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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:55 am, the temperature outside is 72.3 degrees.

Thunderstorms arrived yesterday. We got .43 inch of rain in Townsend. It will be partly sunny today with a high temperature in the mid-80’s. It will be a little warmer tomorrow and Sunday. Thunderstorms are possible today and every day through next week.

Little River is flowing at 129 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.68 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 137 cfs. Yesterday, the water level reached 1.9 feet. The river is receding and the water temperature is 71.4 degrees.

Little Pigeon River is flowing fairly high at the Sevierville gauge. Flow is currently 944 cfs or 2.70 feet. Median flow for this date is 302 cfs. The river is receding.

Oconaluftee river is flowing at 827 cfs, 2.29 feet, compared to median flow of 301 cfs.

Tellico River and Cataloochee Creek are flowing at or near normal this morning.

Some watersheds were affected by heavy rain yesterday afternoon but they are receding quickly. Water temperatures are warm in the low elevations. Fish the higher elevation streams where the water is cooler.

Dry flies or weighted nymph rigs will work for you. Fish the broken water where the trout are hiding. Avoid being seen by the trout and you will catch more.

Some lowland rivers are flowing higher than normal and some could be stained outside the Park due to runoff from tributaries.

There are some tailwater fishing opportunities today. Check the TVA website from the list below to see what options you have.

Fly fishing on the lakes is fair. Though we may have cloud cover today, I would still go early when you know the sun will be off the water. If it is overcast this morning, you may have extended fishing time. Try top water flies. If they don’t work, switch to streamers or swimming nymphs.

Tourist season seems to have ended abruptly and at least a week earlier than usual. We are slow at the shop and I’m seeing a lot less traffic in town. What we have seen this year are more campers and less motorcycle groups. We saw young families with children earlier than usual this year. Now, most of them have gone home.

The bear that has been roaming around our area looking for food is still here. The bear is not afraid of humans which can be dangerous to the bear and us.. Yelling and making noise has not worked. Paula and I decided to be pro-active and try to run it off by firing shots from our handguns without harming the bear. We don’t do that when bears are just passing through. We leave those animals alone. We enjoy having most of them around.

Yesterday the bear was behind our house and close. Paula opened the back door and it didn’t seem to care at all. She pull out her .45 auto and chambered a round, intending to fire into the ground and scare it away. When the bear heard the click of her pistol, that thing took off like a scalded dog. She told me she had never seen a bear run that fast. Evidently other people around here have the same idea. The animal has probably heard that noise before, followed by a loud blast.

We don’t want to have it trapped and no telling what the outcome would be. We’ll just try to scare it away and hopefully instill some fear of humans in the young bear, saving his or her life.

I hate walking around outside armed. I have only done that one other time in the past 30 years. That was a different bear, actually a sow and two cubs. Those bears were eventually trapped and taken away. One of our neighbors arranged for that and there was really no other choice.

Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.

Byron Begley
July 24, 2020    

NOTICE: FLY TYERS WEEKEND HAS BEEN CANCELLED THIS YEAR. WE ARE PLANNING FOR THE EVENT TO BE HELD IN 2021.

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com