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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:22 am, the temperature outside is 69.1 degrees.
Showers and thunderstorms are likely today with a high temperature in the low 80’s. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch are possible. There is a chance for rain and thunderstorms tomorrow and Friday. Those showers and storms will be spotty. This weekend should be dryer, though there is a fairly high chance for rain Saturday.
Little River is flowing at 525 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.69 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 184 cfs. The water temperature is 52.1 degrees this morning.
Most streams in the Smoky Mountains are flowing fairly high to high. We were under a flash flood watch yesterday, which did not happen in any streams that have USGS flow gauges. Still, rain fell in the Park and kept the river levels on the high side.
With more rain predicted today, some streams could rise further. Others may not. Some may recede. Some streams could be stained at times today. The trick today will be finding angler friendly water to fish. I would drive to higher elevation streams. Try the East or Middle Prong of Little River. Try Lynn Camp Prong. There may be other streams in areas close to you that are not flowing high.
The only way to find out is to go. Watch for rising water as you fish. Be careful wading.
The long term weather forecast indicates a low chance for rain beginning Sunday and lasting through June 12th.
It looks like TVA will be generating all day on the Clinch and Holston Rivers.
It has been a long time since we have seen all day sunshine. I am ready for that.
June is normally an excellent fishing month in the Smoky Mountains. It appears June will begin with good flows and water temperatures.
Some of the best flies to use in June are: Yellow Sally Stonefly patterns, Yellow Neversink Caddis #16, Yellow Stimulator #16, beetle patterns, Green and Pink Weenies, and Squirmy Worms. There are many others of course. These are the flies I would normally use in June.
June is also a good lake and lowland river fishing month. Smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, bluegill, carp, stripers, white bass, and other species will be active in the lakes.
The young of the year threadfin shad are small. One of my favorite lake flies is a Puglisi Threadfin Shad, the small ones, approximately an inch to 1.5 inches long. Later in the year, I use the larger sizes. Schools of threadfin shad follow the plankton to the surface on cloudy days, or early and late, when the sun is off the water. The plankton they feed on is light sensitive, staying deeper when it is sunny. The predators follow the threadfin to the surface.
Under these conditions, you can spot the fish slamming the shad on the surface. If there is chop on the water, they are harder to see. But, you can often get close to a feeding frenzy when there is some chop.
Approaching gamefish feeding on shad requires stealth. Move in slow with your trolling motor. Drift into the school. Wait until the school moves to you. If you get too close, they all may disappear. Don’t bang anything on your boat. Speak softly to who every you are fishing with. Pretend you are turkey hunting.
Poppers and foam top water flies work well, especially on cloudy days, casting to the banks. Try a Byron’s Knucklehead in Chartreuse or Black. Try a Stealth Bomber. All poppers will work but I like BoogleBugs. They are very durable. I’m looking forward to fishing the lakes in June.
I have to buy a new boat battery this week. One of ours died after over 10 years of use. I briefly considered buying one of the lithium ion batteries. They are much lighter (70%) than normal lead acid or AGM batteries. Those batteries are smaller too. They say they last 10 times longer, in terms of discharge/charge cycles. One I looked at touted 5,000 cycles. That would equate to 5,000 fishing trips in your boat.
The problem is, one of those that I would need cost $600+, twice for what I can buy an Optima D34M battery. I think I’ll go the cheaper route this time. Maybe the prices will fall on the lithium ion batteries before I have to replace the other one on our boat. I’m not convinced I’ll live long enough to go fishing in our boat, 5,000 times.
It is raining again!
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
May 30, 2018
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |