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Little Tennessee River
This is a big smallie for the Little Tennessee! This beauty weighed
around 2 1/2 pounds and hit a white grub fluttered in the current.
The Little Tennessee
River gets it's start in Georgia as barely more than a trickle, and remains
that way until being impounded by Lake Emory, just north of Franklin. On
emerging from the Lake Emory dam, the Little T winds and tumbles in a
northwesterly direction through the Blue Ridge mountains before entering
Fontana Lake. From here, the Little Tennessee is impounded a few more times
on the way to it's rendezvous with the Tennessee River. We will concern
ourselves with the section between lakes Emory and Fontana.
The Little T is perfect for
waders, canoe or kayak fishermen, or even kick boaters. Most of the river
can be waded, and the rapids are gentle for the most part. Due to the
numerous shoals and the rocky nature of the Little T, motorized boats are
nonexistent and definitely not recommended. The river ranges from about
thirty yards wide in it's upper reaches to a hundred closer to Lake Fontana. A quick glance at any decent map
will show that there are plenty of places to access the river. Despite the
easy access, most of the Little Tennessee is completely undeveloped, and it
is one of the prettiest rivers I have ever seen.
Most visitors to the
Little Tennessee are after smallmouth bass, and there are plenty of them in
the river. Located on the southern fringe of the smallmouth's range and
being a relatively infertile stream, The Little T is most definitely not a
trophy fishery. I have only heard of one four pounder coming from the river.
Anything over a pound is a good fish and anything over two pounds is a
braggin'-sized fish. Most smallies will run from 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound, but
there are lots of them and they are fun to catch on light tackle.
A couple more beauties from the Little T!
That's a big redbreast on the right!
Many locals who pursue
smallies swear by the Rebel Crawdad and other small crankbaits that imitate
crayfish. I have had better success with small soft plastics (worms, grubs,
Senko-type worms) crawled, hopped, or swam near the bottom. In-line spinners
will also catch fish and smallies will occasionally nail small poppers
during the summer months. Flyfishermen seem to do best with subsurface
presentations. Due to the high elevation, the smallie fishing on the Little
T usually doesn't get going until April most years and they tend to shut
down during the winter.
When pursuing smallies, you
will undoubtedly encounter a bunch of rock bass. "Mountain crappie" are
plentiful in the Little T and can help liven up a slow day. Rock bass tend
to inhabit the same areas as smallies, so if you are catching rock bass, you
are at least fishing in the right type of water. I have caught rock bass up
to a pound (normally near the bottom) and these guys are great on the table.
You will encounter a lot of these tasty
little rock bass on the Little Tennessee
Other panfish species in the
Little Tennessee include redbreast, bluegill and yellow perch. There don't
seem to be a whole bunch of panfish in the Little T, but the ones that are
there get pretty big. The catfishing is pretty darn good too, with lots of
eating-sized fish and some a lot bigger in the deep holes. Locals swear that
walleyes and musky are in the Little Tennessee also, but I haven't been able
to confirm that.
One fish species I can
confirm in the Little T are trout. It seems that the heavy rains of 2005
flushed a whole bunch of them into the river from tributary streams or trout
ponds that border those streams. However they got in the river, there are
some beauties in the Little T. The biggest I've seen have been rainbows in
the twenty two-inch range, but there are also some browns and brookies in
the Little T as well. Whether they survive the summer or not is anybody's
guess, but they appear to be pretty healthy as of this writing. Remember
that in order to keep trout, you must possess a North Carolina trout stamp.
There are lots of
fishing possibilities on the Little Tennessee, but whatever species you
choose to pursue keep in mind that the water is normally very clear. Between
the clear water and the relatively small size of the fish, I wouldn't
recommend any fishing line over 6 pound test (unless you are chasing muskies
or big catfish). Anything much over that will reduce the number of bites you
get and is probably overkill anyway.
There are normally no major
hazards on the Little Tennessee, but the wading can be tricky in spots and
floaters definitely need to keep their craft pointed downstream. None of the
rapids are very big, but the current is often brisk, and there are tons of
rocks just below the surface that can put you in the drink if you aren't
careful. When Lake Fontana is lowered during the winter, some major rapids
(Class IV) appear at the head of the lake, but most float fishermen don't go
past the last takeout on Lower Needmore Road anyway, so this shouldn't
really worry most people.
If you plan on visiting the
Little Tennessee and live at lower elevations, remember that it's normally a
few degrees cooler in the mountains and the river will be a good deal cooler
than what you might expect. There is one canoe outfitter on the river and a
fantastic campround (Rose Creek-see link at left) minutes from the river.
This is beautiful country and if you get the opportunity it's a great place
to kill a couple days.  |
