Winter Trout Fishing Trips in Tennessee

In spite of sporadic winter storms in western North Carolina, the trout fishing remains quite good. We have been concentrating out efforts on the trout of our tailrace fisheries.

The tailwaters (Watauga, South Holston, and Tuckaseegee) provide us with consistant water temperatures and flow levels which are essential for catching trout during the winter months. We are seing quite a bit of insect activity on a daily basis. Blue winged olives, midges, and black flies are all present right now and will make trout of all sizes come up to the surface for an easy meal. This is good for anglers looking to do some dry fly fishing. If the trout are not taking the adults off the surface, a small nymph dropped of the back of a visible dry fly will definitely do the trick.

The optimal time to fish these tailwaters has been when the dams are not releasing water and the combination of floating/wading allows us to really get on some quality trout. We have made it through December and January, so our trout fishing will only get better of the coming months. Small stream fishing is another good option for catching some winter trout, but don't expect to see the same insect activity as on our larger rivers. The water temps on our spring fed creeks is a direct reflection on our air temperature.

For fishing the smaller streams, the best success will come when using a strike indicator, a small split shot and 2 nymphs fished on the bottom.

Patience and PERSISTANCE are very important for catching these cold water trout. Try big prince nymphs with a small zebra midge or bead head pheasant tail behind it. You'll be surprised at what you might catch right now. The small stream fishing will definitely improve as we start having some warm days. Our killer spring smallmouth bass fishing is just around the corner. We will start going after the big boys in just a few more weeks. Our spring schedule is starting to fill up, so don't wait to schedule your next fishing adventure!