Smokies Report

[David Knapp]

I fished over at Greenbrier with my cousin on Tuesday and we had a good time. The fish are still definitely on the feed but it is getting harder to catch fish on dries.

We hiked up the Ramsey Cascades trail a short distance before dropping into the gorge. My cousin quickly had a fish on. As we moved up the stream we were both catching fish, although it wasn't fast and furious. Throughout the afternoon, we caught somewhere between 20 and 30 fish between us which isn't too bad. All the fish are coming out of winter type water though. Most of the fish were caught on Prince nymphs and Tellicos, but I did catch a few on an orange Stimulator as well. The water temperature was about 47 degrees. We caught mostly rainbows but had a few brookies as well...

Here are a few pictures from the day...

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk311/drknapp83/IMG_8553.jpg

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk311/drknapp83/IMG_8577.jpg

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk311/drknapp83/PB247117.jpg

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk311/drknapp83/IMG_8590.jpg

[Scott Spencer]

Excellent photos and simply a great way to spend a day!!

[jeffnles1]

Nice!

Greenbriar is one of my favorite areas in the park.

Jeff

[spotlight]

I like the hiding behind the rocks technique you guys had going on, great photos.

[nvr2L8]

David,
Looks like a great day. One question - "winter type water"?

[David Knapp]

David,
Looks like a great day. One question - "winter type water"?

What I mean by that is the fish are moving more and more into the deeper runs and pools that have a lot more slow water. In the winter they seem to congregate in the soft water instead of the faster pocket water. This doesn't mean that you can't catch fish in pocket water but during the cold months I have noticed that longer stretches of pocket water often appear almost barren. As soon as you come to a good pool though you might catch several fish... Slow back eddies seem to be some of the best water in the winter...;) By passing up the small pockets and focusing on the prime water, we definitely helped our catch rate and even found a few that would take dries... In the summer, the fast oxygenated water is prime and I catch all kinds of fish out of pockets so small that its sometimes hard to believe that a fish would live there.

[pineman19]

The Greenbriar Gorge is a beautiful place. I love the huge rock that is higher in the gorge that seems to be on a pedestal. I may have to make another run at the Park on Sunday, although I am sure the water will be colder after a couple of below freezing nights.

[JohnH0802]

Great report and great photos. Thanks for sharing.

[nvr2L8]

Thanks, David. I'll file that one away. May come in handy the next three months. :rolleyes:

[rockytopwoolybugger]

i have been fishing in the park for about a year and have had a great time. but i am always looking for new fishing places. where is the greenbriar area in the park? where is it best accessed from? thanks, and I really enjoyed those pictures. even if the fishing is slow i would rather stand in the park for a few hours than do just about anything else.

[David Knapp]

Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon east of Gatlinburg. It is not for the faint of heart...the wading is strenuous at best with lots of big boulders. Honestly I wouldn't fish it much more this year. That stream runs cold because it comes down quickly from a very high elevation. Streams like Little River and Abrams Creek will be the best bets for the colder months. When the warmer weather returns, take a box of dries to Greenbrier and have fun...:cool: