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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:59 am, the temperature is 50.4 degrees.

It will be partly sunny today with a high temperature in the upper 60’s, falling to about 50 degrees tonight. We have a chance for showers today. Tomorrow will be warmer with a high in the low 70’s and a low in the upper 40’s. Showers are more likely tomorrow.

Little River is flowing at 232 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.04 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 323 cfs. The water temperature is 52.3 degrees this morning.

Most if not all streams in the Smokies are flowing below normal but at good fishing levels. Water temperatures are good in the low elevations. Fishing for trout in the mountains is good. Fish in the lower elevations where the water is warmer.

Aquatic insects are active. Most anglers are seeing sporadic hatches of Quill Gordons and other bugs on the water.

Nymphs and wet flies will work for sure. You may catch trout on dry flies too though I have not heard of that happening except in a few cases.

I saw Kris in the shop Saturday, picking up some fly tying materials. He left to go fishing. He sent me an email describing his day. Here is what he told me:

“After I left the  shop today, I  headed  up to Tremont. There was a steady  hatch of  bugs coming  off the water. I managed to land 7 and either missed or lost just as many in a 3 hour period. I  was using a size 12 quill gordon Wet fly.”

Fishing in the mountains will continue to be good for at least a few days. You will do best in the low elevations where the water is warmer.

Fishing in the lowland rivers where trout are stocked is good. Nymphs, egg patterns and streamers will work. I think Little River in Townsend was stocked last week, though I did not personally see the hatchery truck. I think smallmouth bass fishing in these rivers will be slow to fair until the water warms further.  

I do not see hardly any tailwater fishing opportunities today. It appears the turbines will be off at Center Hill Dam, but the Corps may be sluicing. Check the TVA schedule on the South Holston. Maybe you can work with that one but go early.

Lake fishing will be slow in the shallows where we fish with flies. The water is too cold. Fishing for trout in the lakes below the dams where they are stocked may be a possibility. I have not heard anything about that lately.

We had a busy weekend at the shop. I worked in the fly tying department all weekend and we did very well up there. Will and I will be ordering from most of our suppliers tomorrow to re-stock.

I spent much of the day yesterday packaging thread and other spooled items. That is not as fun as it may seem. Jack was in my office for a while yesterday. We talked as I packaged thread. He mentioned that we are the only fly shop he has been in that packages thread. I don’t think I have seen other stores do it either.

We have been packaging thread for a long time for several reasons. First, having thread displayed on the wall makes for a better shopping experience for you. Our store is large and we have the space to do it. We print barcode labels for each package. That speeds up the checkout process and eliminates errors.

If something is rung up wrong, it causes inventory issues and pricing mistakes. Our inventory management system replaces what is sold. It maintains the level we set in the system. If what we have in stock is wrong, we will have too much or too little of what we need.

So, we package thread to eliminate errors and help you find exactly what you need. The color cards that hang on the wall with the spool in a plastic bag are still printed in Nashville by a company I founded in the 70’s.

Some colors of UTC Ultra Thread have been out of stock from the manufacturer for months. You may have noticed. The problem is, a totally automated winding machine went out of service last year and could not be repaired. They ordered a new one. The machine is custom made in Holland. It is expensive. It was supposed to be delivered in November. That didn’t happen. I think it will be delivered and back in production soon. I hope so.

Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.

Byron Begley
March 15, 2021   

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com