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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:33 am, the temperature outside is 28.2 degrees. Yesterday at this time, the temperature was 4.0 degrees.
We are under a winter weather advisory, with light freezing rain possible. This afternoon, the precipitation should change to rain. Today’s high temperature is predicted to be in the low 40’s. Warmer air arrives today and lasting through the weekend. Expect highs in the 50’s to mid-60’s through Friday. Expect more rain Friday. Saturday will be colder. Snow is possible.
Little River is flowing at 1.92 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.82 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 312 cfs. The water temperature is 32 degrees this morning, or colder.
It will be interesting to see how fast the streams warm over the next few days. I cannot make a prediction as to how warm the streams will be later this week.
I would not go fishing in the Smokies today. The roads may be slick this morning. Highway 441 Newfound Gap Road is closed now, due to freezing rain and ice. Other roads may close. Anchor ice is present in some streams, including Little River. The trout will be sluggish. This just is not a good day to go.
Conditions will change over the next few days. If the water temperature reaches 44 degrees, the trout will become more active. It won’t be “hand over fist fishing”, but, fishing will be better than it has been in a while. The water may not get that warm, maybe not even close.
With high temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s this week, it is going to feel like Spring. We are all ready for some of that.
Fly fishermen were not so warm to the idea of brown trout swimming in their favorite Catskills streams, early on. They were stocked to shore up the declining brook trout populations, in 1883 through 1884. For one thing, the brown trout were harder to catch, like they are now. Fishermen kept all they caught. Success was based on how many fish, and the weight of the catch, that were eventually consumed.
American Angler features a great story on the subject. You can read it by CLICKING HERE.
When I started fishing for trout in the early 1960’s, I kept them to eat. Most people did back then. What I did release were largemouth bass. Though I was barely strong enough to carry a 5-gallon bucket for a couple miles, I did. I caught bass in neighbor’s ponds, and moved them to ponds on our farm, that had none. After a few years, all of our ponds had thriving populations of big largemouth bass.
I used rotenone, at times, to kill all the fish in some ponds, so I could start over. The state of Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, gave us largemouth bass and bluegill fingerlings, to start new fisheries.
In 1962, I became interested in fly fishing, using streamers and poppers. Those ponds were a perfect learning ground for a beginner fly fisherman. Later I became mobile, with a drivers license. Then, I ventured to the Smoky Mountains from Kentucky. I didn’t know how to use a fly rod in moving water, where trout lived. The information here was not readily available. People did not share that kind of information with strangers from the north. I struggled for years.
Now, you just have to walk into a fly shop and ask. You can sign up for classes to learn to fly fish.
Things were different over 50 years ago. I had never seen or heard of a fly shop. I became an Orvis mail order customer in the 70’s. That changed everything for me. I sent them a check, and they sent me tackle and fly tying materials.
I’m not sure when I started using credit cards. My American Express card states, “Member Since 82”. I know I had another card before then, years before, and used it for mail order purposes.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
January 8, 2018 Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |
