Headed To Gatlinburg

[am4mu]

I am making plans to go to Gatlinburg, Tn for our 30th wedding anniversery in mid September. Was on the net last night and saw that the city of Gatlinburg stocks trout streams right in the town. Does anyone know if these are worth looking into or should I be looking up in the Smokey Mountain Nat'l Park. After a week I will be coming back to Taney for a week. Trying to make the wife happy but get some fishing in to.

Thanks,

Doug Kiefer

[fozzie.]

Depends on what you want to get out of the experience. My guess is, for a 30th anniversary, you'd want something a little mellow- few crowds, better scenery, etc. In that case, I'd bag the fishing in-town and head up to the National Park. If flows are good, the water (and fishing) should be decent, and the scenery is fantastic. Good luck, and congratulations!

[eric1978]

Not sure about the fishing, but yep, the scenery is breathtaking. If the fish aren't biting, you'll be plenty content just sitting on a rock somewhere. The Smokies are awesome.

[fly2fish]

I am making plans to go to Gatlinburg, Tn for our 30th wedding anniversery in mid September. Was on the net last night and saw that the city of Gatlinburg stocks trout streams right in the town. Does anyone know if these are worth looking into or should I be looking up in the Smokey Mountain Nat'l Park. After a week I will be coming back to Taney for a week. Trying to make the wife happy but get some fishing in to.

Thanks,

Doug Kiefer

I would check out Abrams Creek on the Cades Cove loop. At the parking lot there are 2 creeks that merge there. Don't be afraid if the parking lot has 30 or more cars in it because most are making the 2+ mile hike up to the falls. I fished it one morning with my son and there were 30 cars in the lot at 7:30 in the morning with the temps in the low 40s but to my surprise we only saw one other fisherman. I used a BHPT under a stimulator that I used for an indicator. Ended up with 6 trout with a couple in the 12 inch range even caught one on the stimulator. This was better than what I was told to expect at all the places I stopped between here and there "Don't expect to catch trout like in Missouri, the average is 6-10 inches, lots of fisherman at the easy access points, and high flows because of the snow melt that time of the year (Mid March)." Everything was just the opposite, better than average fish, almost no fishermen (saw only 4 the whole trip) and low flows because there was no snow.

Another good spot was the entrance to the park coming out of Townsend, there are 2 creeks that run head to head into each other and forms the river that runs along the entrance road. A good source of info and flies is the fly shop in Gatlinburg that is upstairs in a little shopping area just past the main 3-way intersection.

Good luck

F2F

[ness]

If you have an interest in catching a native brookie, go up high in the park. PM me if you'd like some specific recommendations.

[hfdhoosier]

I fished the green brier park area, did great one day and got skunked the next but as was said before, the scenery was amazing. We made the 5 mile round trip to Abrams falls, then found out later that fishing was good there. Shouldve brought the rods. I second the fly shop in Gatlinburg, right behind Flapjacks resteraunt. They gave me a map of the smokies and circled some streams and labeled what type of trout was in them, very helpful. Good luck and enjoy......the scenery will make it all worth the trip even if the fish dont cooperate. I bought a 3 day fishing permit that allowed fishing anywhere in the national park, was reasonable priced, cant remember exact amount .

[am4mu]

Thanks for the help guys. It sounds like I am in for a great time and I will definitely check out that fly shop.

Doug Kiefer

[Knot Head]

Hey there am4mu, just registered on here recently and just saw your post. I grew up in the Ozarks and moved back last year, but have spent the last ten years living literally about 4 minutes from the park boundary and 20 minutes from Gatlinburg. I spent that time fishing all over the park, outside of it, and Western North Carolina. I might be able to offer up some helpful info. on getting the most out of your time there.

First off, the great thing about the Smokies area is that you have so many choices in the way you prefer to fish on a given day based on particular preference or mood. (tailwater, big stockers, wild rainbows, up high brookies, backcountry trout with total seclusion, lake trout and Smallmouth from kayak, a quick trip near the road, wading for smallmouth, trout and redeye outside the park boundary, a daypack trip to a seldom fished stream) etc. The neat thing is because of proximity you can choose at the last minute and still get it done. So with all that being said, my recommendation would be to not limit yourself to either or. The only thing your missing by not fishing Gatlinburg though is the opportunity to catch much bigger than average fish for the area (stockers), and you can do that in a much prettier setting when you get back here. I say set aside about an hour and a half to take in the spectacle that is Gatlinburg and then go enjoy what the Smokies are all about, which is unspoiled natural beauty and the abundant history surrounding the appalachian settlers that were able to carve out an existance there.

Someone mentioned Abram's Creek earlier. You guys will definitely want to see Cade's Cove while you are there, which is how you access upper Abram's but I wouldn't send someone there if they were budgeting fishing time as efficiently as possible. My favorite area to fish on that creek is an area called the "horseshoe", but you need a full day to fish it and it is rugged as all get out to get in and out of. (hence the good quality fishing). Search and rescue goes in there every couple years for someone that doesn't give themselves enough time in the day to fish it through and then trys to bushwack out in the dark. The rest of the creek is right next to the always busy Abram Falls trail and the wading is as slick as it gets in the entire park. You can do better with the time you have, but if you've got your gear give it a go anyway since you'll be right there.

The fly shop mentioned is in Townsend and is called Little River Outfitters. They built a new building a few years ago and it is owned by Byron and Paula Begley and Daniel Drake. They are great people and the shop is as nice as any you will ever visit. If you go to their website and go to the message board it would be very helpful in getting familiar with the surrounding area and local streams.

I will end this lengthy post with just a couple more things. First, I will say that if I were heading back tomorrow and had only one day to fish, I would be thinking of one thing and one thing only....grabbing my 3 weight and heading up high to match wits with native brookies on a dry fly. The fish are small (4-6") on average, but the locale, fishing technique required and overall experience are second to none and I guarantee will be memorable. I miss that more than I thought I would. Secondly, as long as you keep your gear in your vehicle as you and your wife sightsee, you will find more trout-holding water than you could fish in years. It's the trout mecca of the East IMO. PM me for more specific info. if you would like.

[am4mu]

Thank you so much for the local insights you will probably be hearing from me.

Doug Kiefer