By Ian Nicely
There are only a few places in the country where you can regularly catch smallmouth bass the size of the ones in East Tennessee. The smallmouth are abundant, and they are large. During the months of April, May, and early June, anglers can enjoy some of the best fishing of their lives.
Ever since I caught my first 6 pound smallmouth, I’ve been hooked. During the prime months for smallmouth, I try to go fishing as much as possible. For a while, I even convinced myself that I was going to be the one to catch a new world record smallmouth. Although I’ve since come to the realization that that probably isn’t going to happen, there’s still no better rush than pulling in a monster smallmouth.
My best fishing trips usually happen when the conditions don’t appear the best. I always prefer days when there has been a decent amount of rain in the preceding days. The water levels are up slightly and the water is cloudy. The fish always seem to be bigger on days like this.
One such day, my brother and I hit the water to float several miles of the river. The sky was overcast, as rain from the previous days was moving out. After an hour of fishing, we had caught some nice fish, mostly in the 3 to 4 pound range. As we were fishing from my old 17’ aluminum canoe, my brother hooked one. It was a big one. Before I had time to pull my line in to help land the fish, I hooked one as well. With the water being as cloudy as it was, we couldn’t see what we had. After fighting the fish for a while, we finally got both of them to the surface. My brother’s fish was a big one. Mine was an absolute monster. Out of all the smallmouth I have caught through the years, this one was the biggest. We took some pictures, measured it to be 24 inches and put it back in the river where it had lived for so long. At the time, I thought maybe this fish would grow to be the world record I was once after. I rarely keep fish though, as I feel it is very important to practice catch and release to preserve the fishery for future generations. This fishing trip with my brother will be a memory that will last forever.
If you are looking for some beautiful scenery and some world-class smallmouth bass fishing, come to East Tennessee in the spring. You certainly won’t be disappointed.
Ian Nicely is owner and operator of Camp LeConte Luxury Outdoor Resort. He lives in Gatlinburg, Tennessee with his wife and three children. He loves fishing and all things outdoors.