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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:09 am, the temperature outside is 32.7 degrees.
Today will be sunny with a high temperature in the low 70’s. Tonight will be much warmer than it has been recently, with a low in the upper 40’s. Tomorrow will be warm and overcast. There is a chance for rain tomorrow afternoon and night. It will be a warm night.
Rain is likely every day, tomorrow night through Wednesday. We could get about a quarter of an inch, each day, Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday. If that happens, the streams will be flowing higher next week, after Sunday.
Little River is flowing at 299 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.23 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 258 cfs. The water temperature is 48.9 degrees this morning. That number rose to the low 50’s yesterday.
Like yesterday, the water is chilly. Fishing may be fairly slow early. As the water warms, fishing will improve. In fact, fishing should improve every day for a few days. The streams will continue to warm. Our potential negative condition may be high water early next week. That may or may not happen. It is going to rain.
I would start with nymphs this morning. Just use something reasonable. Of course, I always say to use a Bead Head Pheasant Tail, Tellico, Hare’s Ear or Prince nymphs, but other patterns may work better or worse. These have always worked for me, this time of the year.
As the water warms, try dry flies. Tie on a Parachute Adams #14. That fly looks like food, to a trout. Other dry flies may work equally well, and maybe better. More important than fly patterns you choose, is presentation and getting a good drift.
Wear muted clothing so as not to be seen by the trout. Do not cast a shadow over the water you are fishing. Do not cast your fly line over a good spot. Work your way upstream, hitting the good areas, before casting further upstream.
I did not talk to any returning anglers yesterday. I didn’t get a report from the shop. I assume, and hopefully correctly, fishing was fair to good. I think today will be better, especially late in the day. Tomorrow should be good, due to the fact that it will be overcast and the water will be warmer.
Water temperatures play tricks on us this time of year. As the water temperature falls at night, into the 40’s, fishing is slower the next morning. As the water warms during the day, fishing improves. We are experiencing cold nights, dropping the water temperatures into the 40’s. I don’t see that happening after this morning.
TVA plans to generate at Norris Dam today, then shut down the generators later this afternoon. They plan to operate on a different schedule today at Cherokee Dam. Check the TVA website to see if there are any wade fishing opportunities for you. The schedules looked better yesterday, from what I remember.
This is going to be a nice day to be outside. Try to go fly fishing if you can.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
April 21, 2018
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |