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Welcome to the Fishing Report form Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:56 am, the temperature outside is 68.5 degrees.
It will be mostly sunny and hot today with a high temperature in the upper 80’s. There is a low chance for thunderstorms this afternoon. Tomorrow through the weekend will bring a much higher chance for thunderstorms every day. We will see high temperatures in the low 80’s Friday through Sunday.
Little River is flowing at 98.1 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.55 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 142 cfs. The water temperature is 70.3 degrees this morning.
Other streams in the Park that have USGS gauge sites are flowing near normal or slightly higher than normal today. Water temperatures are warm in the lower elevations so fish higher where the water is cooler. Fish the broken water where the trout are hiding. Do everything you can to avoid being seen by the trout and you will catch more. Dry flies and nymphs will work.
Lowland rivers are flowing low though many are at levels you would normally find in August. It will be sunny today so you may want to go early or late. If you are fishing on rivers that have good tree canopy, cast to the shaded areas in deeper pools or runs. Poppers, foam floating flies and hair bugs would be my choices. I am a big fan of floating flies that land softly on the water, especially when fishing for smallmouth bass in slow moving rivers and lakes. Foam flies and hair bugs land softly.
There are some tailwater fishing opportunities today. TVA will be generating at several dams this afternoon. Visit the TVA website to see the generation schedules on your favorite tailwater.
Lake fishing is fair. Go early or late when the sun is off the water. Hit the banks with foam floating flies, hair bugs or poppers. If that is not working, switch to streamers or swimming nymphs.
Unless we get too much rain later this week, fishing conditions will improve after tomorrow. It will be cooler, day and night. We have an almost certain chance for rain, especially Friday and Saturday. We do have the potential for heavy rainfall by the weekend.
I stood outside in our carport yesterday afternoon talking to Brad, one or our neighbors. His phone “pinged”. He looked at the phone and showed me the photo his wife just texted him. A bear was standing in their driveway as we spoke, in broad daylight. They live about ¼ of a mile from us.
Brad moved here from upstate New York where he was an avid bear and deer hunter. He knows all about bear behavior. Evidently, one of their neighbors is not careful with garbage. That is drawing bears to his house. He has trail cameras set up near his home and he told me the animals are there every day. We have seen a lot of bear this year and two of them are not afraid of us.
We were discussing our bear situation. Brad told me a small bear approached him a couple of days ago. The bear got as close as five feet from him. He backed off slowly and the bear lost interest. He said the bear was “clacking” its teeth, something nobody wants to hear.
This situation is getting out of hand and it is all because some people are leaving garbage outside, ultimately feeding the bears. All we can do now is try to scare them away. We have lived here with bears for almost 30 years. Until this year, we have just let them walk by without harassing them.
I walked down to the garden early last evening. My .357 magnum handgun was strapped on my side. I know that pistol is not the most powerful weapon to have if a large bear gets after me, but for now, that is the most powerful handgun I own. I got on the web last night and looked at something with a lot more “punch”. Paula’s handgun has more punch than mine. I do have a 45/70 caliber rifle, but I don’t want to carry that thing around with me outside.
I can’t believe we are living this way.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
August 12, 2020
NOTICE: FLY TYER WEEKEND HAS BEEN CANCELLED THIS YEAR.
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |
