Smokies Rainbows -- Sort Of

While it's true that no trout have been stocked in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for several decades, I have no doubt that the fish I caught in the park yesterday afternoon were products of a fish hatchery.

With the water low, the sun shining brightly and the fish in their mid-summer doldrums, we opted to fish lower Little River, where smallmouth bass and rock bass might also be options. No doubt the 11-inch rainbows that ate my Fuzz-E Grub were stockers that had moved upstream from Townsend, not that wild fish that better characterize trout fishing in the park. That was OK. They were fun to catch, and I did also manage one little smallmouth in a short afternoon outing.

We also fished higher in the hills, but I'll write more about that later.