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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 7:05 am, the temperature outside is 30.9 degrees.
When I drive to the shop every morning, it is dark, at 6:45. Today was different. I thought I was arriving later than usual. It was dawn. The sky was lit. My first thought was, the days are getting longer, which they are. When I got out of my truck, I saw the cause. The moon was lighting the sky. I think this may be another super moon. It is amazing how bright it is out there, right now. It is cold too, so the air is very clear.
Today will be sunny with a high temperature in the low 60’s. Tonight will be clear and warmer, in the mid to upper 30’s. Clouds and warmer temperatures will arrive tomorrow. Expect a high temperature in the mid to upper 60’s. Rain will creep into the Smokies tomorrow night and continue through Monday.
Little River is flowing at 232 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.08 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 384 cfs. The water temperature is 46.9 degrees this morning, almost exactly the same as yesterday at this time.
Water temperatures are trending up, which is good for fishing. They were trending down earlier this week, which slowed the fishing somewhat.
Fly fishing in the Smoky Mountains has been good. Fishing should be good today and tomorrow.
Some anglers are still seeing a few Quill Gordons on the water. Blue Quills are still active, as are other aquatic insects. The hatches are spotty and short lived. Hendricksons will appear soon. You will see midges on the water.
Fishing will be best later today after the water warms. If you go early, start with nymphs. I would use a #14 Bead Head Pheasant Tail, but other nymphs may work well.
Later today, I would switch to a dry fly, probably a Parachute Adams. You should drop a small bead head nymph, or a wet fly off the dry. The trout have been taking the dry flies and the droppers. Using a two fly rig will increase your odds. Of course, you will have to deal with the tangles at times.
TVA continues to sluice and generate large volumes of water at the tailwater dams trout anglers love to fish in our area. We will all be happy when this is over.
Spring shipments are coming in. We finally got some Korker boots and more Chota boots. We have plenty now.
Last week’s fly tying orders arrived so I have been re-ordering. I order from Wapsi every week.
Hackle has been in short supply this year. Maybe the supply is improving or the demand is falling. We got a nice shipment from Whiting Farms this week. I always call the sales manager at Whiting, about every other week, to see if he has the feathers we need. If those are available, I put them on an order and e-mail it to him within a few minutes. Often, by the time they start filling our order, some of the necks and saddles are gone. I must have been lucky last week when I placed that order.
We have a much better selection of dry fly hackle now, than we have had in a while.
We are very busy at the shop. We are all excited about that.
It really is dawn now. A flock of Canada geese flew over the shop, honking.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
March 23, 2019
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com
Nymphing Tactics - $150
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