If you do not see today’s Fishing Report, please refresh your browser to empty your cache.
Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:17 am, the temperature outside is 58.8 degrees.
It will be warm today, in the high 60’s with a chance for light showers. It will also be breezy. Tomorrow will be partly cloudy with a high around 70 degrees. Rain returns to the forecast tomorrow night.
Little River is flowing at 507 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.65 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 263 cfs. The water temperature is 52.2 degrees this morning.
Little Pigeon River is flowing at 1,630 cfs, 3.30 feet, compared to median flow of 452 cfs.
Oconaluftee River is flowing at 916 cfs, 2.42 feet, compared to median flow of 529 cfs. The water temperature at the Birdtown gauge is 52.0 degrees.
Tellico River is flowing at 725 cfs, 2.65 feet, compared to median flow of 294 cfs.
Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 199 cfs, 2.94 feet, compared to median flow of 118 cfs. The water temperature is 48.0 degrees.
West Prong of the Little Pigeon River at the Gatlinburg gauge is flowing at 143 cfs, 3.68 feet, compared to median flow of 45 cfs.
As you can see, most streams in the mountains are flowing above normal. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is temporarily closed. You can fish mountain trout streams in the Cherokee National Forest. Wherever you go, you will find flows higher than normal and in some areas, swift water. Be careful wading. Stand in safe water to fish. Nymph rigs will work and dry flies may produce as well.
The lowland rivers are flowing higher than normal. Fly fishing for trout is good in the stocked sections, including Little River in Townsend and the West Prong of Little Pigeon in Gatlinburg. The Little Pigeon River in Pigeon Forge is also stocked with trout.
Further down on these rivers you will find good fishing for smallmouth bass and other species.
All dams in the region I checked this morning are generating around the clock and sluicing at some. Most lakes are receding and many should reach the desired lake levels fairly soon, unless we get more heavy rain. Once the lake levels reach the desired level, we should see less generating and sluicing. The lakes are normally held to the maximum under TVA guidelines for recreational boating beginning May 1st.
Lake fishing is probably fair in shallow water, depending on the which lake you intend to fish. I suspect surface water temperature are cooler than ideal right now. Warmer temperatures predicted over the next few days may improve shallow water fishing in the lakes.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced he will allow the “Safer at Home” order to expire April 30th. He said “some businesses will be allowed to reopen as soon as Monday”.
This will probably not be an “all at once free for all”. There will likely be guidelines and I don’t know what they are. More information will be forthcoming over the next few days. You can read an article on the subject on the WBIR website by CLICKING HERE.
It seems logical to me, that Great Smoky Mountains may follow by opening, at least on the Tennessee side of the park. We will have to see how that plays out. We are all itching to get back into the park to fish.
Additionally, State Parks in Tennessee will be re-opening, some as soon as Friday.
Social distancing must still be maintained, from my perspective. I’m not sure how that will work. We have been doing it at our store, but no customers have been allowed to be inside the building as per the mandate from our Governor. There are usually three to four of us working at the same time. Right now, only 10 people can legally be in our building. We have a staff of eight people total, working in shifts, because we are open 7 days a week. That does not include some instructors.
Our classroom used to hold 8 students and two instructors. It is not large enough for that many people while practicing social distancing.
We will need to continue sanitizing, which we do daily. That will need to be “ramped up” if more people are entering the building.
This is going to be a challenge and we will adapt over time. I read that article this morning and I’m already thinking about how to adapt from my own perspective.
I think we will be taking “baby steps” for a while, maybe through the Summer or longer.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
April 21, 2020
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |
