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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:42 am, the temperature is 59.9 degrees.
It will be sunny and warm today and tomorrow with highs in the middle 80’s falling to the low 60’s at night. Saturday will be mostly sunny and warmer, in the upper 80’s with a low chance for afternoon thunderstorms. We can expect a higher chance for rain Sunday through at least next Wednesday.
Little River is flowing at 170 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.88 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 137 cfs. The water temperature is 64.8 degrees this morning.
Little Pigeon River and Oconaluftee River are flowing at normal, Tellico River is flowing higher than normal, and Cataloochee Creek is flowing below normal.
Water temperatures will rise over the next three days or longer. For the good of the trout you catch and release, fishing in the middle to high elevations is a good idea. When the water temperatures reach near 70 degrees, dissolved oxygen declines and trout that are caught will be stressed further. Look for water temperatures in the middle 60’s or cooler during the midday hours when the water becomes warmer. Basically, you will just need to drive or hike to higher elevations to fish.
Trout are taking dry flies and nymphs. Most anglers are buying and using Yellow Sally Stonefly patterns for their dry flies and Green Weenies for sub-surface fishing. One of my favorite combinations is a small Yellow Stimulator with a Green Weenie dropper. The stimulator floats well even in rough water, it is easy to see and it looks like a small yellow stonefly.
Stay hidden from the trout and you will catch more.
Some lowland rivers are flowing a little higher than normal. It will be sunny for three days. Fish the shaded areas with poppers or foam floating flies. If the river you plan to fish does not have good tree canopy, go early or late. Concentrate on the deep pools and runs to catch smallmouth bass, rock bass and panfish.
Generation at most of the tailwaters I checked this morning indicate periods of almost no generation early, with longer periods of generation this afternoon. You can plan around these schedules whether you are wade fishing or boating.
I prefer fishing the lakes on overcast days, and we won’t see much of that this week. Wind will not be an issue though. Go early or late when the sun is off the water. Fish the banks with poppers, foam floating flies, streamers or swimming nymphs.
Do not make noise in your boat and you will catch more, a lot more.
My favorite lake fishing streamer is a 2/0 Black Wooly Bugger tied with plenty of weight. The best nymph used in our boat is a dragonfly pattern fished deep and slow. By deep, I mean four or five feet. I seldom use sinking fly lines so I cast the streamers and nymphs using a 9’ fluorocarbon tapered leader and wait to let the fly sink before retrieving.
Our fly tying department is performing very well. Will and I are adding more materials and tools to the online store every day. We should be finished with that project in a few days.
Many tyers are buying materials to tie what I call Euro flies. They are often tied on competition jig hooks. I picked an order for an online customer yesterday morning. He ordered 8 to 10 boxes of competition jig hooks. We sell a lot of those and slotted beads which have also become very popular.
One very effective Euro pattern is the Perdigon. This fly sinks quickly to the strike zone on a Euro rig. I found a video this morning, by Charlie Craven, called “Tying the Perdigon Fly”. You can watch it by CLICKING HERE to visit the Fly Fisherman Magazine website. Charlie is not using a jig hook in this video.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
June 24, 2021
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com
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