Meta tags:
description=Fly fishing blog by east Tennessee and Smokies guide David Knapp. Trip reports, great photography, and entertaining stories and how-to articles.;

Headings (most frequently used words):

the, of, fish, year, 2026, trout, zone, newsletter, anglers, september, 30, may, wyoming, river, from, planning, fishing, tuesday, october, wednesday, thursday, saturday, visit, my, to, friends, fly, for, pages, featured, photo, king, his, pool, 06, friday, 11, july, june, 03, 16, 12, april, sunday, march, 29, youtube, search, this, blog, guide, trips, subscribe, our, at, little, outfitters, readers, more, fishy, goodness, david, knapp, photography, caney, brown, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, great, blogs, links, return, beginning, next, wind, range, trip, in, driving, out, stopping, by, ugly, bug, staying, flexible, benefits, losing, flies, famous, bridges, short, rods, ultralight, floating, holston, below, cherokee, dam, lightening, load, food,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (512), and (218), that (126), was (111), #fishing (110), fish (107), for (103), fly (87), trout (68), had (60), with (58), out (52), some (51), you (51), this (51), ago (47), one (46), time (46), river (45), but (45), trip (44), years (43), are (43), our (41), just (41), more (40), from (39), david (37), knapp (37), 2026 (35), there (35), when (34), share (33), they (32), would (32), were (31), day (30), get (30), not (29), about (27), may (26), #photography (26), water (26), guide (25), anglers (25), all (24), flies (24), october (24), year (24), zone (23), most (23), big (23), september (22), much (22), got (21), enough (21), first (20), little (19), how (19), rod (19), back (19), chris (19), december (18), february (18), last (18), very (18), always (18), well (18), long (18), bridges (18), june (17), trips (17), august (17), while (17), january (17), march (17), down (17), have (16), brown (16), over (16), november (16), april (16), july (16), been (16), good (16), wyoming (16), newsletter (15), these (15), too (15), can (14), email (14), catch (14), than (14), getting (14), after (14), started (14), things (14), other (13), smallmouth (13), off (13), also (13), next (13), few (13), point (13), don (13), even (13), like (13), because (12), great (12), enjoy (12), into (12), two (12), quickly (12), want (12), john (12), being (12), here (11), best (11), them (11), what (11), way (11), week (11), fun (11), days (11), caney (11), could (11), sure (11), found (11), came (11), make (11), phill (11), spot (11), then (11), bass (10), fork (10), holston (10), pinterest (10), facebook (10), blogthis (10), comments (10), posted (10), better (10), before (10), course (10), their (10), try (10), didn (10), going (10), wind (10), angler (9), home (9), north (9), blog (9), bean (9), both (9), eventually (9), new (9), spin (9), thing (9), has (9), heavy (9), stream (9), recognizable (9), carp (8), winter (8), visit (8), pictures (8), tennessee (8), people (8), below (8), another (8), take (8), many (8), kept (8), hit (8), might (8), wanted (8), clients (8), several (8), upstream (8), around (8), know (8), smokies (8), rods (8), easy (7), part (7), area (7), again (7), streams (7), end (7), tree (7), any (7), those (7), mountains (7), west (7), favorite (7), friends (7), guided (7), labels (7), least (7), which (7), soon (7), finally (7), feel (7), boat (7), instead (7), really (7), side (7), weight (7), put (7), white (7), ultralight (7), his (7), now (7), wood (7), said (7), shad (7), still (7), camping (7), platte (7), small (6), through (6), catching (6), rainbow (6), ever (6), decided (6), will (6), trying (6), large (6), mostly (6), yet (6), hook (6), turned (6), net (6), far (6), whole (6), mentioned (6), who (6), unfortunately (6), hard (6), often (6), already (6), short (6), made (6), won (6), picture (6), bridge (6), chase (6), range (6), backpacking (6), planning (6), season (5), photo (5), shop (5), line (5), morning (5), camp (5), plan (5), world (5), months (5), why (5), 2025 (5), smoky (5), game (5), simply (5), sharing (5), interested (5), having (5), myself (5), him (5), experience (5), same (5), until (5), almost (5), run (5), did (5), only (5), probably (5), knew (5), drive (5), above (5), however (5), gear (5), guiding (5), took (5), lot (5), once (5), deep (5), looking (5), check (5), enjoying (5), lots (5), something (5), downstream (5), between (5), perfect (5), your (5), find (5), known (5), old (5), need (5), ahead (5), whether (5), super (5), famous (5), winds (5), return (5), else (4), used (4), 2020 (4), bug (4), month (4), life (4), fiberglass (4), wild (4), tying (4), otherwise (4), use (4), mountain (4), clinch (4), free (4), job (4), doesn (4), due (4), buddy (4), guides (4), weeks (4), reach (4), spooked (4), eat (4), wouldn (4), worked (4), should (4), dry (4), trophy (4), nice (4), drift (4), set (4), its (4), away (4), pressure (4), asked (4), needed (4), definitely (4), sunday (4), either (4), every (4), taken (4), rest (4), spinning (4), lost (4), hooked (4), stuck (4), somehow (4), main (4), barbless (4), where (4), upon (4), jigs (4), working (4), fished (4), high (4), arkansas (4), able (4), takes (4), think (4), bottom (4), break (4), extra (4), couple (4), starting (4), kill (4), butterstick (4), stop (4), casting (4), lunch (4), isn (4), ugly (4), exactly (4), backcountry (4), friend (4), incredible (4), scenery (4), road (4), trail (4), information (4), hike (4), easily (4), places (4), trees (4), branch (4), progress (4), join (4), lightning (4), start (4), elam (4), hooks (4), simple (3), show (3), 2012 (3), landed (3), spring (3), right (3), times (3), streamers (3), effective (3), lines (3), scenes (3), outdoors (3), chasing (3), tuesday (3), wednesday (3), thursday (3), rising (3), 2021 (3), 2023 (3), orvis (3), hours (3), 2015 (3), 2024 (3), please (3), east (3), waters (3), spent (3), name (3), including (3), warm (3), subscribe (3), booking (3), call (3), youtube (3), posts (3), float (3), fairly (3), full (3), result (3), rowing (3), aren (3), spotted (3), worried (3), everything (3), solid (3), cast (3), courtesy (3), drifting (3), riffle (3), pointed (3), indicator (3), doing (3), fast (3), ton (3), anymore (3), camera (3), helps (3), hour (3), absolutely (3), each (3), spots (3), jig (3), let (3), discovered (3), watching (3), actually (3), near (3), look (3), saw (3), along (3), gave (3), moving (3), towards (3), telling (3), keep (3), under (3), magnets (3), approaching (3), mind (3), see (3), change (3), coming (3), browns (3), never (3), featured (3), thus (3), quality (3), caught (3), reason (3), such (3), nymphs (3), someone (3), booked (3), forced (3), adventure (3), ended (3), entire (3), different (3), done (3), giant (3), close (3), less (3), weren (3), straight (3), hoping (3), tight (3), seen (3), forward (3), help (3), news (3), addition (3), kids (3), stay (3), further (3), downside (3), ones (3), taking (3), action (3), family (3), produced (3), ways (3), become (3), handle (3), direction (3), hot (3), spotting (3), others (3), regardless (3), draw (3), tournament (3), rugged (3), various (3), spend (3), accessible (3), favorites (3), work (3), wading (3), hanging (3), possible (3), busy (3), plateau (3), without (3), place (3), gotten (3), flat (3), multiple (3), buddies (3), arrived (3), wasn (3), planned (3), storms (3), late (3), excitement (3), boxes (3), peanut (3), butter (3), granola (3), add (3), load (3), outfitters (2), fightmaster (2), creek (2), three (2), tie (2), colorado (2), fishin (2), remember (2), books (2), yellowstone (2), tales (2), top (2), gone (2), south (2), gem (2), wulff (2), goes (2), hello (2), northern (2), california (2), chum (2), arizona (2), 2027 (2), true (2), shows (2), salmon (2), 2011 (2), 2013 (2), 2014 (2), 2016 (2), 2017 (2), 2018 (2), 2019 (2), 2022 (2), unless (2), contact (2), especially (2), prefer (2), species (2), attempt (2), moments (2), parts (2), sport (2), hope (2), fishy (2), release (2), obey (2), rivers (2), musky (2), pat (2), tully (2), channel (2), older (2), limited (2), special (2), friday (2), fortunate (2), fellow (2), round (2), cherokee (2), dam (2), highly (2), across (2), thought (2), excited (2), realized (2), primarily (2), nearly (2), target (2), calls (2), figure (2), turns (2), pretty (2), midge (2), low (2), slid (2), personal (2), largest (2), second (2), finding (2), thanks (2), approached (2), likely (2), hold (2), fought (2), section (2), pushed (2), series (2), looked (2), throwing (2), chunky (2), magnet (2), ask (2), exception (2), told (2), story (2), stories (2), cake (2), learned (2), contest (2), learn (2), pulling (2), encountered (2), twice (2), okay (2), strong (2), suddenly (2), huge (2), closer (2), grew (2), explained (2), couldn (2), stick (2), broke (2), obviously (2), lucky (2), downed (2), pile (2), prior (2), situation (2), brush (2), say (2), miles (2), minutes (2), rainbows (2), arm (2), went (2), hand (2), size (2), client (2), requirements (2), live (2), single (2), effectively (2), knowledge (2), skill (2), drowning (2), unusual (2), running (2), service (2), foremost (2), relatively (2), pace (2), although (2), using (2), throw (2), past (2), miracle (2), nothing (2), stopped (2), currents (2), seriously (2), advantages (2), paying (2), attention (2), drifted (2), early (2), prime (2), idea (2), provides (2), important (2), example (2), type (2), protein (2), national (2), park (2), tailwaters (2), latest (2), https (2), mailchi (2), redington (2), haven (2), yourself (2), tool (2), warpaint (2), plenty (2), willing (2), summer (2), seeing (2), bears (2), cades (2), cove (2), deer (2), smaller (2), tricks (2), obvious (2), sticking (2), missed (2), quite (2), slower (2), blackberry (2), recently (2), quick (2), session (2), bonus (2), link (2), post (2), head (2), saturday (2), technology (2), love (2), maps (2), searching (2), hole (2), research (2), local (2), video (2), social (2), media (2), event (2), money (2), major (2), easier (2), fisherman (2), avoid (2), generally (2), guy (2), maybe (2), fair (2), everyone (2), interestingly (2), ruined (2), trailhead (2), effort (2), accessed (2), magazines (2), magazine (2), reading (2), later (2), book (2), read (2), cotter (2), madison (2), pull (2), reasonable (2), sent (2), crazy (2), lose (2), losing (2), adventures (2), hotter (2), became (2), guru (2), jump (2), scene (2), process (2), popper (2), excellent (2), though (2), own (2), foolish (2), sometimes (2), push (2), felt (2), hiked (2), entirely (2), definite (2), points (2), gas (2), access (2), guys (2), picked (2), nowadays (2), epic (2), writing (2), meantime (2), seemed (2), evening (2), portion (2), campground (2), nights (2), truck (2), storm (2), snag (2), setup (2), changing (2), final (2), house (2), midges (2), anything (2), dries (2), mile (2), backpack (2), backpacker (2), serving (2), oat (2), milk (2), food (2), serious (2), cooking (2), flexibility (2), distance (2), since (2), theme, powered, blogger, canvas, prints, midcurrent, recommended, links, rim, oak, pulp, volume, mysteries, internal, swimmin, bow, legged, women, reports, nordic, angling, kind, leftover, turkey, castable, opinion, pond, stalker, sunset, bay, backwaters, tyin, sing, willy, tea, jones, hawkish, conservation, sipping, emergers, essay, stalking, seam, southern, highlands, dual, technique, fails, flyfishingsimplified, windknots, tangled, wildlife, tails, crab, tradd, frying, pan, blue, addiction, elephant, mike, texoma, 2flyfish4, wisconsin, driftless, opener, carf, undercover, flyfishmagazine, squirrel, hunting, stickbait, yellerhammers, southeastern, hopper, juan, saddle, chucking, tail, monday, coffee, fontinalis, brook, report, hidden, ramblings, baja, busted, oarlock, bigger, chi, kidder, fake, labor, escape, troutrageous, tenkara, exit, moldy, wanderings, dally, battle, ozark, fisher, journal, blood, witness, review, riverbank, celebrating, tom, rosenbauer, manifesto, study, farming, results, loss, atlantic, gink, gasoline, blogs, property, author, specified, wish, permission, details, expectations, consider, living, travelled, extensively, implied, opposed, relive, enthusiasm, avid, enjoyable, 2006, 105, 2007, 124, 2008, 126, 2009, 2010, 101, 123, 115, 136, 128, goodness, readers, address, indicates, required, currently, locations, half, site, text, 931, 261, 1884, troutzoneanglers, gmail, com, search, thank, atom, equate, wet, cancellation, available, regularly, essentially, treat, successful, scheduled, bald, eagle, flew, midway, pod, glimpse, missing, school, buffalo, packed, wives, experimentation, figured, selfish, relinquished, front, suggested, himself, transitioned, dropper, nymph, rig, blast, hatch, embarrassing, repositioned, dance, chaos, exploded, beckoned, immediately, handy, documentation, expertise, hammered, positioned, bucket, desire, realizing, loves, turbocharged, class, matched, ramp, shoals, shoal, launching, floating, tal, relent, follow, guidelines, called, memories, level, truly, lead, annual, subscriber, drying, patch, framed, sat, disbelief, period, swam, surface, flash, amazement, whooping, hollering, firmly, flank, turn, mouth, nymphing, funny, wedged, business, usual, ride, surely, doubled, instructing, apply, speech, strange, sense, deja, middle, obstructions, meanwhile, test, freaked, managed, concern, wraps, affect, focus, fighting, monster, fishes, specific, color, graciously, tightly, tried, poking, oar, project, wait, move, heard, motor, gears, falling, depth, bites, hitting, disappoints, checked, generation, schedule, knowing, hesitant, mention, facing, mean, tired, eater, accomplished, liked, tackle, flows, topped, touch, inches, incidentally, reputation, conversation, bait, artificial, lures, mandatory, fact, argue, does, generic, settings, strike, following, occurrences, rare, reasons, weekend, health, issue, crept, postpone, anticipated, included, occurrence, uncommon, career, pick, guess, convince, sick, tethered, unable, generator, danger, dove, slow, unmoving, concerns, impaled, piece, somewhere, swirling, circles, submerged, feet, generators, flow, come, alas, meant, angles, unstuck, instructed, purpose, bummed, position, busting, chance, shot, anyway, sample, experienced, previously, decision, easiest, opportunities, yearly, ranging, dream, makes, attainable, biased, involves, meat, sinking, drill, exciting, gorging, chunks, imagine, overlook, freezing, temperatures, produce, kills, open, dates, filling, updated, availability, specialize, educator, teaching, beginners, experts, confident, improve, e51ac9952e98, favor, shiner, nicknamed, cutthroat, native, shiners, presence, convinced, willingness, rise, annoyance, warms, edge, rhododendron, tracks, rustling, bushes, shadows, disappeared, heart, racing, relaxing, destress, eaten, bear, case, phenomenal, structure, obstacles, trick, conflicting, correct, via, timely, mends, management, tactics, shorter, closely, eats, frequent, flexed, blank, excursions, showing, young, splashing, completely, soaked, dirty, decide, light, helpful, price, scratched, beat, kid, rhythm, blossoms, outside, sneak, roasting, marshmallows, mores, manage, becoming, pushes, skillset, positive, hurts, doubles, sets, quicker, fixes, problem, frankly, drivers, affection, superfine, label, memorable, experiences, written, argued, rehash, opinions, documented, advocating, talk, subject, random, musings, mornings, bart, pouring, flung, destinations, recognize, bassmaster, classic, held, knoxville, clips, throughout, shortly, featuring, vying, noticed, winner, staring, screen, scope, topic, broadly, personally, play, games, nature, harder, pursuing, purse, differently, views, familiar, putting, earning, earned, drawn, contrast, wilderness, engineered, imprint, man, striking, snapping, challenge, torn, risk, secrets, adds, holds, backyard, country, dollar, background, rich, neck, woods, highway, clinton, five, question, appropriate, online, careful, frame, creel, clerk, numerous, ethics, security, fashioned, lately, minute, vacationing, minimal, success, squeeze, calendar, respond, sorry, holler, kicks, giggles, google, gemini, answers, mere, seconds, repeat, experiment, fingertips, talking, commiserating, internet, worth, covered, fruits, boots, modern, certain, app, rob, form, vhs, videos, mail, comfy, chair, settle, extend, buy, entirety, taylor, wooten, happen, provide, vantage, debatable, montana, glance, tips, retrieving, carry, variety, tippet, sizes, spool, ounce, wonders, cut, length, toss, material, joke, extreme, branches, royal, scared, wade, staff, retrieve, assistance, tip, bat, ate, rarely, lengths, birds, bats, mistake, real, tragic, limit, damage, accurately, frequently, general, scenario, copperhead, dark, harvesting, chanterelles, everywhere, ambling, eyes, peeled, poisonous, snake, reminded, solo, appreciate, pinnacle, plying, difficult, terrain, clear, reached, masterful, furthest, netting, gorgeous, smooth, professionals, active, competition, highlight, spread, preferred, hellgrammite, crawdad, weighted, stubborn, actively, enjoys, streamer, whacking, bending, tremendously, based, map, satellite, view, thankfully, steady, stuff, somewhat, bedrock, relying, benefit, give, sideways, casually, options, bail, drainage, option, feasible, preference, burning, helped, location, amount, pools, critters, bed, vehicles, surprise, swimming, recreating, count, dropped, cutting, camped, lend, itself, block, gracious, dying, consistent, creeks, nicely, carefully, advance, self, employed, perks, whenever, bunch, cumberland, interim, twisted, resident, pieces, benefits, fresh, recent, click, moved, pepper, ridge, prudent, hunker, tents, asleep, soft, sound, raindrops, rainfly, usfs, snagged, campsite, room, tent, discussion, determined, reserve, warmup, packs, elevation, hoped, needs, acclimate, radar, gnarly, hail, insane, staying, flexible, headed, degrees, conducive, shift, plans, hadn, bit, walked, pause, warning, cooled, expect, leaving, filled, tank, specifically, casper, glad, equipment, semperfli, thread, locally, ship, stopping, kansas, windmill, starts, wear, lighthearted, ecosystems, cross, plains, pronghorn, moment, windmills, multiplied, drove, leading, blur, pack, prepare, departure, date, packing, proved, wise, choice, preparing, driving, raided, existing, supplies, together, parachute, adams, chubby, chernobyls, scuds, puck, rounded, assortment, original, helios, lightweight, tube, powerful, doubt, assure, state, matter, ideal, broad, techniques, strategies, car, portions, tricos, larva, pupa, tied, dozen, trico, duns, spinners, pumped, sight, tiny, risers, energy, night, sessions, honestly, burn, candle, ends, thoughts, dancing, evenings, surprising, enacted, regs, requiring, covers, ordered, fulling, pinching, barb, regular, certainly, fine, compliance, purposes, strongly, believe, specialty, longer, curved, building, tailwater, box, scratch, firehole, driver, enthusiastic, supper, mix, dinners, expiring, variation, popular, dinner, primary, meal, installments, andrew, skurka, beans, rice, bagels, cinnamon, raisin, individual, packets, justin, tossed, raspberry, blueberry, fig, bars, breakfasts, crunch, chocolate, insanely, sugar, eliminated, sweet, treats, skip, peanuts, almond, powder, prepackaged, sandwich, bags, streamlined, diet, significantly, total, culinary, delights, produces, philosophy, led, eating, meals, lighter, calories, during, contemplated, adjustments, lighten, eliminating, enjoyed, offers, lug, cellphone, struggling, upgrade, allowed, overall, lightening, green, pinedale, dimension, manager, farm, agreed, ranks, spare, route, bad, term, goals, involve, hiking, goal, particular, mileage, comfortable, navigating, settled, approximately, doubling, previous, golden, lakes, possibly, saga, intending, spectacular, fantastic, icing, additional, areas, beginning, write, monthly, 15871de4b24c, king, pool, sale, rates, pages,

Text of the page (random words):
ely we ve had a ton of last minute calls from people vacationing in the smokies and fly fishing for several days with minimal to no success for the lucky few we were able to squeeze into our guide calendar they quickly learned how to catch fish up here for the rest we had to respond with a sorry but we re booked holler back next time that said it is a fair question to ask myself how much information is appropriate to share online for the last few years of guiding i ve found myself being more and more careful about how i frame pictures with clients especially if i or they will be using the picture on social media once when i had a client catch a giant brown trout we told the creel clerk about it when he asked about our day for the next week or so the area of river we had caught that fish had numerous spin anglers trying and trying to catch that big fish it doesn t take long for news to get out in the fishing world and not everyone has my same set of ethics and that takes us back to the bridges if i had a dollar for every picture i ve taken of clients with very recognizable bridges in the background i would be rich well maybe not exactly but you get the idea here in my neck of the woods some bridges are more well known than others for example the highway 61 bridge in clinton tn over the clinch river is super recognizable if you ve ever been there same thing with the i 75 bridge over the clinch and the five i 40 bridges over the caney fork in the smokies there are several recognizable bridges over various streams including little river some are road bridges and some are trail bridges some of the trail bridges in the smokies are even more recognizable than the road bridges are for some reason i am drawn to scenes with bridges in them the contrast of the rugged wilderness with the engineered imprint of man is striking and i often find myself snapping pictures of bridges regardless of whether i have an angler in the picture of not sharing them is more of a challenge as i m always torn between sharing the incredible scenery and the risk of hot spotting not that there are really any secrets anymore but i don t want to be the guy that adds even a little extra pressure on my favorite streams that holds true regardless of whether they are in my backyard or are on the other side of the country so for the time being i ll mostly avoid sharing recognizable views of the waters i fish to know the spots i m fishing you would generally need to already be very familiar with the water to figure it out from my pictures that s the way it should be we need to get back to anglers putting in the time and earning their knowledge if you ve already earned it my sharing a picture isn t going to change you fishing there or not recently the bassmaster classic was held in knoxville tn video clips made their way around social media throughout the event and shortly after featuring anglers vying for the big money one of the things i noticed about the winner was that he was staring at a screen i ve done just enough research to know that live scope is a major hot topic in the tournament bass world and fishing world more broadly that said for me personally if i want to play video games i ll stay home i get out to enjoy nature and am always interested in ways to make the game harder not easier sure if i was pursuing the big purse in a major tournament i might look at things differently but there is a reason i m not a tournament bass fisherman instead i ll keep pouring over maps for hours in far flung destinations searching for what may just be the best fishing hole i ve ever fished i won t know unless i go try it out for myself regardless of how much research i do ahead of time after all for me the searching is as much the draw as what i find there while i m off looking at maps here are a few local bridges that just might be recognizable to an angler how many of them do you recognize my good friend bart hooked up on an east tennessee trout river 2025 david knapp photography early mornings on the river 2026 david knapp photography one of the most fished streams in the smokies 2026 david knapp photography smallmouth streams need some love also 2025 david knapp photography some backcountry bridges are more recognizable than others 2025 david knapp photography posted by david knapp at 10 38 pm 0 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels bridges hot spotting random musings technology in fly fishing saturday may 16 2026 short rods enough has been written and argued about the best fly rods for the smokies that i won t rehash everything here my opinions on the subject are well documented so check out that link for an old blog post if you re interested for this post i m going to head in a different direction while not exactly advocating for short rods i am going to talk about how much fun they can be i ve had a 6 3 weight redington butterstick for a while now it has produced some very memorable fishing experiences over the last few years with time it is becoming a rod i reach for more often than not while not the effective tool for high sticking that a long rod is it is a rod that pushes my skillset in positive ways and helps me to become a better fly angler having a ton of fun along the way is just a bonus but it never hurts to fish a rod that doubles up on a nice mountain trout the only downside to this slower rod is that some hook sets are missed due to not getting tight on the fish fast enough a quicker rod fixes that problem but isn t as much fun after you ve hooked the fish and quite frankly isn t as fun to cast either that probably is one of the main drivers of my long time affection for old orvis superfine rods not the new ones with the ugly label above the handle recently we took a short family camping trip to the smokies these trips are all about getting the kids outside and enjoying camping with any fishing fairly limited i still try to sneak in 30 minutes or an hour here and there if i m able to we spent most of our time enjoying cades cove looking at bears roasting marshmallows for s mores and all the other things that make camping fun i did manage a quick session just after lunch one day and just before lunch another day blackberry blossoms on the stream 2026 david knapp photography one of the best parts of these excursions was taking my little ones and showing them some wild trout they are still young enough that they won t stick to fishing for very long instead splashing in the creek and getting completely soaked and dirty was more fun but that s okay they ll get around to fishing more seriously eventually if they decide it is something they want to do in life the butterstick turned out to be the perfect rod for my little one to enjoy as well being small and relatively light was helpful the price point was also good enough that i didn t mind if it got scratched or otherwise beat up a little the slower action made it easy for a kid to feel the casting rhythm as well i kept things simple with a single dry fly for most of my and the kids fishing the short rod is phenomenal for casting under and around structure and obstacles on smaller water the trick is casting across many conflicting currents and getting the correct drift via timely mends and other line management tricks and tactics fish were willing and one of the obvious advantages of the shorter rod was simple it made me stay back further from my target and attempt things i wouldn t try if i was simply high sticking fish weren t getting spooked from me approaching too closely eats were frequent but the downside was also obvious the fiberglass rod flexed so far down the blank that i missed quite a few fish in addition to the ones i landed wild rainbow and the butterstick 2026 david knapp photography after seeing so many bears in cades cove i was a little on edge as i was fishing up a section with more rhododendron than most i was stopped in my tracks by heavy rustling in the bushes i finally spotted a deer in heavy shadows that soon spooked and disappeared but my heart didn t stop racing until i got back to casting the relaxing pace of the fiberglass rod was the perfect way to destress from almost being eaten by a bear or deer in this case in addition to plenty of willing wild rainbow trout i found another native gem as well while i m not out there trying to catch them the warpaint shiners always make their presence known in the summer if they grew as large as trout i m convinced they would be a prime game fish due to their willingness to rise to a dry fly as it is they are just an annoyance when the water warms up too much warpaint shiner nicknamed the smoky mountain cutthroat 2026 david knapp photography if you haven t fished short rods much do yourself a favor and find one to try out they aren t always the most effective fishing tool but they might just be the most fun posted by david knapp at 9 49 pm 0 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels dry fly fishing fiberglass rods fly fishing great smoky mountains national park redington butterstick smokies tuesday may 12 2026 may 2026 newsletter from trout zone anglers check out the latest newsletter from trout zone anglers at https mailchi mp e51ac9952e98 news from trout zone anglers may 2026 our open dates are filling quickly so just reach out for updated availability if you are interested in a guided trip we specialize in fly fishing in the great smoky mountains national park on area tailwaters such as the caney fork clinch holston and obey and on area carp musky and smallmouth bass waters as a long time educator i enjoy teaching the sport from working with beginners to experts i feel confident that i can help improve your fly fishing game posted by david knapp at 10 06 pm 0 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest thursday april 30 2026 fishing ultralight chasing big trout often involves throwing meat big flies sinking lines you know the drill here in tennessee our winter shad kill season provides some of the most exciting fly fishing of the entire year big trout gorging on large chunks of protein drifting down the river are even more fun than you can imagine as long as you overlook the often freezing temperatures that produce the best shad kills as a fly fishing guide i look forward to the winter shad kill season for both personal fishing and for guiding while we catch big fish year round the winter shad kill season provides some of the best easiest opportunities of the year to catch a great big trout for those of my clients already in the know booking their winter fishing is an important part of their yearly fishing on one of the best trips this past winter for example one angler landed 7 brown trout ranging from 18 to 21 5 that is the type of day most of us dream about but the shad kill makes it attainable for most anglers having a good caney fork guide helps a lot also of course but i may be biased anyway one of my friends clients had booked a series of guided trips starting in early spring and going through prime fishing season the idea was to sample a little of everything as many of our clients do when the day of the first trip approached i had just experienced the previously mentioned day of catching lots of quality browns so it was an easy decision we would go to the caney fork one of the big advantages of being on the water every day is that you see things if you are paying attention you ll catch a lot more fish than if you aren t on the water very often thus the next day i had a plan of spots i wanted to hit extra hard as we drifted down the river i slid the boat into position near a downed tree for the last couple of weeks prior to this trip i had seen a huge fish busting shad from time to time i was hoping john would get a chance sure enough as he drifted through the spot after a perfect cast the indicator shot down and he came tight to something big of course the first thing the fish did was to run hard upstream towards the tree i quickly got john to put side pressure downstream on the fish to get it turned and by some miracle it came out of the wood unfortunately we weren t out danger yet the fish then dove straight down and nothing john did could slow it down suddenly the line stopped heavy but unmoving my concerns were being realized the fish had taken the bottom fly and the top fly was impaled on a piece of wood somewhere below in the swirling currents rowing circles around submerged wood that is between 8 10 feet below on two generators of flow was fun but i kept at it hoping that the fish would come out and we would still be tight alas it was not meant to be after trying several angles to get the flies unstuck i finally instructed john to break it off on purpose we were both seriously bummed the rest of that week i was worried sick i just knew that a giant brown trout was somehow tethered to the bottom drowning and unable to throw the fly as the week came to a close i had one trip that let me drift past that spot on one generator unfortunately that was still far too much water and i never saw the wood much less our flies the following week i had two unusual occurrences first i was running a very rare sunday trip for lots of reasons my guide service doesn t do weekend trips but about once or twice a year i make an exception and take someone fishing on a sunday phill had been booked with us last september before health issue crept up that forced him to postpone a long anticipated adventure that included the white river in arkansas and the caney fork river in tennessee the second unusual occurrence was that i was guiding a spin angler as a fly fishing guide first and foremost it is relatively uncommon for me to run spinning trips last year i ended up running several spin trips probably more in one year than i had ever run in my entire guide career up until that point i enjoy spin fishing as it is something different and i m very pick with how it is done it is a nice change of pace although you might not guess i think that when i try to convince you to fly fish instead of using a spinning rod upon booking phill for a guided trip as a first time client we had a long conversation about my requirements to spin fish absolutely no live bait and single hook artificial lures only are mandatory if you are fishing with me being able to fish effectively with those requirements takes more knowledge experience and skill than most think in fact i would argue that it takes at least as much skill to effectively fish ultralight gear than it does to fly fish in most generic settings such as drowning nymphs under a strike indicator as it turns out phill was a very accomplished angler when it came to fishing ultralight gear he had even fished with a fly rod for a good while at one point in life but just decided he liked ultralight tackle best thus it was that we decided to fish some white river jigs on high flows on sunday ou...