Don Kirk - The Ultimate Fly-Fishing Guide to the Great Smoky Mountains

T HE G REAT S MOKY M OUNTAINS N ATIONAL Park offers one of the last wild trout habitats in the eastern United States. Annually, millions of Americans visit this natural wonderland seeking recreation and a chance to enjoy the outdoors. Among these visitors are thousands of anglers eager to test their luck against the stream-bred trout of the parks famed waters. Most of these anglers lack the needed information and are confused by the seemingly endless number of streams available.

Some time in the early 1970s when my children where young (as was I), the idea of writing a trout fishing guide to the streams of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park first crossed my mind. It took a few more years of fishing, then several years of work before that book was published in 1981. Since that time, Trout Fishing Guide To The Smokies has been a raving success that has been revised and reprinted many times. Few endeavors have netted me so many compliments as that little guidebook.

Many things have changed over the last three decades in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Regulations have changed radically, and fishing pressure on many streams has increased dramatically. Guide services available to anglers wishing to sample park waters were virtually nonexistent when my book was first written, as were fly-fishing shops within 50 miles of the park. That also has changed. Both the shops and guide services are now very common around the Smokies. The city of Gatlinburg even promotes fishing for trout, something that was unheard of only a few decades ago.

This book is designed to help both experienced and novice anglers select waters that suit their tastes and abilities. You will find a chapter on each of the major streams in the park. Listed with each stream are such valuable data as its location, fishing pressure, species of trout found in that particular watershed, both auto and trail access routes, campsite accommodations, and other information. Also included are chapters covering the early history of fly-fishing for trout in and near the park, information on the aquatic insects most abundant in the streams, proven dry and wet nymph patterns, tips on gear, and other aspects of fly-fishing.

In the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, we have some of the finest trout fishing anywhere. And although the trout are wary, even a beginner can expect to catch a few. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has long been one of the countrys most popular fly-fishing destinations. This book represents at least the sixth attempt by an ardent angler to provide fellow fishermen with information on how and where to catch trout from these streams. The first book written exclusively on fishing in the Smokies was penned in 1937 by then park ranger, Joe F. Manley. Manley, who was employed by the National Park Service for only two years before accepting employment in Gatlinburg as chief of their water works department, was an avid fisherman. His 80-page, hardbound book was vanity published once3,000 copies, according to Manley, whom I spoke to last in 1990 at his home in Gatlinburg. This rare and little-known book is unknown to most anglers, but was brought to my attention in 1987 by noted Smoky Mountain angler Eddie George of Louisville, Tennessee, who could rightly be termed the best fly-fisherman to ever cast these streams. In fact, the copy of Manleys book I have was given to me by George. According to Manley, shortly after his book, Fishing Guide to the Smokies , was printed, he agreed to guide an editor from either Field and Stream or Outdoor Life magazine (he could not recall precisely which). During the course of their fishing trips, Manley shared information on his book with the Northerner, who bought and took home his entire printing. Only a few dozen of these books were ever sold locally. Over two decades after talking with Manley, I discovered that the purchaser of his inventory of books was Ben East, legendary editor at Outdoor Life.