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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:12 am, the temperature outside is 38.1 degrees.
Today will be colder with a high temperature in the low 40’s. Snow showers early will change to rain this afternoon. Expect snow showers tonight and a low temperature in the upper 20’s. Tomorrow will be cloudy early with clearing skies later in the day and a high temperature in the mid to upper 40’s.
The higher elevations, above 2,500 feet, are under a Winter Storm Warning today and tonight. Four to eight inches of snow are predicted in the higher terrain.
Highway 441 (Newfound Gap Road), Foothills Parkway West and East are closed due to the anticipated snow event.
Little River is flowing at 1,050 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 3.37 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 205 cfs. The water temperature is 49.8 degrees this morning.
Little Pigeon River is flowing at 1,790 cfs, 3.52 feet, compared to median flow of 268 cfs.
Oconaluftee River is flowing at 1,900 cfs, 3.45 feet, and that compares to median flow of 372 cfs.
Tellico River is flowing at 861 cfs, 2.93 feet, compared to median flow for this date of 146 cfs.
Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 452 cfs, 3.62 feet, compared to median flow of 68 cfs for this date.
This is not a good day to be fishing in the Smokies. The streams are high, too high to wade safely in many cases. And, there is the possibility of more road closings due to the expected snow.
You might find a trout tailwater fishing opportunity today. Visit the TVA website from the links below to see if you can work with their generation schedules.
Remember last year was the wettest year on record in the Tennessee Valley? That is what TVA said on December 28th last year. I bet this year is another one. Rainfall at the Knoxville Airport was reported at 60.08 inches this morning, compared to normal rainfall of 43.51 inches. That is 16.57 inches above normal, year to date.
The numbers reported at the Airport vary from what TVA uses for their calculations for the entire Tennessee Valley. We’ll see what they come up with in a few weeks.
No doubt about it, Winter fishing is about to begin. Winter fly fishing can be pretty good at times here, especially on the tailwaters. Some of the best fishing I can remember occurred on late Fall trips to Yellowstone National Park when we started the day with the temperature in single digits.
My problem has always been, cold hands. I usually keep several pair of fleece gloves in my vest, so I can change them out when they become wet, releasing a trout.
I heard about a trick recently, that may work. Wear a pair of latex gloves, or some made from other waterproof synthetic materials, under your fleece or wool gloves. I don’t know if that will help, but I’m going to give it a try.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
December 2, 2019
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com
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A bamboo fly rod made by Walter Babb and 10 dozen flies tied by him will be auctioned off on Saturday December 14th at about 5:30 to 6:00 pm. This auction benefits the Needy Family Fund of Sweetwater Tennessee. This organization is made up of 20 area churches and raises money to buy food for families in need for Christmas. The auction will be held at the Sweetwater Primary School located at 500 Highway 322 East in Sweetwater.
You do not have to be present to bid on the rod or the flies. Call Phil Roy beforehand, at 423-337-1212 to register. You will be given several phone numbers to call in your bid during the live auction.
Below is what Walter told me about these auction items:
“The rod I made for the Needy Family Auction this year is a seven foot, 2 Piece, 4-weight Wayne Cattanach taper. Wayne is the author of Handcrafting Bamboo Fly Rods, one of the teaching books for me. This is a flamed single tip rod with a Hormigo Negro wooden spacer. In Spanish it is called an ant tree. Reel seat, spacer and ferrules are made by Baily Wood of Classic Sporting Enterprises. Also, the rod bag and rod tube are made by REC.
The box of flies are 10 dozen of my favorite nymphs. They include, three types of Tellico Nymphs, the Gray Squirrel nymph, George Nymph, Bead Head Peasant Tail, Atherton’s Medium Nymph, Bead Head Prince Nymph and Mr. Rapidan Emerger. This is my core group of nymphs that I use in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cherokee National Forest and in Western North Carolina. I carry a few others for special occasions or hatches.” |
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