Gsmnp NC

[Taxman]

Not really, I caught 3 or 4 and missed another 3 or 4 each day. All were around 8". Streams were still a little high as you suggested. Fished with dry's for a while with just a few small ones hitting. Rainbow colored small top nymph had the most hits.

Of course, I met a guy fishing about 2 miles up that said he caught 20 the day before!!
You could tell he knew what he was doing but I think he was high and confusing his days!!! lol.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Those couple cold nights combined with the high water probably didn't help. It was 31 here Tuesday morning.

 

[whitetailfreak]

Those couple cold nights combined with the high water probably didn't help. It was 31 here Tuesday morning.

Just saw where Elkmont was evacuated due to flooding. That's a lot of displaced campers on Easter weekend.

I guess that's better than their Subaru winding up down river somewhere around Knoxville.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Just saw where Elkmont was evacuated due to flooding. That's a lot of displaced campers on Easter weekend.

I guess that's better than their Subaru winding up down river somewhere around Knoxville.

I was down on Big Creek today. It's about as high as I've ever seen it. Out in the woods.

 

[Taxman]

Action finally picking up in the park this week!!! Lots of fisherman
first mile. No one past the three mile mark). Mainly nymphing.
Btw, I was around 2500' and wet waded the last day.

 

[Taxman]

Caught a lot of fish in the park the last three days. Broke my Sage Esn the
first day and used my back up Orvis bamboo last three days. I had forgotten
what a pleasure old bamboo is to fish with!!

Ended up hiking up last half of five mile hike in flip flops because my New featherweight Simms boots caused blisters. Well broken in on the last day).

 

[whitetailfreak]

Caught a lot of fish in the park the last three days. Broke my Sage Esn the
first day and used my back up Orvis bamboo last three days. I had forgotten
what a pleasure old bamboo is to fish with!!

Ended up hiking up last half of five mile hike in flip flops because my New featherweight Simms boots caused blisters. Well broken in on the last day).

Looks like a good trip. For the first time in a long time, the creeks have dropped below average median flow. I'm headed up Friday for a family reunion, and aim to fish a day or two.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Some nice fish! Hiking past the masses has its rewards! Those big rainbows with the turbo tails put up a heckuva fight, don't they? Not anywhere near as many teen-sized rainbows in the park as there used to be.

 

[Taxman]

I hung a big nice rainbow on my way out of the park and he had my bamboo bent double. I was on a ledge and no room to move with him. He got loose right at the bank. I was nervous about breaking my 2nd rod of the trip. I was at a lower elevation and thought maybe that one wasn't wild??

I was surprised at the size of the rainbows. I caught 3 more that were just a tad smaller than the pic above. Largest rainbows I have consistently caught in the park. Maybe all the rain has allowed the rainbows to get bigger again?. I know that happened on a small river I live on this year.

 

[NCHillbilly]

I hung a big nice rainbow on my way out of the park and he had my bamboo bent double. I was on a ledge and no room to move with him. He got loose right at the bank. I was nervous about breaking my 2nd rod of the trip. I was at a lower elevation and thought maybe that one wasn't wild??

I was surprised at the size of the rainbows. I caught 3 more that were just a tad smaller than the pic above. Largest rainbows I have consistently caught in the park. Maybe all the rain has allowed the rainbows to get bigger again?. I know that happened on a small river I live on this year.

Back in the 80s and early 90s, it wasn't unusual to catch 14"-16" rainbows in the park, even saw some over 20". I don't know what happened, but they just don't seem to be there like that any more. Maybe it's just that the browns have multiplied greatly and taken over the good spots.

As for out of place big bows, I caught this one last year out of a small tributary to a good-sized creek on the NC side of the park, way, way above the park line. This was early in the year, I think it swam a few miles upstream to spawn:




[url=https://flic.kr/p/JwCV6j] [/url]