Gatlinburg Fishing

[Uncivilengineer]

I am headed to the Smokies in about a week. I am staying in Gatlinburg. I want to fly fish in the streams for trout. Does anyone have any spots or tips? I have never fly fished before so I will need to practice before I go.

Thanks

[Prediction? Pain.]

Opening caveat: I'm not a fisherman. So I'm sure you'll get much, much better advice from others on the board. But I live in East Tennessee and have gone fly fishing in the mountains as a complete novice. So it's like I stayed in a Holiday Inn last night, right?

I've heard good things about the Little Pigeon River, which is near Gatlinburg, but I've never been. The other big-time fly fishing streams in East Tennessee that I know of are either a little closer to the Chattanooga area -- such as the Hiwassee River and Tellico River -- or north of the Smokies closer to the Tri-Cities area -- such as the Holston River.

I stumbled upon this website once and it appears to be a good resource:

http://www.flyfishingsmokymountains.com/streams.html (http://www.flyfishingsmokymountains.com/streams.html)

My lone fly fishing experience was in a small stream in the Tennessee mountains in and around Roan Mountain State Park, which is about an hour south of Johnson City, TN near the NC border. (Roan Mounain's an amazing place, by the way. Well worth a visit if you're at all into hiking, backpacking, or car camping. Just thinking about it makes me want to go again.) I was with an experienced trout fisherman, but he didn't have to give me too many instructions before I was able to get a the hang of it. (We were there to hike, but since he's so gung ho about fly fishing, he brought his gear so we could mess around in the creeks in our down time.)

We waded into knee-high water in whatever random stream we happened upon, and carefully started casting among the rocks and rhododendron. We both caught a few things -- small rainbows, I think (we were both hoping for some native brook trout, but never caught any) -- as we ambled up and down stream. It was a lot of fun. I'm sure you can find all the info you need re: flys and locations online, but if all else fails, just stop into a fly fishing shop in Gatlinburg (or the Bass Pro Shops store on I-40 at Gatlinburg exit) and ask for some tips.

I hope your trip goes well. Enjoy the mountains!

[Uncivilengineer]

Thanks for the advice.

[Randolph Dupree]

I've never fished TN but have fished WY and MO, got hooked on fly fishing (no pun intended) a few years back while we were in WY and now it's all I do. If you're looking for equipment I suggest the Orvis Encoujter package. It's about $150 and ready to go out of the box, all you need is a fly. For the price it casts good and I have landed a plethora of bass, bream and perch on mine over the last several years here in central MS and it has held up well. Had a Cabela's version before that and it was crap, I still have it but it stays in the closet. I'll be upgrading in the near future but plan to keep my Encounter for back-up.

[SpeckleDawg]

I'm far from a knowledgeable fly fisherman - only mess around with some bream from time to time. I did fish the Little Pigeon several years ago, but did not catch a thing (didn't fish much at all). Like I said though, I had no idea what I was doing. It was awesome just being out there though.

[FISHDAWG]

Opening caveat: I'm not a fisherman. So I'm sure you'll get much, much better advice from others on the board. But I live in East Tennessee and have gone fly fishing in the mountains as a complete novice. So it's like I stayed in a Holiday Inn last night, right?

I've heard good things about the Little Pigeon River, which is near Gatlinburg, but I've never been. The other big-time fly fishing streams in East Tennessee that I know of are either a little closer to the Chattanooga area -- such as the Hiwassee River and Tellico River -- or north of the Smokies closer to the Tri-Cities area -- such as the Holston River.

I stumbled upon this website once and it appears to be a good resource:

http://www.flyfishingsmokymountains.com/streams.html (http://www.flyfishingsmokymountains.com/streams.html)

My lone fly fishing experience was in a small stream in the Tennessee mountains in and around Roan Mountain State Park, which is about an hour south of Johnson City, TN near the NC border. (Roan Mounain's an amazing place, by the way. Well worth a visit if you're at all into hiking, backpacking, or car camping. Just thinking about it makes me want to go again.) I was with an experienced trout fisherman, but he didn't have to give me too many instructions before I was able to get a the hang of it. (We were there to hike, but since he's so gung ho about fly fishing, he brought his gear so we could mess around in the creeks in our down time.)

We waded into knee-high water in whatever random stream we happened upon, and carefully started casting among the rocks and rhododendron. We both caught a few things -- small rainbows, I think (we were both hoping for some native brook trout, but never caught any) -- as we ambled up and down stream. It was a lot of fun. I'm sure you can find all the info you need re: flys and locations online, but if all else fails, just stop into a fly fishing shop in Gatlinburg (or the Bass Pro Shops store on I-40 at Gatlinburg exit) and ask for some tips.

I hope your trip goes well. Enjoy the mountains!

The North River and Bald River - both which feed into the Telico downstream of Green Cove are pretty good for chasing native Brookies

[Uncivilengineer]

I just got back from Tennessee. I didn't even have a chance to wet a hook. I want to plan a trip specifically to fly fish. It doesn't have to be at Gatlinburg, but somewhere.

[DawgHouseUnited]

I just got back from Tennessee. I didn't even have a chance to wet a hook. I want to plan a trip specifically to fly fish. It doesn't have to be at Gatlinburg, but somewhere.

The pigeon river gets hit pretty hard by tourists. You would do well to stop by an outdoor shop and talk to locals. I know the NOC store has fishing updates on a regular basis. Just an FYI if you want to go back. I did it a couple times with no luck.

Look into some places in Arkansas, there is great fly fishing there and it isn't too far from MS.