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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:53 am, the temperature outside is 34.9 degrees.

Today will be sunny and cool with a high temperature around 50 degrees. Tonight will be cold again, at about 33 degrees. Tomorrow will be sunny and warmer, in the mid-50’s. There is no rain in the forecast through Tuesday night.

Little River is flowing at 406 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.50 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 361 cfs. The water temperature is 51.1 degrees this morning, after peaking at about 58 degrees yesterday afternoon.

Fishing will probably be good today. It may be cloudy at times. And at times, it will be sunny. Try to find shady water if you can when the sun is shining.

I would be prepared with nymphs, wet flies and dry flies. I would probably start with a Pheasant Tail nymph in sizes #14 or #16. That is a good pattern to use at any time in the Smokies.

You may see some aquatic insect hatches. Depending on the elevation where you are fishing, you could see Blue Wing Olives, Quill Gordons, March Browns, or many other adult insects on the water.

As always in the Spring, a Parachute Adams dry fly is a good searching pattern, in sizes #12 through #16. If you see a hatch, and trout feeding on the adults, try to match the size and color that you are seeing. There are also times when the trout will eat about anything that looks like food. We all love those days.

Anglers are wondering how cold the water will be early in the week. We are going to have some cold nights, and not so warm days early on. We do not want to see the water temperatures drop to the low 40’s, as fishing will slow. We would love to see the temps in the upper 40’s or 50’s, as fishing will be better or good.

Later next week, it will be warmer. Water temperatures will rise again. I am looking at the long term forecast. My guess is, fishing next weekend will be awesome. There is almost no chance for rain and it is going to be warm. Water levels should be much lower than they are now. Today, Little River is on the high side of good. Many fishermen like lower water than we have now.

The trout tailwaters are still messed up. Most of the dams are sluicing and generating, in an attempt to lower the lakes for future water storage. Progress has been slow but the lakes are being lowered. TVA should move a lot of water through the dams to lower the lakes through next week. Drier weather is promising. We all hope the tailwaters will get back to normal soon.

I am looking out at the beginning of a beautiful sunrise from my office at the shop. The air is clear. There are some clouds hovering over the mountain peaks. I can’t see the sun yet, but the sky is dimly lit. There is some traffic on the highway. When I drove to work early, I only saw a couple of vehicles.

I think a lot of people will be fishing in the mountains today. We will be busy here. That makes me happy.

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

Byron Begley
March 16, 2019

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com

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