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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:27 am, the temperature outside is 49.3 degrees.
It will be mostly sunny today with a high temperature around 77 degrees. Tonight will be warm with a low of near 57 degrees. The chance for rain increases beginning tomorrow through Thursday.
Little River is flowing at 303 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.23 feet on the Townsend gauge. Median flow for this date is 377 cfs. The water temperature is 54.5 degrees this morning.
Most streams in the mountains are flowing very close to normal. Water temperatures are very good for trout activity in the lower elevations. Due to the Park being temporarily closed, the Cherokee National Forest and other national forests in Southern Appalachians are better options.
Conditions are good for nymph and dry fly fishing in the mountains. I would use my favorite nymph patterns, Pheasant Tail, Tellico, Hare’s Ear, Prince or other reasonable flies. My dry fly selection would include Parachute Adams or Elk Hair Caddis. These patterns have been my favorites for many years. They and others work well when fishing is good, like it is now.
Fly choice is not as important as stealth and presentation unless there is a specific hatch and trout are selectively feeding on that particular aquatic insect.
Lowland river fishing is a good choice, especially since the Park is closed. Many rivers that exit the Park are stocked with trout. Further downstream, smallmouth bass fishing is good and getting better as the water warms.
Lake fishing is improving as the waters warm. I would use a black heavily weighted Wooly Bugger. Cast to the banks and vary your retrieve until you find what works. Sometimes they like it slow and other times they prefer a fast retrieve. You will catch largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and many other species in the lakes right now. White bass fishing may be an option too as they will be moving up the rivers to spawn. They may be doing that now in some areas.
TVA and the Corps of Engineers will be generating at most dams in our area today. They are also sluicing and even spilling at some. I did not check them all. It looks like there was a break in generation at Douglas Dam early this morning. They are now generating with one unit and they plan to increase the discharge later this morning.
My friend Mike sent me an e-mail yesterday that offers a list of essential activities under Governor Bill Lee’s stay at home order. Engaging in outdoor activity is allowed, providing people follow health guidelines and social distancing. Some examples are, “walking, hiking, running, biking, swimming, kayaking, canoeing, golf, tennis or other sports or recreational activities”. Fishing is not specifically mentioned but I am assuming that falls under the category of “other sports or recreational activities”.
My interpretation is, fishing is considered an essential activity. You can read the article by CLICKING HERE.
Customers are fishing and they are especially active tying flies at home, preparing to go. We received and displayed fly tying orders from three of our suppliers this weekend. I will be ordering more fly tying materials today. I ordered four Renzetti vises yesterday, to replace those sold during the past few days. They should arrive by Thursday. We have several models in stock today. I guess, when more people are at home tying flies, some have decided to upgrade to a Renzetti vise. That is a good choice. Or maybe, some people are learning to tie by watching videos on the internet.
We have been getting a lot of calls to fill fly tying material and tool orders. Some are shipped to customers while others are picked up using our curbside service.
You can call us in advance to place your order to be picked up later in the day. We will take your credit card information and make the transaction through our secure payment gateway, the same way we process mail orders. Call us when you arrive at the shop and stay back behind the orange traffic cones or stay in your vehicle. We will place your order on the front porch. After we have gone back into the shop, you can pick up your order and drive away.
It is amazing how well this is working. It takes more time for us to complete your order than it did before when customers were in the store and doing their own shopping, but everyone is safer using this system.
We are not selling fishing licenses. They can be purchased easily and quickly, online.
This should be an excellent fishing day in many streams and lakes.
Stay safe and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
April 6, 2020
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |