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Home » Your Streams » Fly Fishing On The Little River, Tennessee, (East Prong), GSMNP

Fly Fishing On The Little River, Tennessee, (East Prong), GSMNP

Upper East Prong Little River
East Prong Little River, GSMNP in Tennessee

Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.

We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.

Type of Stream
Freestone

Species
Brown Trout
Rainbow Trout
Brook Trout
(Wild)

Size
Small to Medium

Location
Great Smoky Mountains National
Park

Nearest Towns
Knoxville, Tennessee
Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Season
Year – round

Access:
Very Good

Special Regulations
None

Non-Resident License
Either the State of Tennessee or the
State of North Carolina

Weather
National Weather Service Link

Additional Information:
Fly Fishing Smoky Mountains

Seasons:
Fly fishing Little River is good throughout the year. The first choice seasons would be Spring and Fall but you can usually do well during the Summer and Winter
months.
Spring:
Spring brings about most of the hatches of aquatic insects in Little River and consequently, some of the best dry fly-fishing.
Summer:
The heat of summer slows the fishing in the lower elevations but fishing in the higher elevations remain good throughout the summer.
Fall:
Fall is the most scenic time to be on Little River. The autumn season also means the brown trout will be spawning. Some very large ones are taken each autumn.
Winter:
The warmer days of winter can provide excellent fishing at times. Little River is one of the few wild trout streams
in the nation that is open for fishing during the coldest months of the year.  

Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
4, 5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 to 12 ft., 5 or  6X Nymphing:  
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X

Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X

Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Supreme Four, Superb Five
or Ultimate Six

Fly Reels:
For 4/5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators

Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.

Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:

Email us  at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.

Copyright 2016 James Marsh

Fly Fishing On The Little River (East
Prong) GSMNP In Tennessee
Although it ranges in size from a small to medium size stream, the Little River is one of the larger streams in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Its wild trout also
range in size. The little brown trout shown above is only a fraction of the size of the large ones that exist in Little River. Some of them grow to be well over twenty inches
in length. As you may expect, the wise, old larger brown trout are difficult to catch but you always know that opportunity exist.

The headwater areas contains the native brook trout but most of the trout are either browns or rainbows. The rainbows love the numerous stretches of runs and riffles
and the brown trout like the deeper holes, undercut banks and crevices under the many, huge boulders that form Little River’s  pocket water.

Fly Fishing Guide to the Little River:
The lower section of Little River near Townsend, Tennessee becomes too warm for trout during the hot summer months. The better trout fishing can be found from about the Metcalf Bottoms area upstream all the way to the headwaters. This area is near Wears Valley and Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Several miles of the river are closely bordered by paved roads. Above Elkmont Campground the Little River Trail provides access for several more miles. Its headwaters,
especially Fish Camp Prong, provides excellent fly fishing opportunities.

Fishing dry flies in the fast pocket water of Little River usually requires only short, upstream cast. The fish are usually much easier to catch on a nymph fished using a
method the locals call “high stickin”, a short-line nymphing technique.

The East Prong of the Little River is usually just called “Little River”. It is the heaviest
fished stream in the park. There are two reasons for this.  The first one is that the river
is followed by a paved road for several miles. It is one of the two major roads in the
park. The other reason is that it is a good stream to fish. There are plenty of both
rainbow and brown trout as well as brook trout in its headwaters.

Most of the river is fairly easy to wade and get around on. Some sections are right the
opposite or fairly difficult to negotiate. Most places have tree limbs extending well out
over the water and it’s not exactly easy to cast just anywhere you would like to.

From the point the three prongs of this stream flow together at an area known
locally as the “Y”, the Little River becomes quite large in small stream terms. There’s
only a short section of this main part of the stream thats within the park’s
boundaries. This part is better for smallmouth bass than trout. The water temperature
can be too warm for trout during much of the year. In fact, the water in Little River
upstream of the “Y” as far as the confluence of Meigs Creek becomes warmer than
that preferred by the trout during the summer. This is more true of the rainbow trout
than the brown trout that can tolerate the warmer water better than the browns.

There’s a lot of very large, deep pools in this area. There’s a section called the Little
River Gorge that is very difficult to get around in the lower section. It can be difficult to
wade in parts of this area. From Meigs Creek upstream to Metcalf Bottoms, it is still
possible for the water to get too warm during the warmer months of the year. The
better trout fishing is upstream of Metcalf Bottoms, although you can catch trout further
downstream during the cooler months. We don’t suggest you try downstream of the
Sinks or the waterfall.

The trout fishing in the Metcalf Bottoms area can be good at the cooler times of the
year. It has a lot of aquatic insects that prefer the lower gradient found in this area.  
The slower moving water and the available aquatic insects in this area usually requires
a much different strategy and fly presentation than the normal pocket water found in
most streams.

From Metcalf Bottoms upstream to the next bridge, called Long Arm Bridge, the
stream will change from the smoother flows to fast, turbulent rapids. Normally this is a
good place to fish. Just be careful in this area. It contains some fast water and steep
banks.

One problem I should mention is that tubers and kyakers use this and all of the river
downstream of this area a lot. You may want to consider fishing early or late in the day
during the warmer months of the year.  

From the Long Arm Bridge all the way upstream to the Elkmont Campground you’ll find
a great stretch of water. This is no secret. It will usually have several anglers testing its
water.  This area contains the classic pool, riffle, run stream makeup that allows the
trout the opportunity to select prime lies throughout the changing seasons.

From the Elkmont Campground upstream is another great stretch of water. It is slightly
over 4 miles to its major tributary stream, Fish Camp Prong. In the lower section of this
stretch there are plenty of brown trout but they will become fewer or them the farther
you travel upstream. The stream stays larger than one may expect all the way to the
Fish Camp Prong, but from that point upstream, Little River is much smaller.

This part of Little River cannot be reached by a vehicle. You have to hike in but even
so, it still gets a lot of pressure from anglers. There are upstream back country
campsites.

Theres several tributary streams to the Little River. Some are large and other are very
small. The first one coming upstream from the lower section of the river is Meigs
Creek. It is a very small stream that enters the river just below the Sinks. It is a popular
spot for sightseers because of its waterfall visible from the road. It contains brook trout
upstream of there. Laurel Creek is another very small stream. It has some rainbows
and brook trout in its upper section. The next tributary is Jakes Creek, a small stream
that comes into Little River in the Elkmont Campground. This is a good alternative for
high water.

Fish Camp Prong is a large tributary of Little River. Most anglers fishing it would prefer
to stay at a back country campground. It has lots of rainbow trout with brook trout in its
headwaters. Rough Creek is a small tributary stream that enter Little River well
upstream. It has both rainbows and brook trout.

I will summarize the Little River by saying it has the best of two different types of
access – paved roads and excellent backcounty trails. Its population of rainbow and
brown trout, some of which grow to a large size, make it one of the prime Great Smoky
Mountains National Park destinations.

Hatches and Flies for the East Prong of Little River, GSMNP
Tennessee
The first insects to hatch at the start of a new year in January are the little Winter Stoneflies. You probably want see many of them but they will be crawling out of the water to hatch in January through March in just about all of the streams in the park. Imitations of the nymph work good during the cold winter. About the time these stop hatching you will see the Little Brown Stoneflies start to hatch. They will last until the end of April. These are actually in the same family of stoneflies but they are slightly different colors.

Blue-winged Olive are the most consistent hatch throughout the year in the Smokies. You will start to see some hatches about the middle of February and they will continue off and on throughout the entire year. These include the baetis species along with the Eastern BWOs, Little BWOs and Small BWOs consisting of about 15 different species, some of which are bi-brooded.  

The little Blue Quills will start to hatch about the middle of February and last into the first of April. They are usually very large hatches that are very consistent. About the same time you will begin to see the Quill Gordons. They hatch until as late as the first week of April in the higher elevations.

Mid February will also bring about one of the largest caddisfly hatches of the year – the Little Black Caddis or Brachcentrus species. This hatch is always very consistent. We have caught more trout from this hatch than we have from the Quill Gordons during the last few years.

The Hendricksons start hatching near the last week of March. They are short lived, hatching for only about a month to six weeks at the most. It is moderate and only occurs in certain locations.

Around the middle of April, March Browns will begin to hatch. These mayflies are just about everywhere you fish but they hatch inconsistently until around the first week of June. Much more consistent are the Light Cahills. They start about a week or two after the March Browns and last as long as three weeks, depending on the elevation.

The middle of April will bring about a hatch of the Short-horned Sedges. These are very
small black caddisflies that are quite abundant. About the same time you should notice the first hatches of the Green Sedges. They hatch everywhere there is fast water for over two months but never in large quantities. At the same time the first hatches of Cinnamon Caddis show up but they are sparse except for Abrams Creek. On Abrams they will be followed a few weeks later with their Little Sister Caddisflies.

Around the second week of May, Eastern Pale Evening Duns will start hatching. Most anglers call these Sulphurs but the true Sulphurs will not start to hatch for another couple of weeks. Both hatches last about a month but are very sparse.

The first of May the Giant Black Stoneflies will start hatching. These hatch at night and
deposit their eggs at night. Nymphs work well in the late afternoons. The Little Yellow
Stoneflies, called Yellow Sallies and one of the Smokies best hatches, will start around the first of May and last until mid July. Another hatch also called Yellow Sallies, but different species, starts again about September and last for about six weeks.  The Golden Stoneflies start hatching around the first of June and last about five weeks. The Little Green Stoneflies start about the last week of May and last until July. These are sparse hatches, but stoneflies in general are very important hatches in the small streams of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The last week of June through the month of August you will find some Cream Cahills. These are sparse but important at that time of year. By the middle of August hatches of Little Yellow Quills will start to occur mostly in the higher elevations. This is a very good hatch that last until the end of October. By the middle of August, hatches of Mahogany Duns will begin to occur. This hatch last for as long as two months depending on the elevation.

Also by the middle of August you should start seeing some Needle Stoneflies. These hatch in fairly large numbers until as late as November, especially in the higher elevations. Many
anglers take them for caddisflies which they resemble in flight.

From the middle of May until the middle of November, a long period of time, you will find
hatches of Slate Drakes occurring. These mayflies hatch out of the water but never in large quantities. Imitations of the nymphs and spinners can be important.

The Great Autumn Brown Sedges, start hatching at night by the first of October and last into the first of December. There is even a hatch of Eastern Green Drakes that occurs on
Abrams Creek from the last week of April through May. The hatches in the Smokies are not usually large but there are a lot of them that occur. Keeping up with them presents a real challenge.

During the month of June, grasshoppers, beetles, ants and inch worms, all terrestrial insects, become important food items for the trout. There are few hatches occurring, so most anglers start using imitations of these terrestrials. The inch worms, or moth larvae, are especially important due to the large numbers of them in the forest of the park.

In addition to the terrestrial and aquatic insects, theres a lot of other food for the trout. Small Crawfish is one of those items. The brown trout are especially fond of them. Another one is Sculpin. These small fish are abundant in most of the stream. Imitations of them can be very effective. The Black Nose Dace is another baitfish that is important. Streamers imitating these and other minnows work great especially when the water is slightly off color.

I didn’t mention it in the aquatic insect part above, but midges are abundant throughout the park. They can be very important when the water is cold and nothing else is hatching.
Imitations of the larva and pupa will catch trout anytime of the year.

Craneflies are everywhere water exist in the park. The larva and adults are important insects to imitate. Hellgrammites, or the larva stage of the Dobsonfly, is another abundant insect that is in many of the park’s streams.

Naturally we recommend our own “Perfect Fly” imitations. They are the best, most effective flies you can purchase and use anywhere trout exist. Please give them a try. You’ll be glad you did.