Trout Zone Anglers

Trout Zone Anglers is David Knapp’s guide service, based on the Cumberland Plateau at Crossville and working across Middle and East Tennessee. Little River is one of its core Great Smoky Mountains destinations, and the company’s write up on the stream tracks it from the high tributaries down toward Townsend. Brook trout hold in the headwater branches, rainbows take over as elevation drops, and the lower river holds some of the largest brown trout in the Smokies along with rock bass and smallmouth near the park boundary. Trips on Little River are walk and wade, including hikes into backcountry water. Weekday wade rates begin at $275 for a half day of three to four hours for one angler, $325 for a three quarter day and $375 for a full day, with two angler pricing higher and backcountry days quoted separately. Flies, drinks and a rod and reel are provided as needed. Knapp has been guiding for about twelve years and works with guides Pat Tully and Chris Bean.

On the Clinch River the service runs both float and wade days. Drift boat and raft trips are used to get clear of the crowds that gather at the popular public access points, with a 2019 ClackaCraft Eddy 360 rebottomed in 2024 alongside Hyde drift boats and a Stealthcraft Hooligan XXL raft, and wade days are scheduled with guide Pat Tully. Meeting time falls between 7:30 and 9:00 in the morning depending on what Norris Dam is generating that day. The river is described as a midge factory and is famous for its sulfur hatch, with scuds, sowbugs and spring and late summer caddis filling out the food base; the strongest fishing normally runs from September through late fall and into early winter, with a second window on the spring sulfurs. Rainbow trout, brown trout and striped bass are the quarry, and everything caught on the Clinch goes back.