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!