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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:57 am, the temperature outside is 71.1 degrees. I think this is the warmest morning all year.

The National Weather Service predicts a high of 90 degrees today with a 40% chance for thunderstorms. Tomorrow through Sunday will be somewhat cooler, in the mid-80’s. We have a greater chance for thunderstorms tomorrow and Saturday.

Little River is flowing at 100 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.70 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 146 cfs. The water temperature is a very warm 70.9 degrees at the lowest elevation on Little River, in the Park.

Most anglers in the know, understand the affect of warm water on the trout’s health. Well, it’s warm in the low elevations. Do the trout a favor and fish the mid to high elevations where the water temperature is closer to 65 degrees. Fishing will also be better. You will be more comfortable too.

As you can see, the water levels are falling. That may change when and if we get more rain. But, for now, the water is low. The trout will be spooky. Dress to blend so they don’t see you as easily. Fish the choppy water. Trout may be hiding in shaded areas and the water there may be calm.

Yellow Sally Stonefly imitations are a good dry fly choice. Even better, could be foam beetles and ants. Inchworms are falling into the water. Trout are feeding on them. A Green Weenie is a good choice for a sub-surface fly.

I have always, or almost always, fished a Green Weenie as the only fly, not as a dropper. I have always pinched on a #6 split shot to get the weenie down some, in the water column. You may want to use a strike indicator or maybe not. You can often see that bright chartreuse fly in the water, and watch trout chasing it.

Some fishermen use the Green Weenie as a dropper, beneath a dry fly. I know that works but that is something I have almost never done.

I always use a non-slip loop these days, on most flies. That knot gives the flies more action. I can’t seem to get the loop small enough for tiny trout flies. Josh can. I’ve seen him do it. He is a guide and gets lots of practice.

Tying knots has pretty much been my fly fishing nemesis. I struggle with knots and always have. I do wear reading glasses when tying knots. That helps. I’ve been fly fishing for 55 years and fishing by other means longer than that. Still, some knots drive me crazy, especially when I’m cold and shivering. Nail knots and double nail knots are not a problem. I’ve been doing that for customers for over 20 years, rigging new reels and fly lines with a piece of mono to tie their leaders to.

Now, most fly lines have a built in loop. We don’t tie nail knots often at the shop, unless we are rigging for big game fish, especially saltwater fish. We use them to tie new fly lines to backing.

I used to be good at tying perfection loops. We tied those for customers too. I remember when leaders didn’t have perfection loops pre-tied. They all do now.

I am good at tying a double surgeons knot. Of course that is the easiest knot I know of to tie. That knot is used to tie tippet to a leader.

I struggle with the last one, that attaches your tippet to the fly. Maybe I need to go fishing more often.

I friend on mine’s son, caught a 1 pound 9 oz. bluegill about two weeks ago. I saw the photo on his phone at the bank yesterday. What a monster. I didn’t look real. The panfish ate a bass frog lure, not a fly. I guess the fish was 12” long.

I hooked one like that a few years ago. The bluegill hit a popper. It ran by the boat. Paula, Frank and I all saw it. I’ve never been so shaken, fighting a bluegill. It ran for some brush, I applied too much pressure and he broke me off. I don’t mind losing fish but I really wanted to land that one.

Just a few days ago, I talked about the fact that our store only buys merchandise from family owned companies. I talked about how small the fly fishing industry is. I even used the words “Private Equity Firm” as something we have not dealt with over the years. Well, I was wrong or I am now. Simms announced a partnership with a private equity firm. You can read the news release on the Angling International web page by CLICKING HERE. This was announced on July 7th, so I was probably correct or almost correct at the time.

Volunteers are needed for the “Big Clinch River Cleanup” to be held on July 22nd. You can learn more by visiting the Clinch River Chapter of TU website by CLICKING HERE. This cleanup is organized, I mean, really organized. Join this group of folks as a volunteer for the day and you will see some work being done and have fun at the same time. They use drift boats as garbage trucks.

I will be off tomorrow. Daniel will be writing the Fishing Report.

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

Byron Begley
July 13, 2017

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com