If you do not see today’s Fishing Report, please refresh your browser to empty your cache.
Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:41 am, the temperature outside is 66.7 degrees.
Today will be cooler, with a 60% chance for scattered thunderstorms. There is a 30% chance for showers Saturday and a 40% chance Sunday.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PREDICTED HIGHS AND LOWS TODAY
LOCATION |
HIGH |
LOW |
TOWNSEND |
81 |
66 |
GATLINBURG |
80 |
67 |
ELKMONT |
78 |
65 |
CADES COVE |
79 |
67 |
NEWFOUND GAP |
75 |
61 |
MOUNT LECONTE |
66 |
56 |
CHEROKEE |
82 |
63 |
SMOKEMONT |
72 |
62 |
Thunderstorms moved through our area yesterday evening. The personal weather station near our home recorded .18 inch of rain, while the Knoxville Airport reported .51 inches.
Most streams in the Park, that have USGS flow gauges, indicate a spike in their flow late yesterday or last night, but none show much of a rise since yesterday morning.
Little River is the exception. It is flowing at 537 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.71 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 128 cfs. The water temperature is 65.1 degrees this morning.
So, Little River is flowing fairly high this morning but receding. We consider 2.5 feet, to be on the high side of good. The river is not flowing much higher than that number.
Fishing should be good today and through the weekend. Some streams will be swift this morning and throughout the day, so be careful wading. It is possible, some streams may rise today or at any time through the weekend, depending on how much rain we get and where. After today, that chance is fairly low.
Nymphs are a good choice when flows are like they are now. I would weight them and “high stick” in runs or pockets. A strike indicator might be helpful if you are not used to fishing without one. A Prince Nymph, Bead Head Pheasant Tail, Green or Pink Weenie, or any other reasonable nymph should work for you.
Trout may be taking dry flies. I would choose a black foam beetle, Yellow Stimulator or any Yellow Sally Stonefly imitation. A Parachute Adams is always a good choice.
Terrestrial imitations are and will continue to be an important food source for trout over the next few months. Beetles, ants and inchworms are active and often falling into the streams.
We have the opportunity for Spring-like fishing conditions in August. Stream flows through the first 10 days have been unusually high.
The streams are still warm in the lower elevations. You will do best fishing the mid to high elevations streams.
Many other fly fishing opportunities are available to us, including trout tailwaters, lowland rivers and lakes or ponds. Smallmouth bass fishing on the lower tailwaters has been very good, which is typical in August.
You will find largemouth bass and smallmouth bass in shallow water, on the lakes, when the sun is off the water. That could be early or late, or on overcast days. I usually catch large bluegill and shellcrackers in deeper water this time of the year. Weighted nymphs, retrieved several feet below the surface will find the larger fish.
Rubber Legged Dragons work well for catching these fish. John Chambers, who works at LRO proved that a few days ago. He was fishing a lake on the Cumberland Plateau. Only small bluegill rose to his poppers. He caught the larger ones on a Chartreuse Dragon.
My favorite colors are chartreuse and rust. Just let these flies sink for a while, before retrieving very slow. Sometimes the fish will take your Dragon on the fall, so keep a tight line to detect a strike. If they don’t take your fly while it is falling, start a very slow retrieve.
Dragons are weighted using bead chain eyes. They all have rubber legs. Mine are tied with hair cut from a rabbit strip, then used as a collar and tail. I tie them on a #4 Tiemco 105 egg hook.
We sell the Carter’s Rubber Legged Dragon in the colors black and olive. You can see them by CLICKING HERE. These flies are deadly for big bluegill, during the hot months, when the larger bulls are holding in deep water.
Warmwater fly fishing is one of my favorite summer pastimes. I like to fish from our boat, on one of the many local lakes.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
August 10, 2018
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com
|