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Welcome to the Fishing Report form Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:49 am, the temperature outside is 69.3 degrees.
All of the weather websites I checked agree, we have a high chance for thunderstorms today. It will be cool, in the low 80’s dropping to the mid 60’s tonight. The chance for rain continues overnight with clearing by tomorrow afternoon. This weekend will be sunny and much warmer.
Little River is flowing at 112 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.61 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 119 cfs. The water temperature is 69.3 degrees this morning at the low elevation gauge site near Townsend.
Little Pigeon River, Oconaluftee River, Tellico River, Cataloochee Creek and the West Prong of the Little Pigeon at Gatlinburg are all flowing slightly above normal.
Normal is low in August. Stealth is essential to your success. Don’t let the trout see you and you will definitely catch more. Fish the higher elevations where the water is cooler. Look for temperatures in the mid 60’s. Dry flies and nymphs will work. I would use a foam beetle for my dry and a Green Weenie as a dropper.
Lowland river fishing is fair. Smallmouth bass, rock bass and sunfishes can be caught in the deeper shaded pools. There should be plenty of shade today. My first choice would be top water flies and poppers. Streamers, nymphs and crawfish imitations are good choices too.
Wherever you go in the mountains or lowland rivers, you may find rising and stained water in some watersheds. Or, you may not.
TVA plans to generate at Norris Dam all day. The generators will be off or pulsing at some other dams, then generating at several all afternoon. Refer to the TVA website from the links below if you are looking for a tailwater to fish. There are choices, especially early.
It should be overcast, making for a great lake fishing day. Fish the banks with foam floating flies, poppers or hair bugs. If the fish are not feeding on top, switch to streamers or swimming nymphs. My favorite streamer is a black or purple heavily weighted Wooly Bugger or a Puglisi Threadfin Shad.
Dragonfly imitations are what I usually refer to as swimming nymphs. They work great for catching just about everything. I tie mine in many different colors, including olive, chartreuse and rusty orange. Mine have black bead chain eyes for weight. Cast them out, let them sink, then slowly retrieve. Use barbless hooks because you might catch a lot of bluegill or shellcrackers.
Watch for thunderstorms which are likely today. I usually fish a mile or two from the ramp on days like these. If you are canoeing or kayaking, you may want to be closer than that.
Jack and I studied the drawings for expanding the fly tying department yesterday. We are planning to do it in October. We are both looking forward to the remodel. I enjoy working on projects with Jack. He is a retired home builder, he is smart and he is one of my best friends. Jack is also the best fisherman I have fished with. Jack is an unbelievable fly tyer, as many of you know. I can’t wait.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
August 6, 2020
NOTICE: FLY TYER WEEKEND HAS BEEN CANCELLED THIS YEAR.
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |