If you do not see today’s Fishing Report, please refresh your browser to empty your cache.
Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:47 am, the temperature outside is 21.3 degrees.
Warm days are predicted through the weekend with temperatures in the 50’s during the day. Tonight will be cool, in the high 20’s. Friday and Saturday night will be warm, in the upper 30’s and mid 40’s. Rain is expected Saturday night and Sunday.
Little River is flowing at 129 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.77 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 327 cfs. The water temperature is 37.9 degrees this morning.
Fishing will probably be slow today. Watch the water temperature on the USGS link below. If the temperature reaches 44 degrees or warmer, fishing may be good later today. The streams will warm by the weekend. Fishing will improve. Fishing may not be good this weekend, but it will be better than it has been. I am hoping for water temperatures to rise to at least 45 degrees. 50 degrees would be better. If that happens, trout will become active and feeding. We’ll see what happens. Maybe fishing will be good.
If you do go fishing, plan on using heavily weighted nymphs. The water is very clear and fairly low. Stealth is very important. Don’t let the trout see you.
Watch for hatches. Blue wing olives may hatch in some locations, especially Saturday and Sunday. Both days should be cloudy. That is always an advantage to the angler.
The long term weather forecast does not offer hope for Spring fishing conditions through February 8th, which is normal. If Spring comes early, that will probably occur in mid to late February.
Our first hatches will be Quill Gordon, Blue Quill, Blue Wing Olives, and some other insects. That activity usually begins when the water temperature reaches the upper 40’s and is sustained for several days. We used to think the water had to reach 50 degrees for this to happen. Not anymore.
The Spring hatches start first in the lower elevations, where the water is warmer. Then, the activity moves upstream to the higher elevations, as the water warms further upstream.
Little River, where it runs through Townsend, is under two jurisdictions. Resident on one side of the river live in the City, while those on the other side live in the County. Complaints by property owners on the river, pertaining to tubing activity during the warm months, prompted the City and County to look into regulating the tubing businesses.
It has been determined that Little River is navigable, which gives jurisdiction to the Federal Government. Now, the City and County officials say they can do nothing to regulate use and traffic, including commerce, on Little River. You can see the story on the WBIR website by CLICKING HERE.
Most river landowner’s deeds indicate their property extends out into the river bottom, often near the middle of the river.
Visit the shop Saturday and enjoy our special event. Patrick Fulkrod and Jon Oody will be conducting Free fly tying demonstrations. They are both professional guides. Patrick’s focus is on trout. Jon likes to take clients striper fishing on our local lakes.
They will be demonstrating their tying skills, and talking to you about their fishing experiences and techniques. They will be at the shop between 10 am and 2 pm. All you have to do is show up. You can read more about these guys by CLICKING HERE.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
January 25, 2018
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |