By Julie Graham and Mark Engler
You don’t need to go out West to find top fly fishing experiences. Welcome to the cold-water heart of hot Southeastern fly fishing. The tailwaters and tributaries in the great Tennessee River Valley basin provide top fly fishing that rivals better known geographic hot spots
Knoxville TN June 2022–
World Fly Fishing Day will be recognized on June 25, 2022 by anglers around the world. Here in the Tennessee River Valley, the cold-water streams and rivers, along the with the tailwaters that are managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), are hot-spots for fly fishing enthusiasts. Anglers know that these waters are filled with trout and small and large mouth bass.
The history of fly fishing in the United States dates back to the Europeans who settled this new country. Fly fishing served early pioneers well by providing a skill to catch fish to eat and as a recreational pursuit. Early mountain men were often portrayed carrying a pole and spool on their journeys. As the sport continued to evolve with longer lines and more refined poles, the beauty of the sport remained constant. A pole, a spool and line, an artificial fly, and a clear stream was all that an angler needed for a good day of sport on the water. Even today, anglers that float and fish only need a canoe, jon boat, or raft. There is no need for the expensive electronic gear, supercharged boats, or yards of concrete needed to build ramps and parking lots for the bass fishing crowds.
In 1933, the newly created TVA was charged with the responsibility “To improve the navigability and to provide for the flood control of the Tennessee River; to provide for reforestation and the proper use of marginal lands in the Tennessee Valley; to provide for the agricultural and industrial development of said valley; to provide for the national defense by the creation of a corporation for the operation of Government properties at and near Muscle Shoals in the State of Alabama, and for other purposes.” To control flooding and improve navigation, a series of dams were built, which restricted the free-flowing water. The negative impact on aquatic habitats ultimately spurred the TVA to develop methods to increase dissolved oxygen levels, maintain minimum flows to prevent riverbed dry-out, and to manage cold water releases that improved the populations of trout and other fish species.
On any given day, the tailwaters of the TVA dams provide fly fishing anglers a day of great sport. We’ve assembled a stringer-full of trout-hooking, happy places throughout the western-oriented drainages of Southern Appalachia.
These are in no particular order, and as any obsessed fly angler will tell you, the best place to be at any given moment is on the water anywhere the moment when the fish start rising.
Whitetop Laurel Creek, Virginia
Considered the best freestone trout stream in the Virginia commonwealth — and maybe all the Southeastern U.S., Whitetop Laurel Creek is easily accessible, sensationally beautiful and it produces great catches of wild and stocked fish.
The stream’s diverse population of aquatic insects are hatching all year long, so there’s always a chance to catch a surface-feeding wild and hatchery-planted brown or rainbow, or even wild brookies.
Located within the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area and meandering along the renowned Virginia Creeper Trail, the area is a prime destination for all manner of Appalachian outdoor recreation and is a top-drawing feature for fly fishing guides based in Abingdon and Damascus.
South Holston, Tennessee
The “SoHo” is arguably America’s best brown trout fishery on this side of the Mississippi. It is the pride and joy of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s dedicated team of tailwater aquatic-habitat improvement specialists, who have endeavored to turn the river into a self-fueling engine for producing both healthy wild fish and steady, jobs-sustaining financial returns for the Kingsport-Bristol-Johnson City region’s thriving recreation economy.
“TVA has worked really hard in reservoir-release improvements to oxygenate the water,” said agency zoologist David Matthews. “The weir dam helps oxygenate it, and the insect life exploded after that, it just took off.”
Catches below the South Holston’s weir dams are mostly naturally spawning browns, with a few stocked rainbow throughout nearly 20 miles of prime angling water. Size and numbers, and prolific insect hatches are what the South Holston is known for — with fish populations estimated at 6,000 per mile, including a wondrous abundance of weighty lunkers lurking in the swirling pools and choppy riffles.
Watauga River below Wilbur Dam, Tennessee
Were it not for the nearby SoHo, the ‘Taug would be the feature fly angling stream in Northeast Tennessee. Suffice it to say, it’s no second-rate fishery.
The 20 miles of cold, tumultuous, trout-invested river below Wilbur Dam that flows through Elizabethton and ultimately into Boone Lake itself a praiseworthy trophy-producing water body that holds ruddy rainbows and brawny browns, both stocked and wild, in numbers that ensure any hole or run likely holds a predacious crew of quality fish.
“There are people who come a long way to fish the rivers up here,” says local guide Jason Reep. “I hear from a lot of them that they had a better time here — that they caught just as many or more fish than they did on trips to Montana or Colorado or Wyoming or wherever.”
Clinch River below Norris Dam, Tennessee
Trout Unlimited’s quarterly magazine in 2018 listed the Clinch River — as well as the ‘Taug & SoHo superduo — as among America’s greatest tailwater destinations, alongside such legendary fisheries as California’s Trinity and Henry’s Fork in Idaho:
Fishing can often be technical, especially during low flows, and long leaders, light tippets and midges are pretty much a requirement. When the current is cranking, such as during power generation, it’s time to get in a drift boat or raft and rip big, meaty streamers. It’s not easy fishing, but it’s a good way to connect with trout best measured in pounds, not inches.
Clinch River hookups in the first dozen miles below Norris Dam are typically rainbows and browns in the 10-15 inch range, and sometimes lots of ‘em. Nothing uncommon on the Clinch about netting an 18-incher any day of the year either. The state record brownie behemoth cruised these waters, tipping the scales at more than 28-and-a-half pounds.
Little River, Great Smoky Mountain National Park
For about 18 miles, the Little River flows in the borders of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and then runs another 30-or-so to join the big Tennessee mainstem in Knox County. The East and Middle prongs offer classic Smoky Mountain fly fishing of the sort you’ll fondly recall for the rest of your days.
“This Smoky Mountain stream features some of the most diverse fishing opportunities in the Park,” reports David Knapp at Trout Zone Anglers. “Fly fishing Little River offers something for everyone. The highest tributaries of the East and Middle Prongs featuring native brook trout. Sometimes wild rainbow trout mix in with the brook trout in the higher elevations. As you head lower, brown trout start to show up and brook trout give way to rainbows. Little River probably contains some of the largest brown trout in the entire Smokies.”
Tellico River, Tennessee
The Tellico River and its tributaries have long been known as one of Tennessee’s most productive trout fisheries – ranking also among the best watersheds in all of Southern Appalachia for hooking both wild and stocked fish.
TWRA describes it as “a very large freestone mountain stream with a network of fine native trout laden tributaries.” Its popularity with fly anglers is owing to the rugged landscape in the region, which is laced with stellar smaller waters holding iridescent wild fish, including native brook trout.
“The Tellico gets the bulk of the fishermen and the bulk of the spotlight,” says Cody Fisher, the aptly named owner of a local fly shop. “But there’s something like 300 miles of trout stream up here, and all but about 30 miles of it is wild trout habitat. A lot of folks don’t really know about that or think about this area that way, but it really is some great fishing for wild trout.”
A stream located within the heart of the Cherokee National Forest, the Tellico’s headwaters gather in North Carolina and flow for almost twenty miles across the state line through Tellico Plains and on to Tellico Lake below. Fishing the heavily stocked mainstem requires a special permit, although a basic trout stamp covers the tributaries. Stop in and consult Tellico Outfitters to get the lowdown on the special regs and spectacular rewards that accompany fishing this popular high-country paradise.
“We get a lot of people who come to Tellico just to fish — people from Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, the Midwest,” Fisher said.
The system is home to Bald Creek, considered by many to be one of the best wild brown trout streams in East Tennessee — especially given its near proximity to so much other premium fly angling. Also in the area is Citico Creek, draining more than 20,000 acres of epic Unaka range wilderness. If high-country adventure fly angling is what you are after, “this area provides ample opportunities for solitude and backcountry experiences,” promises the National Forest Service.
Toccoa River, Georgia
No getting around it — and nor should one even try — the North Georgia upcountry punches its substantial geographic weight and then some when it comes to superb offerings for avid anglers. Trout fishing in the southernmost reaches of the Appalachian Mountains by no means ends with a whimper. North Georgia has enough trout destinations to keep a serious trout angler occupied for the rest of a lifetime.
One of the gemstones is the Toccoa River below Blue Ridge Lake in Fannin County. “The river is noted among anglers for its sunfish, trout and bass,” TVA understatedly puts it.
The Toccoa River — which forms the upper reaches of Tennessee’s Ocoee River, was hailed ten years ago in Game and Fish Magazine as “one of the best tailwater trout streams in the Southeast.
The Upper Toccoa above Blue Ridge reservoir — to the south of the lake, in fact — is fed by numerous feeder streams, most prominently, Cooper, Noontootla and Rock creeks. “These are great places to spend the day also with decent populations of trout,” says guide David Hulsey. And here’s another good part, he goes on, “Fly selection need not be too complicated with general purpose nymphs, streamers, and dry flies working well most of the time. Wooly Buggers, Prince Nymphs, Pheasant Tail, and Hares Ear Nymphs will normally catch a trout or two subsurface fishing. A Parachute Adams, Yellow Stimulator, and Elk Hair Caddis will take surface feeders”.
Santeetlah, North Carolina
Santeetlah Creek in Graham County, North Carolina is a special cut of gem set amidst a shining array of other notable crystal mountain treasures deep in Southern Appalachia. The stocked lower section holds out hope for rustling up a formidable tussle with a rainbow or brown of either stocked or stream-spawned origin — either way a wild fight assured.
This is the kind of stream that seductively runs its way into your heart and then makes a permanent home there. Santeetlah Creek “is not a designated wild-trout stream, but it has all the characteristics of one,” wrote one chronically smitten angler: “I’ve had numerous romances, affairs, dalliances, one-time stands and flirtations over years — too many to care about counting. Only one do I return to time after time, the one that I never tire of, the one that always makes my heart and soul sing, my one true love: Santeetlah Creek in Graham County”.
Nantahala, North Carolina
The Nantahala River flows into Fontana Lake and offers immense opportunities for elevating an angler’s adrenaline levels. Hardy tug-hunting wadefishers and instream rockhopping fly-flickers will cast to willing takers in a “nymph-fishing paradise.” “An outstanding trout fishery,” writes Ken Kastorff of Endless River Adventures. Recognized as a Top 100 American trout stream with “great population of both native and stocked rainbows and browns,” the Nantahala has produced two state record-breaking specimens of the latter. “While the Nantahala is a popular rafting river, with a good guide at the oars, you will not have any trouble catching a good day’s worth of beautiful rainbows and, an occasional, large brown,” coaxes Kastorff. “The trout are so accustomed to the river traffic that it is not unusual to catch fish out from under a passing raft.”
Hiwassee River, Tennessee
Top-quality trout fishing is always on tap in the cold upper sections of the Hiwassee. On the Hiwassee, in some minds Tennessee’s best trout river, you will experience “the big-water feel of large western rivers, spreading over 75 yards wide in some stretches.” Casting for surface-sipping browns and hard-brawling topwater rainbows can be particularly productive and rewarding in the sprawling runs, riffles, rapids and eddies of the river’s upper six miles.
“The Hiwassee River is most noted for its wonderful dry fly fishing, as top water action can be found most anytime of the year,” reports Reliance, Tennessee-based Southeastern Fly Anglers, which guides fishing trips all over East Tennessee but considers the Hiwassee their bread-and-butter home waters.
Upper French Broad, North Carolina
The tributary system of the Upper French Broad forms a dazzling labyrinth of angling opportunities across a sprawling range of beguiling mountain landscapes.
“Beyond providing literally hundreds of miles of waters for trout anglers to explore, the French Broad watershed includes streams of all sizes and waters that fall under several different management schemes,” wrote all-around all-star angler James Samsel. “Therefore, whether an angler wants an easy limit, likely catch-and-release action, or wild trout in a remote setting, something in the French Broad River system should fit the bill.”
Among them is South Mills River, which is listed in Trout Unlimited’s “Guide to America’s Best 100 Trout Streams.” On the SMR you’ll encounter “one deep pool after another” and great populations of wild and sometimes weighty browns and rainbows.
“The trout probably average about eight inches, but they get much larger,” according to James Marsh of The Angler.
Another area dream stream is the East Fork of the FBR mainstem, which offers a set of circumstances most wade-anglers can’t resist: technical fishing, easy access and highly visible trout holding in gin-clear currents. “Come prepared with a 4wt-5wt for shooting long casts to catch rainbow, brown, and brook trout on a dry fly,” advises Southern Appalachian Anglers. “Many of the regular hatches, common to Western North Carolina, can be found here. Dry flies are primarily the fly of choice due to the shallow, clear water stream. Sight fishing is very popular in the East Fork and is one of the best ways to catch trout. Cast dries early in the morning matching a hatch or late in the evening to get a chance at catching a big brown or brook trout.”
Elk River Tailwater, Tennessee
Surging from beneath Tims Ford Dam in Lower Middle Tennessee, the Elk River is the furthest downstream year-round trout-bearing tributary flowing into the Tennessee River. The Elk is a small and widely wadeable stream — one of its prime selling points — and is stocked to crowd-please with trout of quality size and numbers for at least fifteen miles below the TVA impoundment. There aren’t any wild fish in the river, but “catching a good size brown trout is very possible,” reports Middle Tennessee Flyfishers.
The idyllic hill-flanked and farmland-banked river is known for robust aquatic insect life that the plump and pugnacious fish are partial to gobbling up all year long. “This river is full of scuds but it also has a few mayflies and caddisflies,” says MTF. “There are plenty of midge larvae in the river and imitations of their larva, pupae and the adults will work year-round. Fly fishing the Elk River tailwater with streamers is a good way to catch the brown trout.”