Jim,

You know I love the Mogollon Rim, but you are at 8,000 feet plus or minus a 1,000. The Smoky Mountains are quite a bit under that and you can fish for a wide range of fish in the area, everything from bluegill to musky, including Brook, Rainbow and Brown trout, there are a few lakes with Lake Trout in the area. You would probably find it humid, having lived most of my life around Memphis and New Orleans, I do not. East TN puts you in fairly close proximity to TN, NC, SC, GA, AL, KY and VA.