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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:55 am, the temperature is 65.5 degrees.
It will be sunny today with a high temperature in the mid-80’s and a chance for thunderstorms this afternoon. The low tonight will be in the mid to upper 60’s. It will be mostly sunny tomorrow and slightly cooler with a greater chance for thunderstorms. Cooler temperatures are expected Friday through Sunday with rain predicted.
Little River is flowing at 134 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.73 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 84 cfs. The water temperature is 65.5 degrees this morning.
Most streams in the mountains are flowing higher than normal.
Nymphs and dry flies will work for you. Fish the broken water in riffles, pockets, plunge pools and deeper runs. Dress to blend with the forest to help you stay hidden from the trout. If they do not see you, more will be caught by you. Get a good drift. Cast short and keep your fly line off the water as much as possible to get a better drift.
Lowland rivers are flowing higher than normal. It will be sunny today so fishing will probably be best early or late except in shaded rivers. Little River is a good example of a shaded river. Hair bugs, foam floating flies and poppers will work for you. Smallmouth bass and other species will be found in deeper water.
There are some tailwater fishing options today, especially earlier in the day. Refer to the TVA website from the links below to see what your opportunities are today.
Go early or late to the lakes when the sun is off the water. There will be plenty of sun today. Cast hair bugs, foam floating flies or poppers to the banks while they are shaded. Streamers and swimming nymphs may work well for you too.
The Labor Day holiday has past so you will find less people fishing in the Park for a while. The second week of September is always slow at the shop and that was the case yesterday. There will be less recreation boaters on the lakes as well. I saw a lot less vehicle traffic in Townsend yesterday, than I have seen in a while.
When I drove home from work yesterday, a mother bear and her cub ran across the road ahead of me. Bears often cross the road in that location. I almost hit one a few weeks ago in that exact spot. I’ve noticed that bears behave differently when there are cubs present. Instead of walking across the road, they usually run and these bears were running fast.
I read recently, wildlife biologists have estimated the bear population to be between 5,500 to 6,000 animals in Tennessee, with a much higher density here near the Smokes and the Cherokee National Forest. Recent estimates conclude there are about 1,600 black bears living Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I remember when the estimate was half that.
Population sampling has improved over the decades. I read biologists use hair snags and DNA testing to identify individuals these days.
Bear hunting is fairly popular in Tennessee. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency publishes their harvest data online, by county and by year dating back to 2005. In that year, 310 bear were harvested in Tennessee. Last year, the number was 548.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
September 9, 2020
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |
