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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:33 am, the temperature is 69.0 degrees.
It will be partly sunny today, with a high temperature in the middle to upper 70’s, dropping to the upper 50’s tonight. It will be breezy this morning. Rain will move into the region tomorrow. The high temperature is predicted to be in the middle to upper 70’s.
The high temperature yesterday was 78 degrees at the Knoxville Airport, which was a record for the date.
Little River is flowing at 377 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.36 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 429 cfs. The water temperature is 52.5 degrees this morning and rose to near 54 degrees yesterday, at the low elevation USGS gauge site near Townsend.
Streams in the Smokies are flowing at or about normal. The streams have warmed to the trout’s preferred range in the low elevations, day and night. The water temperature is 51.4 degrees at Oconaluftee River’s Birdtown gauge. The water is slightly cooler at the Cataloochee River gauge at 49.6 degrees this morning.
Fishing for trout is good, due to the warmer water and lower flows. Everyone I talked to in the shop has been doing fairly well with some reporting good fishing. The anglers I talked to have been catching trout on nymphs.
The water has been warm enough to allow for aquatic insect hatches, especially in the lower elevations. I would not be surprised at all to hear from anglers today who are using dry flies and catching trout, though I have not personally heard that yet. It can take a few days for trout to begin feeding on the surface, after the water reaches their preferred temperature range.
If you go fishing in the mountains today, be prepared to use nymph rigs, dry flies or wet flies. Your dry fly selection should include Quill Gordon, Blue Quill or any dark mayfly. An Adams or Parachute Adams are good choices in various sizes. You may also encounter a Blue Wing Olive hatch today. A good tactic would be to fish with a dry fly and a wet fly emerger dropper that is unweighted. The hatches will be sporadic. If you are not doing well with dry flies or wet flies, switch to nymphs. I would use a Pheasant Tail or Hare’s Ear nymph but other patterns may work well too.
Fish in the low to middle elevations where the water is warmer. Look for water temperatures of 50 degrees or warmer.
Fishing is good for stocked trout in the lowland rivers. Nymphs, squirmy worms, mop flies or streamers are good fly choices.
You may catch smallmouth bass in these rivers on nymphs or streamers. The rivers could be too chilly for smallmouth bass activity. I have not heard from any smallmouth bass anglers since the streams warmed.
TVA and the Corps of Engineers are planning to generate around the clock at most dams today with short pauses at some. Check the generation schedule at your favorite tailwater and you may find anger friendly flows. I did not check every schedule this morning.
We are going to enjoy another very warm day and night with no rain. We are busy at the shop and we will be open today as usual.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
March 6, 2022
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com
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