Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report July 14th
Summer always has those days near a Full Moon that seem to just fish very well. Typically those who are fishing after dark will reap these benefits for a few hours each night close to a full moon. However, often times a larger trout will eat during the day light hours and will surprise many anglers. Seems each year several of our guests will hook into a beast of a Brown trout during a sunny day in July and it just absolutely catches you off gaurd! There’s no rhyme or reason for it, the old mantra is big Browns dine at dusk. So when you get into one on a blue bird sky in the heat of July… well there’s no other way to put it other than holy crap!
Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report July 14th
The fly fishing action around the Great Smoky Mountains has been fantastic this week! We’re seeing tons of dry fly activity from early morning until late evening inside the park. There’s nothing like having a wild trout smash dry flies!
The weather this week has been very warm. Afternoon highs in Gatlinburg and Bryson City have reaching into the upper 80’s. We are still seeing plenty of afternoon showers which help keep the mountain streams good and cool. This year has been great for rain thankfully. Last summer we experienced a drought, however that hasn’t been the case this year. Stream temperatures and water levels have been near perfect!
This time of year there is no bad start time for a fly fishing trip in the Smoky Mountains. Trout are active all day long and you’ll see plenty of action no what time you head out to fish. Thick forest shades the streams from the summer heat and heading into higher elevations means much cooler tempratures and happier trout.
Did you know!?
During the Summer a trout in the Smokies will completely digest its entire stomach contents in two hours, (or less if you’re a Brook trout!) Its true!
What that means for the fly fisherman is you will have actively feeding trout all day long. No matter what time of day or weather conditions, there’s going to be hungry trout. Imagine that for a second, say you just ate a big meal at your grand momma’s house and two hours later you are hungry again. I mean really hungry.. stomach growling, getting irritated, raiding the fridge you’re starved to death kind of hungry again. Every two hours, all summer long…. So now you’re thinking ok all I need to do is just throw a fly in the water and a trout will jump on my hook right? Not so fast. They are still wild trout, so they are still incredibly spooky. You still need to have the right flies, and there’s a few details that’s sort of the big ones. Trout are in the stream of course, but what part of the water column are they in now and where are they going to be? How are they going to be looking for their food? What are they going to eat? And how do I get the right fly down to the trout without spooking them? Those are just some the things that hiring a professional guide will take care of. Guides who fish these waters and guide each day will teach you what you need to know and help instruct you how to do them correctly to catch the wild trout in the Smoky Mountains
The forecast this weekend looks fantastic, afternoon pop up showers are possible but chances are low. The coming week looks very promising to be outside in the Smokies. Typical summer time highs in the 80’s and a slight chances of showers in the afternoons. We’ll take it!
