Smoky Mountain Smallmouth Bass

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a huge park with over 600 miles of angling streams of which most are prime habitat for various types of trout.  There is a few streams however that hold Smoky Mountain smallmouth bass and it is unknown to many fishermen.

Since our mission is to to learn and explore the world of smallmouth bass fishing, we thought you’d like to know more about this national treasure.

Smoky Mountain smallmouth bass

Smallmouth bass prefer streams with rocky bottoms, root wads, woody debris, and boulders, and generally occupy areas with deep pools and slow moving currents where they feed primarily on crayfish, as well as insects and other fish. Smallmouth can be found in the first few miles of the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River, as well as in the first 0.5 -1.0 mile of a few streams flowing into Fontana Lake near the park boundary (i.e., Eagle Creek, Hazel Creek, Noland Creek).

The best park streams for smallmouth fishing include East Prong of Little River from where it enters the park near Townsend to the Sinks and Abrams Creek from its embayment with Chilhowee Reservoir to Abrams Falls. Sampling conducted on Little River and Abrams Creek in 2002 and 2003 has shown the majority of fish range from 7 to the 10 inches, with some recorded up to 14 inches. However, smallmouth as large as 2-3 pounds are commonly reported being caught by anglers in the park. Abrams Creek has a high number of smallmouth bass that are rarely fished due to how difficult it is to access. Little River does not support as high densities of smallmouth bass as Abrams Creek, but does offer road access along Little River Road.  Source

Tennessee is so well known for its amazing smallmouth rivers and streams that it should be no surprise that there are some great smallmouth fishing opportunities in the Smokey Mountains.

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