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Overview
Brook, rainbow, and brown trout, as well as smallmouth bass, thrive in the crystal-clear streams, rivers, and lakes of the Great Smoky Mountains. But just because you know they’re there doesn’t mean they’ll be easy to find. If you want to land these hard-to-catch fish, as well as enjoy a fantastic experience in one of the most picturesque spots in the United States, you need this guide.
To fish like a pro, it’s best to go with the pros...and The Ultimate Fly-Fishing Guide to the Great Smoky Mountains lets you fish with two of the best. Don Kirk has been wading in these waters since he was a young man, and no one knows them better. Greg Ward, a native of Pigeon Forge, grew up angling the waters around Gatlinburg and has become an expert on fly-fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains. From these two experienced fisherman you’ll learn:
- Where to find fish and why
- Casting tactics and gear tips
- Fly patterns
- Details about trail access, fishing pressure and quality, species, and campsite availability for each of the 13 watersheds found within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- How the weather, seasons, and other factors will affect your angling success
- How and where to fish the Great Smoky Mountains year-round
The Ultimate Fly-Fishing Guide to the Great Smoky Mountains will help you catch more fish— and have more fun.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780897326919 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Menasha Ridge Press |
| Publication date: | 05/01/2011 |
| Edition description: | Second Edition |
| Pages: | 282 |
| Sales rank: | 633,360 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Where to Find Fish and Why
Angling for trout in the Smokies is not limited to expert fishermen. Trout can be caught on a $2 cane pole, or on a $2,000 fly rod. Fine fishing tackle is a joy to use, but by no means is it a prerequisite for success. The name of the game is having fun.
Several important bits of information will aid in catching trout. Anglers increase their chances if they know where their quarry prefers to “hang out” and what morsels are most tempting to its palate. Other important keys to success include mastering a stealthy approach to the stream and being able to place your offering in a spot where it will not alarm the fish.
Each of the three trout of the Smokies tends to occupy slightly different water when feeding, although any one species may occasionally be in any given spot. Trout in the wild have established feeding spots, or stations, where they position themselves to await food coming down with the current. Size and aggressiveness determine how good a feeding spot a trout is able to defend and keep.
Understanding where trout position themselves in the stream is one of the most important bits of knowledge an angler can possess. When surveying a pool or stretch of pocket water for likely fish-holding spots, remember a trout must have cover that shields it from the current, and offers at least limited shelter during times of danger. A typical pool starts with a noisy waterfall. The water rushes over smooth, gray boulders, falling into a carved-out plunge pool. Current-loving rainbow trout are right at home in the swift waters of the plunge pool. Large rainbow trout often station themselves at the base of the falls, while smaller members of the clan will gather around the perimeter of the pool or in the pool’s main channel. From the depths of the plunge pool, the flow of the stream moves on to the tail of the pool, where the average depth becomes more shallow. It is here you will often find the secretive brown trout. Its favorite lairs are near solitary rocks or submerged tree roots alongside the bank. These fish, particularly the large fellows, often shun feeding during the day, preferring to chase minnows at night. Brook trout favor much the same sort of habitat as the brown trout, though the brookie does not shy away from a sunlit meal. Pocket water, so common to the park, can be treated like a miniature pool.
Where fish are located is important, but knowing their feeding habits is of equal importance. The trout of the park are best termed “opportunistic feeders.” The streams of the Smokies and the surrounding mountains are poor producers of food; they are acidic and carry only a limited amount of nutrients (Abrams Creek is the only notable exception). While by no means devoid of aquatic insects, local streams do not support the massive concentrations of the spring-run limestone creeks of Pennsylvania, or Hampshire, England. A typical trout will, in the course of a few hours, consume a combination of mayflies, caddis flies, stone flies, midges, and a terrestrial or two. Close examination of their stomach contents will reveal dominant feeding on the most abundant food, but along with that particular food, a few other tidbits will usually be present. During the late winter and very early spring, Smokies trout feed primarily on the nymphs, but can be caught on dry flies then too.
Spring is a time of brisk activity in and on the streams. As the season progresses, the weather becomes milder, warming the water. Insect emergence becomes more common, along with surface feeding by trout. Such activity peaks by late spring, about the only time local trout can afford to be selective, so fly selection should be considered. Terrestrials quickly become important to the diet of the trout, even in spring.
Summer fishing action is often slow. The remaining insect hatches are small and sporadic. Streams suffer from the seasonal dry weather, often running at little more than a trickle, compared to a couple of months earlier. Water temperatures rise, causing many trout to seek deep, cool havens and to feed at night. Successful anglers often use terrestrial insect imitations, such as grasshoppers, ants, jassids (or leafhoppers), beetles, caterpillars, and bees.
Fall is an exciting time. The scenery surrounding the streams is at its best. Trees and shrubs are decked out in their brightest yellows, flame reds, spectacular oranges, and regal golds. Trout seem to sense the coming winter and feed with uncharacteristic abandon. Terrestrials are still the cornerstone of their diets, although often overlooked are some interesting hatches of caddis flies. During late fall, growing nymphs and larvae take on increasing dietary importance.
The cold winter months cause trout to become torpid and stay close to the bottom. The cold water slows down a fish’s metabolism, reducing the amount of food needed to survive. Anglers feeling the urge to fish during the winter will be pleased to learn that on the mild days, trout move into the sunny areas and do a modest amount of feeding.
*****
Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River
- SIZE: Large at the park boundary, smaller upstream
- FISHING PRESSURE: Heavy
- FISHING QUALITY: Fair, at its best in early spring
- ACCESS: Greenbrier Road; Ramsey Prong Road Trail
- USGS QUADS: Mt. LeConte, NC–TN; Mt. Guyot, NC–TN
If you are staying in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area, this is the place to go if you want to beat the crowds. This streamshed gets less pressure these days than it did when my first trout fishing guidebook on park waters was published in 1979. That’s remarkable, because angling success has improved on these waters.
The Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River (locally referred to as the Middle Prong or Greenbrier Creek) is one of the more rugged watersheds. Prior to becoming part of a national park, Greenbrier Cove was a sparsely populated, primitive area. The terrain displays an ancient face. Wisely, the National Park Service chose not to develop this area, slowly phasing out camping and auto access. Partially logged in the very early 1900s, the area is well known for its virgin stands of huge trees, including giant cherry tree. The Greenbrier Creek watershed is located in the northwest section of the park upstream from Emert’s Cove. Mt. LeConte, one of the highest peaks in the eastern United States, forms the boundary of the watershed to the south, with Mt. Guyot to the east. The primary tributaries are Porters Creek, Ramsey Prong, Buck Fork, Eagle Rock Prong, and Chapman Prong.
The Greenbrier is a rough-and-tumble cascading creek, rushing over thousands of huge boulders, forming countless trout-holding pools. Getting to these trout requires a bit of work, due to the extreme ruggedness of the terrain. But a day of fishing here is a surefire cure for insomnia.
Greenbrier Creek sports all three species of trout. Rainbows are the most abundant. Brown trout have established a foothold in the lower reaches as a result of stockings outside the park. In recent years the state of Tennessee has dramatically curtailed its brown trout stocking efforts downstream from the park, resulting in fewer catches of these large fish in the park. Brook trout still flourish in the majority of the headwater streams.
Greenbrier Creek is not a premium trout stream, although if you hit it at the right time it can be very good fishing. This watershed has traditionally been prone to flash floods, which not only kill fish but have a scouring effect on the bottom fauna. This is a problem that hits all streams in the Smokies from time to time. Its effects are certainly evident, but these splashes of water have been here a long time. Back in the 1960s, Sue Lungsford of nearby Cosby taught me a method for catching trout on flies, which has long been quite popular with the local fishermen. Using pretty ho-hum fly tackle, rather than a traditional leader, 40 feet of 4-pound test monofilament line is spooled onto a fly reel (preferably an automatic South Bend if you are a traditionalist). Using heavily weighted Yallarhammers with plumb peacock herl bodies, these are cast into the run much the same as fly line is shot, but then they are shed much the same as the way Europeans pin. It takes a bit of practice, but because flies get down so fast on taut lines, it’s a little tough not to set the hook when a strike occurs—and strikes will occur nearly every cast. This approach does not work well if you are like me and prefer to fish upstream to avoid spooking trout. However, it is awesome for “side flicking” if you are nimble enough to slither along the boulders on your belly.
Greenbrier Creek is at its best in early spring. There is a good population of stone flies in this watershed, so stone fly imitations (basically nymphs) are always trout-getters. Nice hatches of small, gray mayflies take place in the last few weeks of April, making for pretty fair fly-fishing.
The presence of smallmouth bass in the lower reaches of the main river is the well-kept secret of a handful of local anglers. Bronzebacks in excess of 4 pounds are routinely caught downstream from the mouth of Porters Creek. Muddler Minnows and Dace-style streamers are the ticket for catching these bruisers.
Several years ago my dad and I were driving up the gravel road beside the main stream to the old Ramsey Cascade Road. Rounding a curve I spotted a shiny old Jaguar XKE. The vintage jag was stunning. I slowed to get a long look at it. Dad was watching the creek. Down on the stream where most of the flow constricted between large gray boulders to form a deep pool, he spotted two naked young ladies. Insisting that I stop, he leaped from the cab, fetched his fly rod and headed for the creek.
He rushed forward as if they were damsels in distress in need of rescue. Seeing Dad’s approach, a lounge-lizard-looking photographer tried to wave him off, shouting “Go on, we’re working!” As Dad made his first step down the 90-degree gully, the last thing I heard him yell back at the man was, “It’s okay, we’re working too.” Then Dad’s feet went from under him, sending him on a 25-foot spill reminiscent of a water park slide. We never discussed the incident, other than to note that fishing was pretty uneventful that day.
- ACCESS: Greenbrier Creek flows under TN 73, 6 miles east of Gatlinburg. Entrance to the park is possible by turning onto the Greenbrier Road at the concrete bridge.
The Greenbrier Road allows stream access by auto as far as the ranger station (.9 mile). This section of road is open year-round. During the fishing season, an additional 2.5 miles of gravel road alongside the stream are also open.
Further access to the main stream is possible via the Ramsey Prong Road Trail, which begins at the end of the road. It generally follows the stream, ending at the junction of Ramsey Prong (1.7 miles). There is no further access to the main stream.
Table of Contents
AcknowledgmentsIntroduction
Smoky Mountains Trout and Bass
Smoky Mountains Angling: A Historical Overview
About Those Creeks
Where to Find Fish and Why
Casting Tactics and Gear Tips
Weather, Seasons, and Other Factors
Stream Insects and Feathery Deceivers
Pondering Caddis Flies
Terrestrials: Too Important to Overlook
Greg’s Deadly Dozen and How to Use Them
Ben Craig: Master Fly Tyer of the Smokies
Ray Ball: The Last Mountain Man
Bases of Operations, Guides, and Fly Shops
Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River System
West Prong of the Little Pigeon River System
Little River System
Abrams Creek System
Twentymile Creek System
Eagle Creek System
Hazel Creek System
Forney Creek System
Noland Creek System
Deep Creek System
Oconaluftee River System
Cataloochee Creek System
Big Creek System
Minor Streams of the Smokies
Fontana and the Finger Lakes
Fly-Fishing Gatlinburg According to Ward
Pigeon Forge/Sevierville: Fly-Fishing for World-Class Stream Smallmouth
Cherokee Indian Reservation Public Trout Fishing
Index
About the Authors