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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:54 am, the temperature outside is 72 degrees.
The high temperature in Townsend yesterday was 89 degrees at 3:29 pm.
It was barely daybreak when I drove to work. As soon as I tuned onto the main highway, I saw some ominous dark clouds hovering over the mountains. It is breezy and very warm outside.
There is a 40% chance for showers this morning, then a 40% chance for thunderstorms this afternoon. The high temperature today is predicted to reach 76 degrees.
We have a 50% chance for showers Saturday and a much higher chance Sunday and Sunday night.
I think fishing will be very good today, and possibly tomorrow, depending on how much rain we get this afternoon or tonight.
Little River is flowing at 502 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.68 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 316 cfs. the water temperature is 59.4 degrees this morning.
Little Pigeon River is still flowing at a high level when compared to median flow. Current flow is 1,150 cfs, 2.94 feet, compared to median flow of 625 cfs for this date.
By contrast, Oconaluftee River over at Birdtown, is flowing somewhat close to median flow at 742 cfs or 2.22 feet on the gauge. Median flow is 625 cfs. The water temperature is 57.38 degrees this morning.
Tellico River is flowing at 473 cfs, 2.07 feet, compared to median flow of 357 cfs.
Cataloochee Creek is flowing near normal at 159 cfs, 2.80 feet, compared to median flow of 134 cfs. The water temperature there is 54.9 degrees.
Most streams are flowing higher than normal for this date. Some are flowing quite a bit higher while others are not. Most anglers prefer Little River at the Townsend gauge to be reading 2.5 feet or lower. It’s close.
What we really have going for us are water temperatures. And today, it is overcast. Water temperatures are within the trout’s preferred range. The fish are actively feeding. Brian Courtney caught 37 trout yesterday and he didn’t start fishing until just before noon. He was in the shop at 3:45 pm after finishing his fishing day. Catching 9.25 trout per hour is good.
Brian was using heavily weighted nymphs, due to the fast currents in Little River. He told me he added extra tungsten beads to get the nymphs down. I don’t know if he slid them onto his tippet, or tied more on the flies when he created them. Brian is a very good angler and fly tyer. I’ve fished with him in several states and here. He usually catches more than I do when we fish together.
Check the predicted flows at Norris Dam. It looks good to me.
The lowland rivers are swift, Little River and Little Pigeon. I drove along Little River yesterday, from Walland to Townsend. What I saw was great floating water, but not many spots where I would wade. That may be different today. You could pick your spots and catch some smallmouth bass or rock bass or both. You can also catch stocked rainbow trout in Townsend.
Paula and I watched two opossums sniffing around one of our bird feeders this morning. There was a very large one accompanied by a smaller version. The smaller opossum jumped at, and snapped at the big one, trying to keep it away from the ground beneath the feeder. That happened several times. Those two critters were hilarious. The small possum won, eventually.
For those of you, including me, who want to learn more about Tenkara Fly Fishing, we have a class scheduled on June 29th. The cost of the class is $125 which includes lunch. This is an all day class, taught by Rob Worthing.
Rob lives in Lexington, Kentucky, but moved there from Utah. He is an original founder of Tenkara Guides LLC. You can read more about this class on our website by CLICKING HERE. I talked to Rob this week. I know he as been a customer at the shop for a long time, but I don’t think we have met. He seems like a very nice guy. He certainly has the Tenkara instructor credentials.
It is not raining and hopefully it won’t today. I take that back. It may be raining in the Park. OK, now it is raining here. Now the rain stopped. I would go fishing anyway. This may be the perfect day. Fish with weighted nymphs. Now the sun is peeking through the clouds.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
April 12, 2019
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |