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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:52 am, the temperature is 58.1 degrees.
This weather is incredible. Today and through the weekend we will enjoy high temperatures in the 70’s with lows in the 50’s. It will be mostly sunny every day through Friday. The first chance for rain this week is Friday afternoon. The chance for rain is greater Saturday. There is no mention of heavy rain in the forecast so far.
Little River is flowing at 121 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.74 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 79 cfs. The water temperature is 56.5 degrees this morning.
Though the streams in the mountains continue to recede, they are all flowing higher than normal for this time of the year. Normal is low in October, our driest month of the year. Water temperatures are perfect in the low to mid elevations. Fishing is good. Trout are taking dry flies and nymphs.
Lowland river fishing for smallmouth bass and other lowland species is fair to good. The rivers are flowing higher and warmer than normal. Nymphs and streamers will work. Top water flies may produce too. Trout fishing in the rivers, where the fish are stocked is very good.
There are angler friendly generation schedules at some dams in east and middle Tennessee, offering tailwater anglers opportunities, especially if you are boating. Visit the TVA website from the links below to see what is available for you today.
Fly fishing on the lakes is better than it should be in October thanks to the warmer than usual surface temperatures. Game fish will certainly be interested in swimming nymphs and streamers. You may also do well using top water flies.
It will be sunny for at least three days. You should go early or late when the sun is off the water. I would choose early, launching at daybreak and fishing until shaded banks can’t be found. Wind should not be an issue this week. The wind will be calm every day, except in thunderstorms which are possible later this week.
Many people are enjoying this beautiful weather and spending their time outside. Traffic is heavy in in the Smokies. Traffic is unusually heavy in town. I am seeing a lot of campers driving by the shop, either heading to the Smokies or leaving.
It happened again on my way home from work yesterday. A bear ran across the road in front of me. I hit the brakes, anticipating the possibility a cub or two would be following the bear. I didn’t see any cubs. I have never seen this many bears, after nearly 30 years living here. I almost hit one a few weeks ago on the same road and I’ve seen several since. The speed limit is 30 mph and I actually drive that slow through the area.
Of course, we have seen more bears at our house too, more than ever, even on our front porch. One of our neighbors has trail cameras outside their home. They say bears visit their home every day and night.
There should be plenty to eat. Acorns and other nuts are falling out of the trees. We can hear them hitting the metal roofs on the carport and boat house.
We are looking forward to putting our bird feeders out after the bears den. We usually do that in early November. It looks like November is going to start warm this year so it may be later.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
October 21, 2020
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |
