The Ultimate Fly-Fishing Guide to the Smoky Mountains. Greg Ward

ection>

      

      The Ultimate Fly-Fishing Guide to the Great Smoky Mountains

      Copyright © 2011 by Don Kirk and Greg Ward

      All rights reserved

      Printed in the United States of America

      Published by Menasha Ridge Press

      Distributed by Publishers Group West

      First edition, first printing

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Kirk, Don, 1952—

      The ultimate fly-fishing guide to the smoky mountains/Don Kirk, Greg Ward.

      p. cm.

      ISBN-13: 978-0-89732-691-9 (pbk.)

      ISBN-10: 0-89732-691-1 ()

      1. Fly fishing—Great Smoky Mountains National Park (N.C. and Tenn.)

      I. Ward, Greg. II. Title.

      SH456.K45 2011

      799.1’10976889--dc22

      2011007749

      Menasha Ridge Press

      P.O. Box 43673

      Birmingham, Alabama 35243

       www.menasharidge.com

      Cover painting: Jim Gray. The image is available in three sizes as a limited edition giclee print on canvas from Jim Gray Gallery in the Arts and Crafts Community in Gatlinburg or online at www.JimGrayGallery.com.

      Cover design: Scott McGrew

      Text design: Annie Long

      Photo credits:

      Ben East of Outdoor Life and Cherokee Chief Carl Standing Deer courtesy of the Tennessee State Library and Archives

      Adult mayfly, Dreamstime

      All other photos courtesy of the authors

      

      Table of Contents

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1		Smoky Mountains Trout and Bass
CHAPTER 2		Smoky Mountains Angling: A Historical Overview
CHAPTER 3		About Those Creeks
CHAPTER 4		Where to Find Fish and Why
CHAPTER 5		Casting Tactics and Gear Tips
CHAPTER 6		Weather, Seasons, and Other Factors
CHAPTER 7		Stream Insects and Feathery Deceivers
CHAPTER 8		Pondering Caddis Flies
CHAPTER 9		Terrestrials: Too Important to Overlook
CHAPTER 10		Greg’s Deadly Dozen and How to Use Them
CHAPTER 11		Ben Craig: Master Fly Tyer of the Smokies
CHAPTER 12		Ray Ball: The Last Mountain Man
CHAPTER 13		Bases of Operations, Guides, and Fly Shops
CHAPTER 14		Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River System
CHAPTER 15		West Prong of the Little Pigeon River System
CHAPTER 16		Little River System
CHAPTER 17		Abrams Creek System
CHAPTER 18		Twentymile Creek System
CHAPTER 19		Eagle Creek System
CHAPTER 20		Hazel Creek System
CHAPTER 21		Forney Creek System
CHAPTER 22		Noland Creek System
CHAPTER 23		Deep Creek System
CHAPTER 24		Oconaluftee River System
CHAPTER 25		Cataloochee Creek System
CHAPTER 26		Big Creek System
CHAPTER 27		Minor Streams of the Smokies
CHAPTER 28		Fontana and the Finger Lakes
CHAPTER 29		Fly-Fishing Gatlinburg According to Ward
CHAPTER 30		Pigeon Forge/Sevierville: Fly-Fishing for World-Class Stream Smallmouth
CHAPTER 31		Cherokee Indian Reservation Public Trout Fishing

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      Acknowledgments

      WHERE TO START?

      BORN A MILITARY BRAT, I would like to acknowledge the good sense of my father, Don Ward, for moving us home to my mother’s native east Tennessee; thanks to my mother, Joan, for letting me spend so much time in the mountains and for taking me there whenever I wanted before I learned to drive. Thanks and much appreciation to my loving wife, Diane, who had no problem with me leaving perfectly gainful employment with the state of Tennessee to pursue my dreams of opening a fly shop and starting a guide service. Thank the good Lord for giving me the ability to