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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:16 am, the temperature outside is 69.4 degrees.
It will be very warm today and tomorrow, with a high temperature in the upper 80’s both days. Lows at night will be in the high 60’s. We have a chance for thunderstorms this afternoon and a greater chance tomorrow.
Little River is flowing at 134 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.70 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 118 cfs. The water temperature is 69.1 degrees this morning.
All streams in the Smokies that have USGS gauge sites are flowing slightly above normal this morning.
Water temperatures are warm in the low elevations. Fish in the somewhat higher elevations where the water is cooler. Look for water temperatures in the 60’s. You won’t need to go too high to find cooler water. A few hundred feet in elevations makes a huge difference.
You probably will have a more enjoyable day if you hike into the backcountry because the Park is crowded. Hike a mile or two and you will find a lot less people than you would along roads. You will see a lot of people swimming and tubing along the roads.
Dry flies and nymphs are working.
Lowland River fishing is fair to good. Though the rivers are flowing higher than normal, normal this time of the year is low. Go early or late when the sun is off the water. Or, if the river you are fishing is covered with tree canopy, fish the shaded areas. Poppers, foam floating flies, hair bugs, nymphs and streamers will catch smallmouth bass and other warmwater species.
Generation schedules on the area tailwater look good today at least at the dams I checked. They all vary, so check the specific schedules at the dams where you intend to fish, to plan your day.
Lake fishing is good early or late when the sun is off the water. The lakes are going to be very crowded this weekend. The ramps will be crowded too. I would go early, at daybreak and plan to pull out your boat later in the morning. Or, work your way back into the creeks for shade and solitude. I would plan on using top water flies early. If they are not producing, switch to streamers or swimming nymphs.
You have many choices today, but don’t be surprised if you see a lot of people out there.
We are very busy at the shop. There is fairly heavy traffic in Townsend. Heavy traffic for us is not what you see in other gateways to the Smoky Mountains, much less.
We have cancelled Fly Tyers Weekend which was to be held in early November. Many other events have been cancelled this year. Some of these events bring in large crowds. That won’t be the case in 2020.
Have a great 4th as we all celebrate and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
July 4, 2020
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |
