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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:10 am, the temperature outside is 64.2 degrees. Yesterdays high temperature at the Knoxville airport reached 91 degrees, which tied the prior records set on that date in 1881 and 1916.

Beginning today, this is going to be a cooler and wet week. High temperatures in the upper 70’s to low 80’s are predicted every day through Saturday. Lows at night will fall to the mid-60’s. The chance for showers or thunderstorms range from 50% to 80% each day.

We need the rain. It has been dry for over 2 weeks. The stream levels are what we normally see later in the Summer. That should change soon.

Little River is flowing at 139 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.73 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 221 cfs. The water temperature is 66.0 degrees this morning.

Water temperatures will fall some this week, which is good. It should be overcast most of the week, which is also good. There is no discussion of heavy rain this week, except in some isolated thunderstorms.

Fly fishing for trout in the Smoky Mountains is great. Dry flies are working well. All the Yellow Sally Stonefly imitations are great choices. Try a Yellow Stimulator, Yellow Neversink Caddis, Rob’s Hellbender or others. Light Cahill mayfly imitations will work. Anglers are using #14 or #16 dries.

Nymphs will produce too. I would use a Green or Pink Weenie. Brook trout love the pink version.

When fishing this week, always be aware that a thunderstorm could be dumping water into the stream you are fishing, upstream. Watch for rising water.

Smallmouth bass fishing in the lowland rivers and lakes is excellent. Fly fishing for largemouth bass and bluegill is good. Trout fishing in the tailwaters is good. Hey, this is May. I think May is the best fishing month of the year. There are so many options.

After two weeks of fishing in Florida, I am trying to get back into work mode. Today, I will be photographing fly boxes for our online store. I think the list has about 50 different boxes to shoot and write about. I’ll take the photos in the studio at the shop, then bring the images home to finish the job in my home office where I work every day. This project will take several days, going back and forth from the shop to here.

The problem is, my office is a wreck right now. All of our saltwater fishing and kayaking gear is in here, waiting to be organized and stored away. I can barely walk through the office. Our kayaks are still on the kayak trailer, in the carport where I usually park my truck. The truck is out in the open, gathering yellow pollen.

The kayaks and trailer need to be moved into our basement. There are seven reels, on the other desk in here, that must be disassembled, cleaned and lubricated, before they are put away. You would not believe how much stuff we take on a saltwater fishing trip.

It is worth the effort. It is worth the 22-hour drive. We love our saltwater fishing trips. We also love living in the Smoky Mountains. It is good to be back.

Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.

Byron Begley
May 15, 2018

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com 

We have an Aquatic Entomology Class scheduled. It is going to be held on Saturday June 16. The price is just $100 for this all day class. Space is limited so give us a call to get your name on the roster. 865-448-9459.