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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:32 am, the temperature outside is 28.4 degrees.
It will be sunny today with a high temperature in the low 50’s, dropping to the low 30’s tonight. Tomorrow will be sunny and warmer with a high in the mid to upper 50’s and a low at night in the mid-40’s. It will be much warmer beginning Friday and continuing through the weekend, with highs in the 60’s to 70 degrees. Rain is predicted Friday and Saturday.
Little River is flowing at 490 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.68 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 312 cfs. The water temperature is 44.4 degrees and falling this morning.
Little Pigeon River is flowing at 978 cfs, 2.73 feet, compared to median flow of 508 cfs.
Oconaluftee River is flowing at 950 cfs, 2.55 feet, compared to median flow of 518 cfs for this date. The water temperature is 41.9 degrees this morning and falling.
Tellico River is flowing at 473 cfs, 2.00 feet, which compares to median flow of 304 cfs.
Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 266 cfs, 3.12 feet, compared to median flow of 119 cfs for this date. The water temperature is 40.1 degrees and falling.
Stream levels will be falling over the next two days. We’ll see the water temperatures warm considerably over the next few days. Fishing in the Smokies will improve. Some streams are flowing proportionately higher than others. Little River’s flow is on the high side of good. The water will be swift in some areas so be careful wading.
I would fish in the lower elevations where the water is warmer. Nymphs and streamers would be my choice.
If we somehow are missed by the heavy rainfall Friday through the weekend, fishing will be good due to rising water temperatures. Heavy rain is a possibility this Friday and Saturday and that may impact fishing negatively. We will have to wait and see what happens.
I checked several TVA generation schedules this morning for dams in our area. I saw heavy generation, sluicing and even spilling at some dams. I don’t see any fishing opportunities on our trout tailwaters today. You could check them all and there may be an opportunity elsewhere.
The long term weather forecast indicates much warmer than normal temperatures through January 22nd. It looks like we will see a lot of rain too during the period.
In some years, the Spring hatches have begun in mid-February. I can’t help but wonder if that will be the case this year. Maybe they will start even earlier.
We have had two of the wettest years on record, back to back, in the Tennessee Valley. So far, rainfall this year is far above normal, with more rain expected this weekend. What we don’t want to see this year, is heavy rain this Winter, causing the same problems we had last year, high flows in our tailwaters. Those rivers were not fishable for much of the Spring due to high flows. The free flowing streams were not fishable often last year.
Then, last Fall, we found ourselves in a drought that lasted two months or more all over the Southeast.
It would be nice to have normal weather this year. That would be good for all of us.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
January 8, 2020
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |
