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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:34 am, the temperature outside is 68.0 degrees.

Showers and thunderstorms are likely today, from 8 am until 2 pm. The chance is 60%. Rainfall amounts of ¼” to ½” are possible according to the National Weather Service. The chance for thunderstorms decreases tomorrow to 30%.

Rain and thunderstorms were present and active in our area yesterday. Little River rose to over 2’ on the flow gauge, only to recede quickly afterwards. Currently, Little River is flowing at 1.73 feet or 107 cubic feet per second (cfs). Median flow for this date is 142 cfs, which is higher than it has been over the past few days. The water temperature is 67.8 degrees.

When fishing in the mountains, this time of year, when thunderstorms are likely, watch for quickly rising water and flash floods. A flash flood occurred yesterday in Middle Tennessee at Cummmins Falls State Park. 27 people were trapped and all but one were eventually rescued. A woman is still missing. I hope she is rescued today. You can read the story on the WBIR website by CLICKING HERE.

Flows are good in the Smokies streams. They are flowing low, but low is the norm in July. At times of low flows, stealth is important to fly fishing success for trout. Dress to blend in with the forest. Don’t wear a white cap or t-shirt. The trout will see you.

Fish the shaded streams if the sun is shining through the trees and on the water. If it is cloudy, all the better.

The streams are warm in the lowest elevations. Fish in the mid to high elevations streams where the water is cooler.

Dry flies are working. I would use a yellow dry fly, something that resembles a Yellow Sally Stonefly. I might use a black beetle pattern. Terrestrials are food for trout during the Summer and Fall. The trout are hungry and actively feeding. If your offering looks like food and is drifting properly with the stream flow, the trout will be very interested in your fly. Nymphs will work well too. I would use a Green Weenie, but, other nymph patterns may work as well or better.

TVA will be generating quite a bit today at Norris and Cherokee dams today.

Lake fishing should be good, especially if today is overcast. Fishing is always better for me in shallow water, on cloudy days. You may also find baitfish on the surface when the sun is off the water, attracting gamefish to the surface to feed. Watch for that. If the sun is shining all day, I fish early and late on the lakes. I don’t use sinking fly lines often. That limits my fishing to just a few feet under the water’s surface. And, I much prefer topwater popper fishing.

Frank and I are floating a river with Josh Pfeiffer tomorrow, fishing for smallmouth bass. I’m not sure which river we will be fishing. Josh will decide based on generation schedules at the dams. We try to fish with Josh at least once during the Summer, hoping for topwater popper fishing. We usually do very well.

I learned my lesson two years ago, so I am taking a rain suit and a fleece vest. Paula, Frank, Mouse, Josh and I were floating the Holston. I think it was a 5-mile float. We had two kayaks and Josh’s drift boat. We were pounded by cold rain and an awful thunderstorm, through most of the trip.

We were committed to the float once we were in the water. I got wet and the air was cold. I thought I was going to become hypothermic. If that happens tomorrow, I will be warm and dry.

A young male bear was tranquilized and removed from the Abrams Creek area yesterday. The bear had become humanized, or developed a habit of trying to take food from humans. You can read the story on the WBIR website by CLICKING HERE.

I feed birds behind our home during the Winter months. The bears are not active and I think they move higher into the mountains during the cold months. When Spring arrives, I remove the bird feeders. Even if the feeders are empty, bears tear them down.

In the Spring of 2016, I thought I might continue feeding the birds, by sprinkling seed on the ground. Surely that would not attract bears. I looked out my office window one afternoon, and there was a sow and a cub behind the house. The mother was licking seed off the ground. I stopped throwing seed on the ground until last Winter.

This Spring, I could not resist. I took down the feeders as usual. But, I kept throwing seed on the ground for the birds. Sure enough, I looked out and saw a large male bear, licking seed from the ground. The bird feeding was curtailed for the Spring once again.

I suppose I’ve learned my lesson. I stopped, and have not seen a bear since. We will see them often through the Summer this year, just passing through to our neighbor’s apple trees. Sometimes, they are just walking by, going somewhere else. See the photos below. I had spread straw on the ground to stop erosion when the two bears were photographed in the Spring of 2016.

Daniel will be writing the Fishing Report tomorrow and Saturday morning.

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

Byron Begley
July 6, 2017