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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:18 am, the temperature outside is 66.9 degrees.
It will be cooler today, with a high temperature in the low 80’s. We have a good chance for more scattered thunderstorms today, and every day this week.
Little River is flowing at 561 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.74 feet on the gauge and the river is receding. Median flow for this date is 191 cfs. The current flow is a record high for this date. The water temperature is 58.8 degrees this morning.
Little Pigeon River is flowing at 1,170 cfs or 2.94 feet at the Sevierville gauge. Median flow for this date is 333 cfs.
Oconaluftee River is flowing at 941 cfs, 2.45 feet, compared to median flow of 406 cfs.
Tellico River is flowing at 358 cfs, 1.86 feet, compared to median flow of 192 cfs.
Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 224 cfs, 3.02 feet, compared to median flow of 86 cfs.
West Prong of the Little Pigeon River in Gatlinburg is flowing at 270 cfs or 4.24 feet. This is a fairly new gauge site so historical data is not reliable.
Due to scattered thunderstorms, many streams in the Smokies are flowing fairly high again this morning. You can find fishable water, but the water is likely to be swift so wading will be limited depending on where you go. Water temperatures are perfect. Fishing is very good. Pick your spots that can be safely waded. Dry flies and nymphs will work.
There will be less visitors in Smokies now that the holiday weekend is over.
Lowland rivers are flowing much higher than normal. Wading will be limited in many of those streams. Trout fishing where they are stocked is good. Nymphs and streamers will work. If you are fishing in the lower reaches for smallmouth bass, try nymphs, streamers, poppers, bass bugs or foam floating flies. You will probably do well.
Heavy generation and sluicing in some cases will keep the tailwater flows high at most dams in our region today. I didn’t see any tailwater wade fishing opportunities though I didn’t check all the dams. Look at the TVA website yourself and maybe you can find some windows of opportunity on your favorite tailwater.
Fly fishing on the lakes is good, especially now that the holiday crowds are gone. You will do best if it is overcast. Otherwise, go early or late. Streamers and topwater flies will work.
We are very busy at the shop. I am spending all of my time working on the fly tying department, adding new products and re-arranging everything. I am still ordering weekly, trying to keep everything in stock. Some of our suppliers are having fulfillment problems on their end. For that reason, I am adding new vendors to keep our supply in good shape and ordering alternative replacements that are available. Dry fly hackle is very hard to get right now.
I will give our suppliers credit for trying to keep stores stocked during this time when fly tying has become so popular, which may be temporary. A lot of people are at home with nothing to do except tie flies.
I talked to Thomas, the sales manager at Natures Spirit yesterday. They were working on the holiday. I ordered three fly tying vises from Renzetti yesterday. I got a confirmation e-mail, so they were there. Then, we got an order for a Renzetti vise for a customer that we normally do not stock. I called them to see if it could be drop shipped to Virginia. Lily Renzetti answered the phone.
I asked her, “What are you doing there on Memorial Day?”. She said they were all working today. They are busy. She asked me why I was working on a holiday. I told her, “Hey, I work for a living”. The vise is being shipped to our customer today directly from their plant in Florida.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
May 26, 2020
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |
