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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:31 am, the temperature outside is 70.0 degrees.

Yesterday was predicted to be cooler and wet. It was hot and dry. Today should be different, with much cooler temperatures throughout the foothills and in the mountains. Look at the forecast temperatures below. There is a 70% chance for rain this morning and thunderstorms this afternoon. Rain is expected every day through Tuesday, though the chance for rain tomorrow is fairly low.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PREDICTED HIGHS AND LOWS TODAY

Little River is flowing at 164 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.83 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 111 cfs. The water temperature is very warm this morning, 69.3 degrees at the low elevation USGS gauge site near Townsend. I do not remember the river being this warm, this early in the morning, all year.

Some streams in the Smokies are rising due to rain, though none seem to be rising sharply right now. Cataloochee Creek rose slightly, and is now receding. Little Pigeon and Oconaluftee are slowly rising. Little River is still stable.

Pick a stream or streams in the mid to high elevations, where the water is cooler. It should be mostly cloudy today. Fishing will be good. A stray thunderstorm could cause streams to rise and become stained. Watch for both and exit if you see this happening.

Trout may prefer dry flies over nymphs. Or, the opposite could be the case. You never know for sure. I would start with a foam beetle with a Green Weenie as a dropper off the dry. Other dry fly choices may include Parachute Adams, Yellow Stimulator, Yellow Elk Hair Caddis or any Yellow Sally Stonefly imitation. Good nymph choices would also include, Bead Head Pheasant Tail, Pink Weenie or Hare’s Ear.

This may be a great day to fish about anywhere in the mountains, the tailwaters, lakes, ponds or lowland rivers. I say that because it should be overcast today. Thunderstorms are possible, and that could impact your day negatively.

I will be off for four days, fly fishing. Daniel will be writing the fishing report tomorrow through Wednesday.

The Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont has a new CEO named Catey Terry. I remember talking to her once. She was an intern with the fisheries crew at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. She takes over September 4th. You can read more about her on the Daily Times website by CLICKING HERE.

We have had a hard time getting Whiting 100-Packs recently. These are beautiful rooster hackles, sized and packaged, with enough feathers to tie 100 dry flies. I talked to Phil at Whiting Farms yesterday. He told me they would have plenty for sale any day. So, I placed an order.

Believe it or not, the roosters are raised in Colorado. The hackles are harvested there, then shipped to China to be packaged. Then, the packages are shipped back to Colorado. The packs are on a boat right now, headed to America, from China.

I think all other Whiting Farms feathers are packaged in Colorado.  

Whiting Farms was founded in the late 80’s by Tom Whiting. Tom purchased a hackle company owned by Henry Hoffman. I remember, years ago, if you owned a Hoffman rooster neck, which were mostly grizzly, you were the envy of all of your fly fishing friends.

Whiting produces some of the finest dry fly hackle in the world. Metz is another company in the same league.

You can read the history of Whiting Farms on their website by CLICKING HERE. The story is very interesting to me and it will be to you.

I have been around Tom Whiting a few times. He is a very nice guy. What he has done with Whiting Farms is amazing. I hear all kinds of stories in this business. Some may be true and others may be stretching the truth.

I heard recently, Whiting has as many as 60,000 chickens, alive at one time. I believe that. I know they are building 5 or more new barns, to expand the company, by raising even more chickens.

I also heard once, Whiting breeds chickens to have longer legs, so the long hackle does not drag the ground or cage when they walk. That makes sense too. I don’t know if that is true.

Over the next few months, I will be expanding our inventory of Whiting and Metz necks and saddles. Actually, I have begun. What works best for me is calling Whiting or Metz first, to see what they have in stock, then plan and order accordingly.

I am really looking forward to going fishing with Frank for a few days. Frank and I have been friends since 1957, when we started the first grade together.

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

Byron Begley
August 18, 2018  

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com