Great Smoky Mountains Fishing Report October 19th

The fishing inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is fantastic this time of year! Trout are biting well and coming up top for good dry fly action starting mid morning until mid afternoon. Nymph bite has been consistent all day starting around 7:30am and continuing until late afternoon as the sun starts to set.

Hot patterns have been Ocotober Caddis, Black ants, Beetles, Pheasant Tail nymphs, Caddis Pupae, Stonefly nymphs, and Black Wooly Buggers.

We are starting to see some pre-spawn Brown Trout on certain streams throughout the Tennessee and North Carolina sides of the Smokies. These big fish start showing themselves a little more this time of year as they prepare to get ready for spawning season. They will be in the shallows feeding all day long on anything big and meaty that comes drifting by. Knowing what streams these fish will be prevalent on and where to look is key. Several factors contribute to success when fishing for these larger willy trout. Local knowledge that comes from a lifetime of fishing the Smoky Mountains along with air tempratures, water temperatures, moon phases and water flow also contribute heavily into the equation.

Weather this week has felt more late Summer-ish as day time highs have reached near 80’s in some valley floors. Nightly lows have been upper 50’s in Gatlinburg and Bryson City. That all changes this weekend as a cold front passes through and with it brings the prospect of rain on Friday and cooler tempratures to the area. This is will be a great weekend to be fly fishing the National Park and surrounding region.

The drop in tempratures and the rain will trigger the fish into biting even better. Rain will wash plenty of inch worms, ants, and beetles of backside vegetation into the water and we’ll see an increase in feeding activity. Catching those elusive Brown trout will get even better on Friday and Saturday.

Fall colors are exploding all across the Smoky Mountains. High and mid elevations are seeing the best colors as red and yellows are dominating the landscape. Expect heavy traffic congestion inside the Smokies and along the Blue Ridge Parkway as this will be as close to “peak weekend” as we are going to get.

We hope you have a great week and get outside and explore the Smoky Mountains

Faith, Family, and Fishing!