469 Main St, Bryson City, NC 28713
Fly Fishing the Smokies is the definitive outfitter for one of the most distinctive and demanding fly fishing environments in North America — the wild trout streams of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the surrounding Cherokee National Forest and Nantahala National Forest watersheds. Based in Bryson City, North Carolina, in the heart of the Smokies' western gateway, the shop occupies a position of unmatched access to hundreds of miles of roadless, boulder-pocket mountain streams harboring wild rainbow trout, brown trout, and in the highest-elevation headwaters, the native Appalachian brook trout that represent one of the rarest and most ecologically precious fish populations on the continent. No part of this region is easy to fish — short casts, high-sticking technique, careful approach, and exact drift control are rewarded while casting laziness is punished immediately by tight canopy and technical currents.
Fly Fishing the Smokies guides have accumulated thousands of combined days in the park and surrounding national forest, mapping fish-holding lies and productive patterns across dozens of drainages with obsessive precision. The shop offers wade trips into the park's most remote and productive corners, backcountry overnight fishing expeditions for anglers willing to hike past the road-accessible crowds, and instructional clinics focused specifically on the roll-casting and high-sticking techniques that Smokies fishing demands. The retail floor carries a tight selection of dry flies, nymphs, and terrestrials calibrated to mountain stream hatches — elk hair caddis, parachute Adams, stimulators, and the pheasant tail nymphs that rarely fail on the park's pocket water. For the fly angler seeking wild fish in a wilderness setting, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an incomparable experience, and this shop is the key to unlocking it.
“Guide Chad hiked us three miles into the park before the road-fishing crowd arrived and we had a gorgeous wild stream completely to ourselves all morning. He put us on native brook trout in one of the prettiest mountain settings I've ever fished — mossy boulders, rhododendron canopy, water so clear it looked like glass. His instruction on high-sticking technique was invaluable. I've fished the West for years and this wild, intimate water is a completely different kind of experience. Unforgettable.”
“My first fly fishing trip ever and these folks made it perfect. Guide Mike was patient and encouraging from the first cast to the last fish. We waded a beautiful wild section of the Oconaluftee — I caught 11 wild rainbows in four hours. The technique adjustments Mike coached me through — stopping my false casts early, reading the bubble lines, mending line — felt natural by mid-morning. Came back the following season and took a second trip with him. Already planning a third.”
“The backcountry overnight trip is an elite experience. We hiked eight miles in, camped beside a wild stream, and fished water that probably sees fewer than a dozen anglers per year. The brook trout in the upper headwaters are spectacularly colored — reds and oranges that don't look real. Our guide's knowledge of the park's hidden drainages is extraordinary. Worth every penny and every mile of trail.”
