Happy Thanksgiving day to all. All the streams in the park are on the low side of normal but still okay and with clear water. We received two good reports from Perfect Fly customers fishing yesterday. Today will be sunny with a high around sixty degrees. It will be a little windy and there is a chance for rain in the afternoon and tonight. There’s a chance for snow showers tomorrow morning becoming warmer later in the day. That sounds a little scary but consider this. On several occasions over the years, Angie and I have seen Blue-winged olives hatching when it was snowing lightly. It doesn’t mean it is to cold to catch trout at all.
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Smoky Mountain Stream Conditions:
The streams with links that have nearby USGS Station Real-time stream data: Click the links to see updates:
Little River: Rate 107 cfs at 1.66 ft
(Good wading up to 250 cfs and with extra caution up to 307 cfs)
West Prong Little Pigeon River (Gatlinburg): Rate 27.9 cfs at 2.86 ft (Good wading up
to 65 cfs and with extra caution up to 95 cfs)
Oconaluftee River: Rate 204 cfs at 1.28 ft, (Good wading up to 550 cfs and with extra
caution up to 700 cfs)
Cataloochee Creek: Rate 38.8 cfs at 2.24 ft. (Good wading up to 61.3 cfs and with extra
caution up to 100 cfs.
Hazel Creek and the other larger NC streams flowing into Fontana Lake:
The streams are all near normal and safe to wade.
Weather Forecast: (click the boxes below for more detailed weather information)
https://forecast7.com/en/35d71n83d51/gatlinburg/?unit=us
https://forecast7.com/en/35d48n83d32/cherokee/?unit=us
Trout Flies Currently Needed Now:
Streamers:
Brown Sculpin: 6
White Belly Sculpin: 6
Articulated Sculpin and Leeches: 4
Midges: 20/22 Red, or blood midges, or cream midges (we now also have them pre-rigged with larva and pupa in tandem)
larva
pupa
adults
Blue-winged olives: 16/18
nymphs
emergers
duns
spinners
Mahogany Duns, size 18
nymph
nymphs
emergers
duns
spinners
Slate Drakes: 10/12
nymphs and spinners
Green Sedge Caddis: 14/16
larva, pupa, adults
Recommended Fishing Strategy:
Keep in mind, the strategies I am recommending is for the maximum odds of catching numbers of fish. Many prefer or favor a dry fly and by all means there isn’t anything wrong with that. It’s just a fact that if nothing is hatching at the time, it reduces your odds of success. You can still probably hook some trout, just not as many as if you fish subsurface. Of course, this is also based on using good techniques and the right flies. Some guys don’t know how to fish below the surface.
Strategy:
Not all of the insects you see above will be hatching in the same location. It is usually only one or two. It varies with the elevation. Some are just starting in the low elevations and some about finished in the higher elevations. If you fished the day or two before and know where something is hatching, fish the nymph or larva stage of it. If you haven’t fished the day or two before, until I spotted something hatching, I would fish the BWO nymph. If you spot something hatching (coming off the water), change to the appropriate emerger, dun or adult imitations of the insect.
Tips for Beginners:
Don’t let anyone intimidate you by contending that fly fishing is more difficult to learn and master than other types of fishing. It isn’t.
Thank you for visiting our website
James Marsh