New Member in Cleveland, TN

[H2O]

Hey everyone, I've been a member for some time but wanted to formally introduce myself. My wife and I recently moved to Cleveland, TN by way of Sioux Falls, SD. For years I've kept a tab on the forum when we lived in the upper midwest since I've always loved fishing in GSMNP and tried to make a trip to visit every chance that we could. Now that I live in east TN, I finally can be an active part of the forum. :-)

I've been fly fishing for about 15 years and guided for 5 while living in the Black Hills of South Dakota. If you ever take a road trip to Yellowstone or other points west, be sure to spend a day in 'the hills' and fish Rapid Creek and Spearfish Canyon. Beautiful streams with quality wild trout. Let me know ahead of time and I'll point you to some specific places to fish.

Anyway, so far I've fished a few of the wild trout streams in the Tellico area, a few tribs to the Hiwassee and Ocoee as well as the Hiwassee itself. I'm in love with the Hiwassee and have spent just about every weekend up there trying to really understand it. It's pretty unique from the kind of water that I am familiar with and it's been fun figuring it out.

Seems like most anglers on this forum are in the northeast part of the state but if there are any members in the Chattanooga or Cleveland area who want to grab a brew and talk fish or get out on the water, feel free to reach out.

Regards,

Cody

[troy]

I was stationed in Montana I’m surprised SD doesn’t have better fishing! I love tellico and will try citico now that I have a Jeep! You need to posts some fly fishing tutorials online😂 I love fly fishing but my friend always had everything ready and just handed me a pole. It’s quite overwhelming trying to figure everything out yourself!

[David Knapp]

I've been fly fishing for about 15 years and guided for 5 while living in the Black Hills of South Dakota. If you ever take a road trip to Yellowstone or other points west, be sure to spend a day in 'the hills' and fish Rapid Creek and Spearfish Canyon. Beautiful streams with quality wild trout. Let me know ahead of time and I'll point you to some specific places to fish.

Spearfish Creek in the canyon is one of my all time favorite streams. Absolutely amazing water. Welcome to the board by the way! Stop and say hi if you see me down on the Hiwassee during the winter.

[mstone]

H20, On the last trip to Montana, my buddy and I were planning to fish the areas you spoke of in S.D. Forget what happened, but we didn't, went on to Montana without stopping. Any way, welcome to this part of the country. Some good fishing around here, like any place else, just gotta spend some stream time. Have not fished the Park a whole lot, the Hiwassee was my classroom away from college, where I learned this game called flly fishing. The "HI" doesn't fish like it did back in the late 80's, but I still get back there. In my opinion, our prettiest tailwater trout stream in Tennessee.

[H2O]

South Dakota locals are primarily walleye guys, but there is great trout fishing in the Black Hills and phenomenal smallmouth bass and pike fishing on the Missouri river. They never get pressure since everyone's chasing walleye, so I would often have the whole river or creek to myself.

I think there are a whole lot of good tutorial videos on YouTube these days. No one in my family fished much growing up so I taught myself through a whole lot of trial and error. I remember the Orvis Beginners Guide to Fly Fishing was a big help when I first started out.

I have not been to Citico yet but I hear it's worth checking out.

[H2O]

Glad you had the chance to fish Spearfish Creek, David. It is near and dear to my heart. I lived outside of the town of Spearfish and so primarily guided on Spearfish Creek. Have walked and fished every inch of river from its confluence with the Redwater River all the way up to its headwaters up in the hills. It's amazing how many quality trout can be found in that stream. Hasn't been stocked since the 70's.

I'll keep an eye out for you on the Hiwassee this fall. You might not remember but when I first moved to Cleveland I emailed you directly after reading one of your blog posts about the Hiwassee. I appreciate the info you gave me and hope to see you on the water.

[hoop235]

Cody,

Welcome to board!

I'm not an expert by any means but I have been fishing in the Tellico watershed for a few years now and I could help you out finding some of the wild brookies if you wanted to take a trip sometime. Just shoot me an email at khooper03@gmail.com if you're interested.

[H2O]

Hey hoop235, thanks for the offer! I'll shoot you an email, always looking for people to fish with! I've been up there a few times now, but I know there are miles and miles of water to explore and would be glad to have a little guidance.