new member, first time smoky fisher!

[bpnkay]

Hello to all from Louisiana,
First of all, congrats on a great forum, the best I've ever read! I'm on my way to Townsend on Sept 15 for a couple of weeks. My son and I are wanting to fly fish, the wife and daughter want the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge thing. I'm planning on staying at one of the Townsend RV parks on the river. Are there any good fishing opportunities within walking distance? I'm sure there will have to be a tradeoff with the vehicle every few days! Given the good reviews of the LRO, I will have to be visiting them ASAP to get some good advice on the fishing. Thanks for the great site and looking forward to some good experiences in TN!

[tennswede]

I guess I will give this a try since no one else is responding. Well, first of all you could fish right in Townsend for stockers which should be picking up right now. The only problem is the limited public acess. I suggest you take your car and drive in to the park and fish above the sinks on the main river or above the Ranger Station on Tremont (middle prong). West Prong is another alternative for feisty fish but smaller in size. Stop at LRO and they can show you on a park map. Yet even better, stop and Townsend visitor center and pick up a map. Yellow Stims are still the norm and of course you got the green weenie fans. I don't use em' but that just because I like to be different. There are some caddis coming off and soon the October Caddis will begin. Rust colored or orange. Orange Stim would work.

[Troutman]

bpnkay, This is only a suggestion but it could work for you. There is a trolley service in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg that runs constantly all over Gatlinburg, PF and Sevierville. You could take your wife and daughter over to PF one day and they can ride the trolley to every shopping and entertainment area for a quarter. You could go fish and meet back up later. You could also park at the Sugarlands visitor center above G-burg and they could catch the trolley there and shop for a few hours while you fish along Newfound Gap road! No sitting in traffic jams and the trolley goes everywhere!