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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:35 am, the temperature outside is 25.0 degrees.
It will be sunny and cold today with a high temperature in the mid-30’s dropping into the teens tonight. Tomorrow will be sunny and warmer with highs in the upper 40’s and lows in the mid 20’s. Thursday will be clear and warmer, with a high in the low 50’s.
It will be much colder in the higher elevations. For instance, the high today is expected to be 23 degrees at Mount LeConte, with a low tonight of 14 degrees. Snow is predicted later this week in the higher elevations of the Smokies.
Little River is flowing at 474 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.65 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 290 cfs. The water temperature is 39.0 degrees and falling this morning.
Little Pigeon River is flowing at 865 cfs, 2.59 feet, which compares to median flow of 512 cfs.
Oconaluftee River is flowing at 959 cfs, 2.56 feet, compared to median flow for this date of 557 cfs. The water temperature is 37.4 degrees and falling.
Tellico River is is flowing at 522 cfs, 2.11 feet, compared to median flow of 291 cfs.
Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 221 cfs, 2.98 feet, which compares to median flow for the date of 116 cfs. The water temperature is 34.5 degrees and falling.
Stream levels continue to recede. And, water temperatures are falling.
Trout are lethargic when the water temperatures fall into the 30’s. They do not need food to survive. Fishing will be slow today and tomorrow in the Smoky Mountains.
TVA and the Corps are generating at their dams in our area today. I saw no good fishing opportunities on our tailwaters nearby. There are breaks in the generation schedules at some dams in upper East Tennessee. Check those schedules to see if you can work with them.
It actually felt like January yesterday and it will feel the same today. According to the long term forecast, it will be warmer than normal day after tomorrow, through February 1st.
The weather is perfect for tying flies and preparing for Spring fishing. Spring fishing is probably not far off, based on what we have experienced over the last few years.
I have spent the past few days going through the sales numbers on everything we sell in the fly tying department. I am setting new inventory levels for every item. I have noticed some trends. One in particular is, we are selling a lot of competition jig hooks and slotted tungsten beads.
More fly fishermen who buy from us are tying Euro nymphing flies. By more, I mean a lot more.
Hanak competition barbless jig hooks are selling extremely well. I have purchased many myself. What we are tying are heavily weighted anchor flies to use at the bottom of our nymph rigs. “High Sticking” is becoming more popular, due to what we are leaning from competition fly anglers from around the world. These is a reason for that. These nymph rigs and techniques work.
Will Davis and Jimmy Jones will be conducting free fly tying demonstrations at the shop Saturday between 10 am and 2 pm. All you have to do is show up.
These guys are excellent fly tyers and anglers.
Jimmy lives in Maryville and ties flies he uses in the Smoky Mountains, his home water. I have watched him tie. I learned a lot in the short time I have spent with Jimmy. His fly patterns work in the Smokies, no doubt about that.
Will is 16 years old and he is training to be a competition fly fisherman who uses Euro nymphing techniques. He also enjoys traditional fly fishing. As I am building the Euro nymphing tying section in our fly tying department, I have asked for Will’s advice. He knows a lot more about tactical nymphing than I do.
Saturday will be a very interesting day at the shop. You can learn more about Jimmy and Will by CLICKING HERE.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
January 21, 2020
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |
