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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. The sun is shining but the air is cold. Warm weather is coming back this weekend.
The Little River is flowing at 2.80 feet or 561 c.f.s. This is a bit higher than the daily normal of 303 c.f.s. These flows are high but can be worked with if you are careful and creative. Staying to the edge or heading to one of the small streams will be best.
Water temperatures have dropped over the last few days. This morning the temps on Little River are 44.8 F. Temperatures should rise a little as the day warms but cool overnight temps will keep them low until later in the week. We should see good warming next week.
Nymphs sunk deep are going to be the first choice of flies today. Pat's Rubberlegs, tungsten nymphs, Prince Nymphs, etc are good patterns to start with. Try a tandem rig with a large fly and a smaller trailer. This gives the trout some choice.
Look for slower stretches of river. You still want moving current but the heavy rough water isn't going to be the areas to fish. Lower elevation streams near the road would be my choice. The crowds are gone so there isn't much need to go the extra distance to find solitude. Also, when it is cold, it is good to not be too far from the truck just in case you take a swim.
The area tailwaters are running water. More rain is in the forecast so that means high flows probably aren't going away soon.
Byron is off the Nashville today for a buying show. The company that we buy conventional tackle has a huge show at a convention center in Nashville. It is at this show that the best prices are gotten for the year. The fly tackle is kind of the same. We have to place big orders months in advance to get a good price and to make sure that they have stock to deliver. These preseason orders have been the bane of Byron and my existance. They make it more complicated to keep things in stock because the items are on order but they just haven't shipped yet.
Saturday was a fun start to our Saturday Free Fly Tying Demos. Walter Babb and Brian Courtney are always a souce of great information and stories. Next Saturday will be Steve Brown and Tom Brown. They are brothers and have been fly fishermen for a long time. Tom recently moved back to the Knoxville area after a career with Orvis. They will be tying from 10am till 2pm. Stop by anytime!
These Free Tying Demos will be every Saturday until early march. You can see a full schedule HERE.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Daniel Drake
January 6, 2020
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |