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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:37 am, the temperature is 67.1 degrees.
It will be hot and humid this week, every day through at least Friday. High temperatures will be in the low to middle 90’s. Heat indexes in excess of 100 are predicted. There is also a low to medium chance for thunderstorms each day and night through the period.
Little River is flowing at 132 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.74 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 163 cfs. The water temperature is 67.1 degrees this morning.
Streams in the mountains have receded to about normal for this date. Some are flowing slightly higher while others are slightly lower. Under these conditions, stealth is paramount to your fly fishing success. Do everything you can not to be seen by the trout. Wear muted clothing that blends with the forest.
Water temperatures are warm and they will be warmer over the next few days. Yesterday, the water temperature at the low elevation gauge site near Townsend reached approximately 69 degrees. The water temperature will probably exceed 70 degrees at that site this week. That is a condition that is not healthy for trout that are caught and released. As a comparison, the water temperature at a higher elevation, Cataloochee Creek, topped out at about 61 degrees yesterday. Fish the middle to high elevations this week where the water is cooler. Check the water temperature where you are fishing. Look for temps in the middle 60’s or cooler.
Trout are taking dry flies and nymphs. An ideal combination is a yellow sally stonefly imitation for your dry fly, with a Green Weenie or small bead head nymph used as a dropper. Other dry and nymph patterns will work too. The trout are hungry and looking for food. Get a good drift, don’t spook the trout, and you should do well.
This is a very good time to be hiking into the backcountry to fish in a smaller, shaded, mid to high elevations stream.
Some stocked trout streams flowing out of the mountains may be cooler than others. Fishing in those rivers will be good.
Fishing for smallmouth bass, rock bass and panfish is good in the lowland rivers. Some of these rivers are flowing low. Fishing will be best in the deeper pools. Poppers and foam floating flies are a good choice right now. You may also catch fish on nymphs, streamers and crayfish patterns.
Lake fishing with streamers, swimming nymphs, poppers or foam floating flies will be best when the sun is low. Go early or late. Fish the shaded banks. Fish when it is cooler for your comfort. I would launch at daybreak.
There are generation schedules you can work with at some dams for your tailwater fishing day. There are options for tailwater anglers who are wading or boating. Check the TVA website from the links below to see what opportunities you have and plan accordingly.
A huge bear walked by our house evening before last. It caught my eye though he was about 75 feet away in the forest. I know they are out there probably every day and night. Some of our neighbors have game cameras and tell us they are. We have to be looking at the right place at the right time to see one.
I was on a fishing trip with Wayne a few years ago and he asked me, “Do you think about bears every time you walk outside?” I told him I do not.
That changed. Two years ago I was about to walk out the front door and a bear walked by the door on the porch. It was so close, if the door had been open, I could have touched it. The bear walked to a sitting area we use to the left. If we walked out the door, and a bear is there, it would be trapped. Ever since that day, when Paula and I walk outside that door, we look to the left to make sure a bear is not there and we would have a serious confrontation. So now my answer to Wayne would be “Yes”.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
June 13, 2022
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com
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