing the Smokies offers both Wade Trips and Float Trips to over 14 sections of the Tuckasegee River. We are the pioneers of the lower 32 miles of the Tuckasegee River and have more experience, and guided more trips on the Tuckasegee River than any other outfitter in the area!

 

Call us at (828)488-7665 or or book online 

Tuckasegee River Fishing, Fly Fishing the Smokies

Tuckasegee River Trout

We fish for Rainbow, Brown, and Brook Trout predominately from October 1st until June 1st. The average fish on the Tuckasegee River is 16-18 inches with many fish exceeding the 20 inch mark. You have legitimate chances of catching many trout per day, and several shots at remarkable big Brown and Brook trout.

Tuckasegee River Fishing, Fly Fishing the Smokies, Great Smoky Mountains Trout Fishing Guides,

The perfect Trout River!

The Tuckasegee River is similar in size to many larger rivers found in the Rocky Mountain west. The river’s name comes from that of a Cherokee village, Tsiksitsi (meaning “Crawling Terrapin,” for the sluggish movement of the waters). The Tuck is roughly 52 miles long and is a beautiful river. With it’s relatively slow moving current, emerald green waters, and many rock ledges, the fish here have a great place to live.

Wading the Tuck is a great option, but the real fun is floating the river from our drift boats, rafts and cataracts. Our boats are perfectly set up to fish comfortably for a day on the river We have guided Fly and Spin Fishing on the Tuckasegee River for over 18 years. In that time we have guided more Float Trips down the Tuckasegee River than any other outfitter in the area. To say we have a good grasp on the Tuckasegee River might just be an understatement!

 

Reservations call us at (828)488-7665 or Book Online

 

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Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 9/27/16

Posted on September 27, 2016 by eshuler

Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 9/27/16, Fly Fishing the Smokies, Trout Fishing Report Great Smoky Mountains Gtlinburg Pigeon Forge Sevierville Bryson City Cherokee

Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 9/27/16

Some much needed rain fell across the Smoky Mountains late yesterday and over night. The unfamiliar, as of late, sound of thunder boomed yesterday evening and almost in an instant rain starting beating down, making this old tin roof sing its magical song. I had way too much work to finish up, or a nap would have definitely been in order. The rains are tapering off now across the region and chances will increase by late evening once again. We did receive significant rainfall totals in the area. Most of the Smokies saw .5 to 2 inches depending on where you look geographically. Some parts of the region saw as much as 5 inches in places. While we didn’t get anything that looked like that inside the Smokies what we did receive will certainly help the streams and the fishing.

Stream flows today have increased across the Smokies. The Little River is 78cfs this morning up from 27cfs the day before. The Oconaluftee River is looking good at 143cfs up from 86cfs the day before.

Cooler air tempratures this week will certainly do wonders for lowering stream tempratures and bringing them back in align with normal Fall conditions. The water will still be low and I don’t see that changing for the next bit. The big news will be lower stream tempratures which will certainly help with dissolved oxygen levels in the water columns. Anglers will see increased feeding activity from the trout and should have some fantastic fishing this week.

The drop in air tempratures will certainly bring about changes in the colors of Fall foliage. Leaves will start turning more this week especially at higher elevations where it is expected to drop into the upper 40’s over night on Tursday and Friday. Fall colors should start to really show over the next several weeks. We are predicted to have a longer then normal color season for this year!

Anglers planning to visit the Smokies should plan to travel very early in the day and prepare for traffic delays in the afternoon and early evenings around crowded ares near Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Bryson City and Twonsend are both touted as the quieter sides of the Smokies and see much less traffic and congestion.

Hope you all have a great week and get to wet a line.

Faith, Family, and Fishing,

Fly Fishing the Smokies

 

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Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 9/26/16

Posted on September 26, 2016 by eshuler

Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 9/26/16, Fly Fishing the Smokies

Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 9/26/16

The sun is shining in Bryson City this morning and tempratures are in the low 60’s all across the Smoky Mountains. We’re forecasted for 80% chance of rain today starting around 3pm. It’s already starting to to get cloudy across many parts of the Smokies. Rainfall totals are expected to be decent which should make a positive impact on the low water levels inside the park. We have a cold front that is settling in this week which thankfully will bring air temperatures to something near more Fall like.

This week is going to be some great fishing inside the park. The drop in air and stream temps will trigger the trout into feeding more aggressively. Dry fly action has been incredible the past several weeks. Trout are crushing Caddis and terrestrials on the surface near the heaviest oxygenated sections of water. We expect this week to see increased trout feeding activity. There will also be an excellent subsurface bite as the rains will stir things up slightly on the bottom and knock lots of ants, beetles, and inch worms off vegetation and into the water. Should be an epic bite!

Anglers should continue to wade as stealthy as possible and wear drab colored clothing to avoid spooking fish. Long leaders with light tippet is best this time of year too. Dead drifts are paramount, so be sure to watch for micro drag on your flies. It makes all the difference in the world. Most of the time it’s not the fly pattern, it’s the way you are presenting your flies that catches more fish.

Gatlinburg traffic will increase this weekend. We are already seeing a push of Fall visitors to the park. Leaves are starting to change colors in high elevations slightly. We are expected to have a long Fall foliage season this year. Local experts at Western Carolina University have predicted that color will be good, and the season could be up to six weeks long!

Have fun this week, and stay dry!

Faith, Family, and Fishing

Fly Fishing the Smokies

 

 

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Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 9/24/16

Posted on September 24, 2016 by eshuler

Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 9/24/16, Smoky Mountains Rainbow Trout, Fly Fishing the Smokies, Fly Guides for Trout in Tennessee and North Carolina

Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 9/24/16

While it may start looking like Autumn, the tempratures certainly don’t feel that way. Highs reached 88 degrees in Bryson City and Gatlinburg today. That’s sort of crazy especially considering its the latter part of September! I’m not really complaining, well, maybe I am. As much as I love to wet wade the Smokies trout streams, I do wish the temps would cool off and bring some rain and get the water levels back up to normal flows around here.

It appears we may all get our wish this coming week. A cold front is expected to push in and with it bring some much needed rain. Sunday is forecasted for a 30 percent chance, and increasing to 80 percent on Monday. Rain is in the forecast for most of the week with the exception of Wednesday. Highs are only going to be in the mid to low 70’s and nightly lows by Thursday are expected to be around 48 degrees. Wow talk about a dramatic change! The trout in the Smokies are going to be very happy with this weeks weather. The drop in air tempratures combined with some rain is expected to really turn the fishing on as the water tempratures start cooling off.

The Smokies were fishing good today in the early morning before the sun broke through the fog cover. It got hot quick as we were hitting upper 80’s before lunch. We got several nice fish on Caddis and beetles up top and dark stonefly nymphs underneath. Strikes were fast and explosive typically associated with wild Smoky Mountain trout. Getting a dead drift on light tippet was paramount. Use a long leader 9-12 feet tapered down to a 6-7x tippet.

This week is going to bring good things across the Smokies!

We’ll see you on the water!

 

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Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 9/22/16

Posted on September 22, 2016 by eshuler

Fly Fishing the Smokies, Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 9/22/16

Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report 9/22/16

Today is the first day of Fall! The Great Smoky Mountains fished amazing the past two days. Cooler weather at night has dropped streams temps a few degrees and we’re seeing increased feeding activity from the resident wild trout!

Dry fly action is incredible right now, Septemeber always is. We just started seeing one of our favorite hatches of the year, the October Caddis. These Caddis are very large by Smokies standards, they range from a #10-#12 and are a bright orange. I joke and tell people you can see them from the Space Shuttle. Of course you can’t but it sure does seem that way, even the most novice angler can spot these in the fast turbid pockets in the Smoky Mountains. They’re the perfect dry fly in my opinion.

The weather has been nice, it’s finally starting to feel like Fall, maybe a little at least. Overnight temps dropped into the high 50’s across the Smoky Mountains. We had a good cloud cover in most areas and are starting the morning foggy and cool. Some of our guides showed up this morning with jackets on. Not me, I’m still running around in shorts and barefooted, typical hillbilly. Lol! Today is going to be partly cloudy with a slight chance for rain, highs are expected to hot 84 degrees in Bryson City. The Gatlinburg side of the big hill is going to be full sun and a high of 84.

Streams are still low, so stealth and good presentation is key. Fish above 2,500ft elevation so as not to stress the fish please.

It’s going to be a pretty weekend. Great weather to be outside exploring the Smokies.

Faith , Family, and Fishing

We’ll see you on the water!

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