Just curious, a friend and I are talking about going down to the Smokies this spring or summer and wonder if a 7' 9" 3 wt. with a fairly fast tip would be advisable to build. I've heard the creeks are rather small but what do you feel would work out well.? Also got any ideas of flies that I should start tying if we venture down there in Arpril or May? Something about a Chattacoochie (sp?)Valley or something where they have re-introduced elk. As always, thanks for your input.

Sounds good, you can plan on not making a cast over 30 feet 95% of the time. My friends have pretty much converted me to smallmouth fishing, but since they're not looking try a "Sparkle Wing Corn Fly".

Think short. A long cast would be 30 ft. I use a 6.5 ft. 5wt. (If wt. means anything) Depending on how much you want to walk-a 5ft is more than enough. Some of the better streams are very small (<10ft wide). Inwhich case I use a 5 ft. ultralite spin rod. Some of the old timers use a dry fly tied straight on the end of a small dia. 5-6 ft piece of bamboo cane If you go above 4000 ft. in the park, expect brook trout which are protected. (cannot keep). Do you plan to fish in the park? NC or TN side? Send me an e-mail. I was raised on the TN side but now reside on the NC side. Personally, I think the NC side offers better and more numerous opportunities. Mid April to the end of May are generally good. (Better than the hot months and not as crowded)

Ed

I don't walk well so I tend to fish the lower parts of the streams in the Smokies. I do best with a 4 or 5 wt around 8.5 feet. I fish some bigger attractors and some pretty big nymphs. There are some fairly big streams in the park.
But yes, a shorter 3 wt would be nice to have if you are up high, or if the wind is not blowing, or if you are fishing small flies. You can always use a 4 wt line on it to cover the above conditions.

Bring a couple of rods. You might catch high water, wind, whaterver. It rains a lot in the park in the spring.

I don't walk well so I tend to fish the lower parts of the streams in the Smokies. I do best with a 4 or 5 wt around 8.5 feet. I fish some bigger attractors and some pretty big nymphs. There are some fairly big streams in the park.
But yes, a shorter 3 wt would be nice to have if you are up high, or if the wind is not blowing, or if you are fishing small flies. You can always use a 4 wt line on it to cover the above conditions.

Bring a couple of rods. You might catch high water, wind, whaterver. It rains a lot in the park in the spring.

The Cataloochee Valley is gorgeous that time of the year. You will very likely see elk, we saw several on the trip we took last April. You will probably be fishing Cataloochee Creek and Palmer Creek. Rod sounds fine for the job. I fish a 7'6" 3wt/4wt with 4 wt. double-taper line. Short casts, roll casts, bow & arrow casts under the Rhodedendron are the rule. Fairly standard flies are Elk Hair Caddis, Thunderheads ( NC version of Adams Wolfe), Blue wing olive, in 14 & 16. Size 16& 18 Copper Johns, Prince, Pheasant Tails, BHGRHE, as nymphs or droppers, and yellow soft hackles and Yallerhammers as wet flies. Wooly Bugger's of course. Be sure to carry everything with you as you enter the valley, cause there's nothing available there but water.

Rod - for more detail information you might consider two books: for access and directions, Lea Lawerence's The Fly Fisherman's Guide to The Great Smoky Mountains National Park and for fly patterns, L.J. Decuir's Southeastern Flies. Also, this site is frequented by a lot of anglers who live near and fish the Park often: [flyfishsouth.com]

On all the local boards you can count on a twice monthly debate concerning length of rods: short rod advocates arguing for < 6' because of the small size of the streams and the longer rod (7' to 8") advocates because they like to "dabble" flies from hiding places. I know anglers in both camps, and both camps have guys who can really catch fish. Personally, I'm in the longer camp. If it's so tight I can't get an overhead cast off with a 7' 6", it's also going to be too tight for a 6'. I end up improvising a lot of casts off basic roll casting or bow an arrow casting so a longer rod with a mod/fast action works best for me. My current personal favorite rod for the Park's small streams and small waters near by is a Lamiglass Appalachian Traveler 7' 6" 3 wt., the reel spooled with SA GPX 3wt DT. I like the Appalachian Traveler for its versatility. It has advantages of high modulus material (light weight, small diameter, high response speed), but a slower action than most manufacturers build into their high modulus blanks. I can throw dries and weighted nymphs at almost all the distance ranges I encounter, even just casting the furled leader. I think Lamiglass did a nice job doing their homework.

I also keep a Forecast 7' 9" 2pc 3wt with me. It's not really fair to call it a backup, because it really is a nice rod for fishing the lower Appalachians. I do recommend that you have a backup if it all possible. Some of the better water is hard to get to and can be in semi-rough to rough territory. I've seen a lot of guys heading back to the truck with rod broken during a slip or from jerking against an obstinate Rhoderdendrom.

btw, I have built Rainshadow RX7 6' 6" 2wts for anglers who are just as adominant that this is the perfect length and line weight for the "real" Park, which they consider the high altitude backcountry. They love to chase the wild, streamborn Rainbows and the Brookies in the streams open for Brookie fishing.

As usual, mulitple rods is the answer :)




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/2005 10:52AM by Steve Rushing.

Steve. As usual you are on the money. Rob, the length and weight is good, but a moderate action rod is more versatile when you can't make that backcast. You need the ability to roll and bow and arrow. I am contemplating a 9 or 10 foot rod (2 weight?) with a very long grip, say 14 inches, and a very light reel so that I can dap or shorten up to cast. My local water is fast pocket water with trees right on the bank. Any thoughts Steve?

The 7'9" rod should be a good all around rod for that area. The valley section of Cataloochee Creek is pretty good sized water by GSMNP standards, so I really wouldn't want to go any shorter. I generally use an 8' 3/4wt rod there, and it does the job just fine, both in the larger creeks and the small, high altitude streams.

Also, while you're there, hop over to the other side of Mount Sterling and check out Big Creek. If the water's not too high, the fishing should be incredible at that time of year. For good local information, give Lowe's Fly Shop in Waynesville, NC a call.They've always got good up to date info on Cataloochee and Big Creek.

Don - interesting idea. I think for fishing it would be a good set up, especially for sneaking up, hiding using trees along the bank and high-sticking nymphing the fast pockets or dappling and skittering an EHC right along the bank of a tailout.

The down side would be handling a rod that long in the dense cover along the banks. I would probably be snagging the tip top alot in branches and looping the line over other braches. After a lot of years on streams, it still amzes me how a branch can jump out of nowhere and wrap the line into a knot. Also, on many of the the streams I fish in N GA/ W NC it may be a pain getting through the dense Rhodies and Laurel just to get to the streams. We're having to do a lot more bushwhacking to get to get solitude.

But, there are some bigger streams with easy access that a set-up like this would let the angler "chuck and duck" nymphs into the deep holes and get drifts right on the bottom that most anglers can't get. As I think about it, a set up like this might be good for the larger, hard-hit streams because it would let you get the fly into places that other anglers can't get a clean drift through or have to pass altogether. I think these are the very place fish move to during prime weekends because it's where they don't get hassled with poorly presented flies.

Can't wait for you to build it and test it out :)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/2005 11:37PM by Steve Rushing.

I fish the smokies a couple of times a yr. and carry a st croix4 wt. 4 pcs in a 8' 6" and a h&h 7' 6" 4 pc 4 wt. both are easy to carry in a back pack. on the larger streams I use a 9' 4 pc 6 wt by pac bay. It is a med fast rod a little slower than the st croix and @ the same as the other rod.

check the books mentioned ans visit little rivers outfitters for a great fly shop and helpful people. caddis, nymphs and small olives and adams shoud do.small stone flies some time esp early in season. try cades cove if you go. long walk but beautiful place with good fishing.

Thank you all for your kind responses. I've got a lot more to go on now, and a lot of flies to be tied.