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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:21 am, the temperature outside is 68.7 degrees. A small rain cell dropped heavy rain in Townsend, earlier this morning.
It will be a little cooler than it has been, during the past couple of days, through the weekend. We have a fairly high chance for thunderstorms every day through Sunday.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PREDICTED HIGHS AND LOWS TODAY
LOCATION |
HIGH |
LOW |
TOWNSEND |
84 |
69 |
GATLINBURG |
82 |
67 |
ELKMONT |
80 |
65 |
CADES COVE |
81 |
67 |
NEWFOUND GAP |
77 |
62 |
MOUNT LECONTE |
66 |
57 |
CHEROKEE |
82 |
64 |
SMOKEMONT |
78 |
62 |
Little River is flowing at 256 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.12 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 135 cfs. The water temperature is 67.1 degrees this morning.
Most, if not all streams in the Smoky Mountains are flowing above median flow today. That trend will likely continue through the weekend, due to more rain expected.
The streams are warm in the low elevations. Fishing will be best in the mid to high elevation streams.
I would fish the upper East, Middle or West Prongs of Little River, or their tributaries. Hike up the East Prong past Elkmont or Lynn Camp Prong, a tributary to the Middle Prong.
Dry flies are working. A good fly pattern to choose is a foam beetle. Any Yellow Sally Stonefly pattern will produce. Try a yellow Neversink Caddis, Rob’s Hellbender, Yellow Stimulator or a Yellow Elk Hair Caddis. There are many other Yellow Sally imitations to choose from.
A floating or sinking black ant is another good choice. You can drop one off your dry fly. Ants are hard to see on the water. If you do see movement or a swirl behind your dry, a trout probably ate your ant.
Green or Pink Weenies will produce beneath the surface. They can be dropped from your dry fly, or weighted and fished alone.
Though the streams are currently flowing above median flow, the streams are still flowing fairly low. That is normal in August. Stealth is very important. Blend with the forest. Getting a good drift is always important. Do everything possible, not to spook the trout. These are wild trout. Their ancestors survived by being cautious. They view humans as possible predators. If they see you, your shadow or your fly line, they will be even more cautious.
If they see a fly, drifting at the wrong speed in the current, either slower or faster, they will be much less likely to think your fly is a meal. Trout are used to seeing insects drift with the current, at the same speed. Anything other than that appears unusual.
Paula and I have been in Kentucky, attending a funeral for a friend, then spending time with his family and friends.
So, I have not heard any fly fishing news. I did read this fishing report, Daniel wrote while I was out of town. It sounds like the smallmouth bass are very active on the tailwaters. That is normal in August. Some trout tailwaters are probably fishing well.
I got an e-mail from Hagan Wonn yesterday. He guides on the Cumberland River in Kentucky. He told me, fishing has been very good there. My buddy Frank and I will be fishing with Hagan for two days, week after next. We are all looking forward to that.
Except for times when the water has been high, this has been an excellent fly fishing Summer. Flows in the Smokies streams have been higher than normal in July and August, so far. We all hope that trend continues.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
August 8, 2018
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com
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