Little River Middle Prong GSMNP

 

General Information:

The Middle Prong of the Little River in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is formed by the confluence of Lynn Camp Prong and Thunderhead Prong in the area of a former logging town named Tremont. From here, the river continues northward, through a relatively flat area known as Walker Valley. The Middle Prong is nearly 9 miles long and is joined by the West Prong  about a mile before it joins the East Prong of the Little River at the Towsend “Y”. The upper reaches of the Middle Prong can be accessed by foot trails while the lower almost 4 miles can be reached by road. Access is somewhat easy due to the old roadbed of the Little River Railroad which follows the stream for most of the nine miles.

The Middle prong of the Little River is a scenic perfect stream for all anglers. It has continuous clear water pools, puncuwated with many runs and riffles as well. You can visualize in your mind the trout taking a dry fly as you anxiously prepare to fish; it is that good. To many anglers delight, dry flies do exceedingly well in the Middle Prong. The stream is easy to fish since the lower portion is quite flat and it is mostly open with some overhanging trees. The upper portion is a little steeper but very nice indeed.

 

 Fishing the Little River:

The stream is populated mostly by rainbow trout that can be found in the swifter runs and riffles, and sometimes in pools.  However, when feeding they will be in the channels facing upstream as they prefer the faster water to bring them food. There are a few brown trout in the lower reaches of the stream but do not expect to see many.  Several branches and prongs in the area offer excellent brook trout fishing, with the exception being portions of Lynn Camp Prong where the brook trout restoration program is in effect. 

 

Spring:

Spring through the month of May is by far the best time to fish the Middle Prong of the Little River as the river produces some relatively good hatch during this period. Dry flies are effective with blue winged olives, Hendricksons, March browns and light cahills being all good choices.

Summer:

It is not recommended that you fish the Middle Prong of the Little River during the summer months because as with some other freestone streams, the water temperature is too warm. Needless to say, the trout have enough difficulty trying to survive during this period. If you must fish here, try walking upstream where the water remains cooler.

Fall:

As the water cools off in October, the fishing improves and terrestrials and other dry flies become the flies of choice including blue winged olives, and blue quills.

Winter:

The winter season will provide some good experiences with blue winged olives and little yellow quills. 

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