(article featured in Carolina Mountains by Jeff Samsel)

It seemed like a road he had been down before, or a river actually. Jerry Anselmo discovered that there were no outfitters running trips on that stretch of the river. So, he canoed the river, ultra-light rod in hand, and discovered trout fishing that was every bit as outstanding as the scenery.

A few years earlier, while riding state Highway 28 between Bryson city and Franklin, Jerry had taken note of the Little Tennessee River, which winds between the Nantahala Mountains right beside 28 on its way to Fontana Lake. He looked for a place to rent a canoe, just to float down the river for fun and sample its fishing, and discovered no such an operation existed. After finding a canoe he could borrow it only took one-float trip to convince Jerry that it was time for him to get into the outfitting business.

Jerry had moved to the mountains from Louisiana, having sold out of the fine-dining restaurant business a couple years earlier and was looking for a place to settle and a way to earn his keep. After finding the little T he founded the Great Smokey Mountain Fish Camp & Safaris, and gradually began building what today is one of western North Carolina's premier outfitting services.

Canoe trips and guided float-fishing trips are Jerry's mainstay on the Little T , but he also runs a gourmet grocery store at his main outpost located just outside Franklin, along with an RV campground, a beautiful lodge room and a mountain bike rental. He owns four riverside properties along the Little Tennessee River, which allows him to put together trips of any length.

Photo By: Ralph Preston

Jerry's restaurant experience comes into play any time folks want specially catered offerings. His cooking rivals that of any Asheville or Atlanta chef, as he artfully blends passion for genuine Italian cuisine with his Louisiana background. In preparation and presentation, he really is an artist, and his favorite gallery for sharing his, work is beside the river.

Jerry's expertise extends beyond the kitchen into the world of fishing. His travels throughout the world to places like Russia, Costa Rica, and other exotic locations has allowed him the ability to become a versatile angler and he has utilized his universal knowledge on the Little T to best determine small mouth behavior within the pristine and natural river that it is. Jerry concentrates on backwaters and pockets around boulders and lay downs, but those pockets must lie beside swift water, usually at the lower end of a shoal, if they are to hold fish. He will work beneath the Little T's modest drops and old Indian fish traps, often beaching the canoe and wading the shoals to fish them thoroughly.

The Little Tennessee River is unrivaled in the Tar Heel State for the quality of small mouths it regularly yields. Fish average a pound or better, which is terrific for stream small mouths, and 2,3, and even 4-pound fish are common in the catch. Jerry expects to catch, at least a couple 2 or 3 - pounders every time he goes out.

To learn more about the offerings of the Great Smokey Mountain Fish, Camp & Safaris or to make reservations caI1 828-369-5295.