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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:11 am, the temperature outside is 68.4 degrees.

Today will be warm with a chance for afternoon thunderstorms. Tomorrow, everything changes. It will be cooler, during the day, through the week. There is a fair to very high chance for thunderstorms every day through the weekend. Once again, rain will sustain the stream flows we have enjoyed so far this Summer.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PREDICTED HIGHS AND LOWS TODAY

Little River is flowing at 149 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.77 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 129 cfs. The water temperature is 68.0 degrees this morning.

Fish in the mid to high elevations today where the water is cooler. I would hike into a backcountry stream. You should find good fishing on the East Prong above Elkmont, Lynn Camp Prong or choose from many other streams in the Smokies, at similar elevations.

The streams are flowing normal, which is low in late July. Dress to blend with the forest, to avoid being seen by the trout. Fish the broken water where they are hiding.

Dry flies and nymphs will work for you. My Summer choices are the usual Yellow Sally Stonefly imitations, foam beetles or a Yellow Stimulator. You might try an ant as a dropper off your dry fly, so you can see about where it is on the water. Green or Pink Weenies should be tried, either as droppers or weighted and fished alone. Other weighted nymphs, like a Bead Head Pheasant tail are good choices. There are others of course, that may work as well or better.

This may be an excellent lake fishing day. Mondays usually are. It may be overcast at times, which is good. It will be hot during the day. That is not good. Schools will be back in session around here this week. You should see less boats on the lakes, on weekdays.

I don’t think I have fished on a lake or stream, on a weekend, in at least 25 years. I always fish on weekdays. I work on weekends. For that reason, I have a skewed perspective on crowded lakes and streams. I hear about it, but have not experienced crowds, at least not in East Tennessee, where we have so much water to fish.

Use poppers or foam top water flies on the lakes, especially if it is overcast, early or late. Switch to streamers if the fish are not interested in top water flies.  

It is fly fishing that brought me here 25+ years ago. I was single at the time, and at a point in my life where I could live anywhere I wanted to. I thought about Livingston, Montana. I chose Townsend, Tennessee and moved here from Nashville. I built this home, on land I purchased years earlier, just in case.

Paula and I married, and we got into the fly fishing business. The fly shop was not planned. We just sort of “fell into it”. A few years later, we bought the land where Little River Outfitters lives. Then, we built the building. My commute to the shop takes a little over 10 minutes, driving 30 to 45 miles per hour.

The last 25 years have been my best 25 years.

I love work, especially in our industry. I plan to work until the last day. My work has been, owning businesses, continuously since 1973. To me, work is like playing a game. I love the challenge. I don’t mind working 50 to 60 hours per week. I’ve done that all my life.

Last year, at one point, I worked three months straight, without a day off. I was finishing our new online store and had a deadline to meet. I thought it was fun. That was the kind of challenge I enjoy. Yesterday, I worked 11 hours and slept 10 last night. I began the work day at 5:30 am. I was at the shop at 7:00 am. Yesterday was a fun day. I am anxious to get back to it right now.

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

Byron Begley
July 30, 2018

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com