Nowadays, most of my fishing trips are carefully planned, sometimes months in advance. Being self employed has some definite perks, such as being able to be off whenever I want to. Of course, the downside is that I have to plan those days before I book a bunch of people to fish with me. So it was that my good friend Chase and I planned a day of smallmouth fishing here on the Cumberland Plateau weeks (or was it months?) ago. Fast forward several weeks and the big day finally arrived. In the interim, I had twisted the arm of the Trout Zone Anglers resident smallmouth guru, Chris Bean, to join us. The pieces were in place for a great time fishing with some good buddies.
We picked the stream, and when I say we, it was mostly my call. These guys were gracious enough to join me on some of my favorite Plateau water, and I was dying to hit one of my all time favorites. It has produced some of the best fish and better consistent size in all my time fishing these creeks. I was hoping that it would show out nicely for my friends.
When we arrived at the access point, there were a couple of vehicles there already. That wasn't a big surprise as there is almost always someone around swimming or otherwise recreating. What we didn't count on is that they might be fishing also. Sure enough, as we hiked down to my favorite spot, they were right in the spot that I almost always started fishing. We worked further down and eventually found a spot to get in. Before long, they came down and dropped RIGHT below us, cutting off any further progress we could make downstream when they camped on a hole. This water doesn't lend itself well to camping in one spot, but these guys were going to block our progress, so I wasn't sure what we should do.
Interestingly, when I fish this location, I always fish downstream. Not sure why, that is just how I've always done it. I definitely don't fish that way on trout water for the most part. Some of that might be because of the large amount of flat water just upstream from the access point. I don't like wading super long flat deep pools if I can avoid it. There are just enough critters in the stream side brush that I don't want to be forced out of the stream bed once I've accessed the water.
Before we had even hiked down at all, I had mentioned this to my friends and also casually mentioned that we could fish upstream if they wanted to. Once the other anglers forced our hand, we had two options. Fish new to me water upstream, or bail to an entirely different drainage. Either option was feasible, but one had definite preference points for more fishing and less time burning gas. My buddies helped make the call to fish upstream.
I'm getting to the point in my fishing where I'm not as likely to take in super rugged new water on my own. I have too many people relying on me these days to do something foolish, and that is the benefit of friends. Sometimes they give you just enough of a push to get you moving in a new direction. Of course, I felt better doing this trip with others along. If things went sideways there were at least multiple people around to help.
Based on the map with satellite view, there would be some more excellent wading water upstream a ways. While we weren't sure exactly how far that would end up being, we started working that direction. Thankfully, progress was steady and soon we were getting out of the super deep stuff. Even though the water was still somewhat flat, the bottom was not too deep and featured primarily a hard bedrock bottom.
The first place we got in produced the highlight of the day. We had all spread out, fishing our preferred way, with my buddy Chase getting the most action on a hellgrammite or crawdad or some type of weighted fly. I was stubborn and hanging in there with a popper. I had gotten a couple of smaller fish in the spot downstream, and really just wanted to fish a popper if I could. Chris was fishing a little more actively. He enjoys streamer fishing and has been whacking smallmouth all summer with clients that way. It didn't take long before he hooked up with a fish that was bending the 8 weight rod tremendously.
I was the furthest from the scene of action, but Chase got there quickly with a net. Between the two of them, they made the whole process of netting the gorgeous fish a very smooth one. It almost looked like they were professionals which of course they are. Chase was very active in the competition scene for a while and of course Chris is one of the better guides in east Tennessee.
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| Smallmouth bass can jump as well as trout! ©2026 David Knapp Photography |
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| A masterful net job by Chase. ©2026 David Knapp Photography |
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| Smallmouth bass guru Chris Bean shows off the fish of the day. ©2026 David Knapp Photography |
That fish was the pinnacle of our day, although we kept plying ahead upstream for a while. We all found a few more fish. Eventually, however, the day was getting hotter and hotter, and I needed to make it back home at a reasonable hour. When progress upstream became difficult due to how rugged the terrain was, it became clear that we had reached the end of our adventures more or less.
On our hike out, Chris was harvesting some of the chanterelles that we had seen everywhere. Chase and I were ambling ahead when I finally spotted it. The whole day I had kept my eyes peeled, because it wouldn't be a smallmouth trip on the Plateau without seeing at least one poisonous snake. This one was close enough to the trail that you better be paying attention. And just like that, I was again reminded why I don't do these crazy adventures solo much anymore. Days like this make me appreciate my friends even more...
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| Copperhead! A super dark one at that... ©2026 David Knapp Photography |