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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:55 am, the temperature outside is 61 degrees.
We are going to enjoy a beautiful weekend. Highs will be in the low 80’s, dipping to the mid 60’s at night. There is only a slight chance for rain through the period. This does not feel or look like late July.
Little River is flowing at 474 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.60 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 137 cfs. The water temperature is 62.8 degrees this morning.
All streams in the Park that have USGS sites are flowing above median flow.
What we have are typical Spring flows and water temperatures. Some anglers prefer lower water levels. That will occur tomorrow and Sunday. Other anglers like higher water, what we normally see in the Spring.
Water temperatures are perfect. They may rise some this weekend as the stream levels fall and temps are warmer at night, but they will still be in the trout’s preferred range. This is going to be a good weekend to be fishing in the Smokies.
Dry flies and nymphs will produce for you. The trout are looking for food. They are feeding voraciously because their metabolism is in high gear due to the water temperatures. On top of that, the aquatic insect hatches are not keeping up with demand.
That is where terrestrials come into play. Land based insects are abundant, and they are a good food source for the trout. The fish will be looking for beetles, ants, moths and inch worms for protein. I think, the best combination right now, is a black foam beetle with a Green Weenie dropper. That is nothing new. That rig works well every Summer.
Most important is stealth and presentation. Don’t spook the trout and get a good drift. You will catch them. You will probably do best fishing shaded water. I would go early or late. You may want to hike into the the backcountry to fish a small shaded stream.
The streams are still swift. Be careful wading. Of course, you should always be careful wading.
Lowland river fishing will be good this weekend thanks to the higher flows. Try poppers, foam floating flies or streamers, for smallmouth bass and sunfishes. Nymphs may work well too.
Lake fishing is good early or late when the sun is off the water. Poppers, foam floating flies, streamers and Dragons are all I use this time of the year. The Rubber Legged Dragons were designed to catch sunfishes, but they also work well on other species. I even have some tied for trout using competition jig hooks and slotted tungsten beads. My favorite streamers are Black Wooly Buggers and Puglisi Threadfin Shad.
You may see game fish gulping down shad on the surface, when the sun is off the water. The Puglisi Threadfin Shad is my favorite fly pattern to use at those times.
Most of the tailwaters in our area will be flowing high today due to excessive generation at the dams. Hopefully this weekend will offer better flows on the tailwaters.
I am working on a design, for a new “check out counter”. I’m looking at the drawings right now. We need a third cash register. I will build it in my woodworking shop this Winter, and maybe sooner. When I make the perfect counter with all the data hardware, my next project will be making two more, to replace our old 2-station checkout counter we have now.
The new design will be iMac driven. It will be 4-feet long and 2-feet deep. It will be installed on the other side of our front door. When I build the others, they will be iMac driven too.
Should the need arise for a fourth check out counter, I can build that one too, identical to the others. I hope that happens some day.
I will be visiting many large and small stores and photographing their check out counters. I always look at merchandising, pricing and systems I find at other stores, to incorporate into ours. Our best ever idea came from Bass Pro Shops. But, I have found other interesting and useful ideas from hardware stores, Dicks Sporting Goods, my Pharmacy, Target and other chains. They developed their systems, and I copy them.
You know I love work more than probably anyone. I am really excited about this new project.
Well, it’s time to clean bath rooms and blow off the parking lot. I do that every morning.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
July 26, 2019
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |