Some Great Summer Fishing Ahead
Not for long, however, but if you want to enjoy some of the best fishing of the summer season, there is still time left. From beetle fishing in the mountains, to wading or floating for smallmouth, to floating for stripers on the larger rivers, there is some great fishing to be had.
In the rest of this newsletter, I'll highlight some of these possibilities while also looking ahead towards fall. I'll also do a quick recap and review of our recent fishing throughout July, both on the tailwaters and in the mountains. As always, thanks for being here and supporting us at Trout Zone Anglers!
Have questions about our guide service? Then stop by our website for more information.
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Summer Beetle Fishing
For those who don't know what I mean by beetle fishing, here is an old blog post that delves into what I love about this great summer fun. Probably my favorite thing about beetle fishing is that it often gets better and better the lower the water gets. That means it is perfect for those hot dry summer days where we haven't had rain for a week.
Much of the best beetle fishing is sight fishing as well. Sight fishing is the pinnacle of our sport if you ask me. As the guide, I often walk very slowly ahead of the angler(s) and spot fish. Once a fish is located, I have the angler move very slowly into position and make sure they know where the fish is. Then it is up to them to get a good cast made. This can be some of the most rewarding fishing of the year. Fish will come and annihilate a well presented beetle, but spook if you mess things up. In other words, you know you have done something right when it all works out.
Best of all, beetles always appeal to brook trout and often to brown trout. Rainbows love them as well, but I'll explain later why I particularly love chasing brook trout with them.
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A Month in the Drift Boat
People ask all the time where I do most of my fishing and particularly guiding. The answer varies some by season, but most often is something like "wherever people book trips." That varies a lot season by season, but summer is definitely "float" season. I've spent a lot more time in the drift boat than in the mountains lately. The other TZA guides have been in their boats a fair amount lately as well. Summer usually provides stable flows and more consistent fishing than other seasons. That is about to end, however, due to recent heavier rains. We don't expect the flows on the Caney Fork to get too high, but we will likely see more high water than low moving forward.
The fun part about fishing in the boats, aside from the larger fish of course, is the variety that we encounter on our lowland rivers. Over the last month, I've seen carp, buffalo, stripers, gar, smallmouth bass, bluegill, and of course rainbow and brown trout hooked. Most days, our target is rainbow and brown trout, but stripers and smallmouth in particular can provide some excellent fishing opportunities.
The smallmouth bass below was both caught on a multi-species trip in which we also caught stripers, gar, and trout. Of course, for most people, the best part about being in the boat is catching big fish. While we don't catch larger fish every trip, the opportunities still exist and are happening fairly regularly. Check out some of the large trout and smiling faces below.
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Smallmouth Time
Most years, I end up fishing for smallmouth a handful of times, simply because I don't get much time off in the summer. However, it is one of the favorite parts of each summer. Throwing a popper, stealth bomber, or hopper and watching big fish come up and sip it is about as much fun as you can have with a fly rod. It doesn't hurt that smallmouth bass fight hard and love to eat on top.
We chase these fish both out of boats and wade fishing. Here is a very short video edit from a trip last summer on an east TN river. Some of my favorite trips are wading the smaller streams and rivers of the Cumberland Plateau. I usually do these trips between June and September. Before or after that can start to get a little more iffy, but those months are usually prime. You can find quite a few old blog posts at the Trout Zone on these adventures, but HERE is one of my favorites. It was quite a day!!!
If you want to take off looking for smallmouth on your own and are limited to wading, then look for streams on the Cumberland Plateau or in east TN that are small enough to be wadeable. Check some of the USGS gauges to see what kind of streamflows these streams have. Then look for public access. Most of these are remote with the exception of famed smallmouth water like the Little Pigeon in Sevierville and Pigeon Forge. If you have a raft, check out the boat ramp and access map from TWRA to help you find boat ramps close enough together to make a good float. Note that many of the better smallmouth rivers aren't great for hard boats. I'd stick to a raft with just a few exceptions.
Finally, get yourself a good selection of poppers and stealth bombers along with some baitfish imitations and crawdad imitations. Little River Outfitters is always a good source for your fly fishing needs. Check out Byron's Knucklehead while you're in there. It is another great smallmouth fly. Take heavier tippet. I don't fish anything lighter than 3x for smallmouth unless I'm fishing small hoppers on Plateau creeks in which case I'll occasionally go down to 4x. That is rare, however. Mostly it is anywhere from 1x through 3x. Fluorocarbon can be handy, more for the abrasion resistance. These streams are often rocky with lots of places for a mean smallmouth to rub the tippet and try to throw the fly.
Looking to learn more about fishing for smallmouth? Then check out our open dates below.
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Brook Trout Prime Time
Now for my favorite late summer and early fall fishing opportunity. August and September is my absolute favorite time to chase one of my favorite fish. The brook trout, our native species here in the southern Appalachians, is a fall spawner. That means it is starting to color up even now as we approach spawning season. The fall dress of a large male brook trout is one of the most incredibly beautiful things in nature if you ask me.
Of course, we do NOT advocate or recommend targeting these gems during the spawn and do not guide people to do so. However, in the period leading up to the spawn, these fish are feeding hard and already colored up. August and particularly September is a great time to try and catch a "trophy" brook trout. Different people have different ideas of a trophy, but for the Smokies, it is usually any fish 9 or 10 inches and larger. While rare, these fish do exist and September is a great time to target them.
If you want in on this good pre-spawn brook trout fishing, contact me to get set up with one of the TZA guides. You might even get to fish beetles for them!
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Striper Season
While you can target stripers year round here in TN, my favorite time also coincides with some of my favorite trout fishing of the year. August through October is when I have caught more large stripers than any other time. We have been targeting them a little as of late. So far, we have found some small schoolies and had a large one or two on, but haven't boated any monsters this year. That should change soon with some favorable flows and striper trips coming up.
Never caught a striper before? Then the first thing you need to figure out is if you are ready for the work involved. Striper fishing involves throwing heavy sinking lines and large flies. Once you hook a fish, you'll get the fight of your life if it is a large fish. I've seen my backing on almost every single striper over 10 or 15 pounds that I've ever hooked. Need some inspiration? Here is one caught at night from a few years back...
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Smoky Mountain Brown Trout Stunner
While I've mostly been on the tailwaters, TZA guide Pat Tully has been splitting his time a little more evenly between the Smokies and the tailwaters. Recently, on a high water day, one of his clients hooked a rather nice brown trout. Check out the tail on this fish! It is destined to be a truly large brown in another couple of years with a paddle like that propelling it. Great work Pat! Interested in chasing browns in the Park with Pat? Feel free to contact him directly or contact me and I'll get you on our books.
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Guide Trip Availability
Over the next month, I still have a few days available as well as a handful of days in early September. After that, I have days in October onward. Guide Pat Tully still has some availability this month and for September as well. If you want to fish with Travis Williams, check with him directly or check with me to get updated availability.
Open Dates
Late Cancellations:
This Friday, August 5 and next Monday August 8 for trips with David Knapp.
For trips with David Knapp:
August 5, 8, 19, 24-26, 30, and 31
September 1, 2, 6-8
October 12, 13, 17, 18, 20, 24, 25, 27, 28, 31
November 1-4, 7, 8, 14, 18, 21-23, 28-30
December 1, 2, 5, 7-9, 12-16
For trips with Pat Tully:
August 15, 17-19, 22, 24-26, 29-31
September 1, 2, 6, 7, 19, 20, 22, 26, 28-30
October 3-7, 12-14, 17-21, 24-28, 31
November 1-4, 7-11, 14-18, 21-23, 25, 28-30
December and onward check with us for availability
To book, please email me at TroutZoneAnglers@gmail.com. You can also call or text me at (931) 261-1884. Check out our trip rates at www.troutzoneanglers.com/rates/ or let me know if you have any other trip questions.
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Thank You For Reading
Thanks again for reading and staying caught up with the happenings here at Trout Zone Anglers. We appreciate each and every one of you and look forward to sharing the water with you soon.
Sincerely,
David Knapp
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