I’m interested in trying to do a 2 day camping trip in East Tennessee or Western North Carolina targeting smallmouth. I will be shore bound, wading is not a problem for me.

 

Any recommendations on where to look? Not looking for your spots, just general state/National Forest areas where I could pitch a tent on the side of the road (or a cheap campground if needed) and have access to smallmouth water.

 

I’ve looked into similar trips for trout in the past, I was thinking the concept would be the same. Just instead of looking for streams off forest roads at say 3000’ or higher I’d look closer to 1500’. Is this the right approach or would I need to be looking higher/lower?

Youre on the right track. Look at the Little T and Nolichucky drainages in NC and the Ocoee in TN. I dont know where you're coming from, but the Obed in TN is great too and a Wild and Scenic River. But its not necessarily in Eastern TN.

11 hours ago, VolFan said:

Youre on the right track. Look at the Little T and Nolichucky drainages in NC and the Ocoee in TN. I dont know where you're coming from, but the Obed in TN is great too and a Wild and Scenic River. But its not necessarily in Eastern TN.

I’d be coming from north Atlanta so Ocoee is possible on a day trip (only 1.5 hours from me).  I always thought all the land on the river was private, but I’ve honestly never looked too hard into it.

The possibilities are endless! French broad, Nolichucky, pigeon, little Tennessee, holston, little river, tellico, clinch, even abrams creek in the national park has smallies. And then there are all the lakes! Cherokee, tellico, Norris, Watauga, and south holston are all excellent smallmouth Fishing. Douglas fort Loudon and watts bar are also very good

On ‎8‎/‎1‎/‎2020 at 6:14 PM, bigbassin' said:

I’d be coming from north Atlanta so Ocoee is possible on a day trip (only 1.5 hours from me).  I always thought all the land on the river was private, but I’ve honestly never looked too hard into it.

Creek Fishing Adventures on YouTube fishes the Ocoee quite a bit, so if you haven't seen his videos you might give them a look (I'm assuming that there's some way to search his channel for "Ocoee"). So apparently there is some public access somewhere.

I could be quite wrong, but the ocoee is not known for its fishing. The water was ruined by copper mines and is just now coming back somewhat. Spotted bass walleye and trout and the occasional yellow perch are all I’ve heard of coming from there. And not in large numbers. A spring white bass run does happen, as with any rivers and creeks around here 

15 hours ago, plawren53202 said:

Creek Fishing Adventures on YouTube fishes the Ocoee quite a bit, so if you haven't seen his videos you might give them a look (I'm assuming that there's some way to search his channel for "Ocoee"). So apparently there is some public access somewhere.

First video that popped up looked like a cool area.

 

14 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I could be quite wrong, but the ocoee is not known for its fishing. The water was ruined by copper mines and is just now coming back somewhat. Spotted bass walleye and trout and the occasional yellow perch are all I’ve heard of coming from there. And not in large numbers. A spring white bass run does happen, as with any rivers and creeks around here 

I always associate whitewater rafting with the Ocoee, don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone fishing it. I’ve always understood the hiawassee (trout and smallmouth) and toccoa (trout) to be the better rivers in that area.

2 hours ago, bigbassin' said:

First video that popped up looked like a cool area.

 

I always associate whitewater rafting with the Ocoee, don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone fishing it. I’ve always understood the hiawassee (trout and smallmouth) and toccoa (trout) to be the better rivers in that area.

Yes it goes from bone dry to class V quite frequently, I think the lower part down near the hiawassee is probably the only part fish can live in