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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 7:02 am, the temperature outside is 68 degrees.
It is going to be hot today, in the upper 80’s, with a low to medium chance for afternoon thunderstorms, depending on who you listen to. The forecast through the weekend is similar.
Little River is flowing at 141 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.74 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 114 cfs. The water temperature is 69.3 degrees this morning.
All streams in the Park are flowing at or slightly above median flow for this date.
The water is warm in the low elevations. Drive or high to a mid to high elevation stream where the water is cooler. Look for water temperatures in the 60’s. This trend will continue through the weekend. In the Little River drainage, the upper Middle Prong, Lynn Camp Prong and Thunderhead Prong will have cooler water. In the East Prong, fish from Metcalf Bottoms, to Elkmont, and above. The West prong will be a good choice. Fish from where the road upstream to Campsite #18.
Though water levels are normal for late June, they are still flowing low compared to Winter or Spring. You can expect the trout to be spooky, though fishing is good. Hide from the trout. Don’t let them see you. Dress to blend with the forest. Fish the choppy water. Hide behind boulders. Stay low.
I would use a black foam beetle dry fly and drop a Green Weenie off of the dry. Or, you might try any yellow dry fly that mimics a Yellow Sally Stonefly. There are many choices, including a Yellow Neversink Caddis, Yellow Stimulator or Rob’s Hellbender.
Presentation is more important than fly choice. The trout are hungry. Their metabolism is in high gear because the water is warm. If it looks like food, they will eat. You need to get a good drift. If your fly is dragging, faster or slower than the current it is in, you will probably not catch anything on that drift. Mend your fly line or even better, keep your line almost or completely off the water. You can high stick dry flies like you do with nymphs, and it works.
If you don’t scare off the trout and get a good drift you will catch them.
I talked to Pat yesterday. He and his wife live on Little River in Townsend. He told me an angler using nymphs tied on jig hooks with tungsten beads caught several trout behind their house. That is good to know. That is what I have been tying every day. I usually tie two flies each evening. So, evidently, the stocked section of the river in Townsend is fishing at least fair.
Lowland River fishing is probably fair right now. Lower Little River is mostly shaded. During the day, fish the shaded areas with poppers, nymphs or streamers for smallmouth bass and rock bass.
TVA is generating 8,000 cfs at Cherokee Dam and they plan to do so until tonight. Discharge at Douglas Dam will be on and off until this afternoon, when they will run two or more generators.
They are still sluicing about 6,700 cfs at Norris Dam around the clock. I heard they are installing new, more efficient turbines.
The Cumberland River tailwater, below Wolf Creek Dam, is flowing at over 19,000 cfs, midnight to midnight.
You might plan around the generation schedule at Center Hill Dam today.
Check the TVA website and try to figure out a plan. Our tailwater fishing opportunities are not very good overall, but there are some choices.
New neighbors are moving in near us. Paula has met them but I have not. They have two Porsches and I can’t wait to see those. We can’t see their house. In fact, we can’t see any homes where we live. We all own 10 acre or larger lots. We do share a gravel road.
I was tying flies early last evening and I saw a bear behind our house, about 100 feet away. Paula was sitting on the front porch so I walked outside to tell her. We watched the bear for a couple of minutes and he walked away. I always go outside when I see a bear, so I can see where it or them are going. This one was headed to our new neighbor’s house. Maybe they got a black bear house warming guest for the first time. They will get plenty, where we live. I can’t help but wonder if they knew this when they bought the house.
It was time for me to clean the grill and light the fire. I remember, last week, a bear removed the lid from our kettle grill. This might have been the same bear. We were grilling chicken, which takes 30 minutes. As usual, I stand guard at the grill when bears are active.
I had a bad feeling about this. I keep a loaded .357 mag revolver on the desk in my home office for a paper weight. I took it outside to the grilling area. If the bear showed up, I could fire off a couple of shots and run him away.
I never go armed when bears are around, except once. Many years ago, we had a sow and two cubs that were very aggressive and they stayed for two weeks until we had them trapped and moved. Other than that, last night was only the second time. I can’t tell you how many bears we have seen at our house during the past 26 years. Sometimes we have seen several in one week.
I sat with my back to where the new neighbors live and grilled the chicken. Nothing happened. Believe me, I did watch my back at times, especially when I heard something.
The chicken was wonderful and I’m having leftovers for lunch.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
June 28, 2019
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |