If you do not see today’s Fishing Report, please refresh your browser to empty your cache.
Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:44 am, the temperature is 33.1 degrees.
It will be sunny today with a high temperature in the low 40’s, falling to the mid-20’s tonight. It will be partly sunny tomorrow and warmer, with a high around 50 degrees. We have a chance for rain or snow Sunday morning, changing to rain later. The high will again be around 50 degrees.
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced the rainfall total this year has set an all time record in the Tennessee Valley with two weeks left. The last record was set in 2018. You can read more on the WATE website by CLICKING HERE. We have had three extremely wet years in a row.
Little River is flowing at 458 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.57 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 266 cfs. The water temperature is 43 degrees this morning.
All streams in the Park that have USGS gauge sites are flowing higher than normal. Water temperatures are falling. The water temperature at the Cataloochee Creek gauge is currently 39.2 degrees.
Fishing will be slow in the Smokies today due to the cold water temperatures. If you go, you might catch a trout or two using weighted nymphs.
Fishing is slow in the lowland rivers, again, due to the cold water temperatures. You might entice stocked trout with nymphs or streamers. Smallmouth bass will be hunkered down.
TVA and the Corps are flushing water through the dams today. I did notice a break in the generation at Norris Dam this afternoon. Check the flow schedules for your favorite tailwater. I did not check all of them this morning.
I think lake fishing will be slow for the most part. Wind should not be a problem today. Bright sun will be a problem.
Will and I are working hard to keep the fly tying department stocked and we are doing a good job. Orders from our suppliers are arriving. After we receive them, we are ordering again. I order from Wapsi, our largest supplier, two to three times each week.
I ordered 10 Renzetti vises this week, in three orders to bring our inventory back to the desired level. Monday’s order arrived Wednesday. Wednesday’s order should arrive today, I hope. We should get another one Monday. It was shipped yesterday.
We are also expanding our materials selection. Will is a competition fly fisherman. I have learned a lot about tying from him before and after he started working with me at the shop. He has a much better perspective on nymphing than I do. Competition anglers have figured out what works best. What works best is fly fishing technique combined with the fly tying component of the sport. Fly tying has come a long way during recent years thanks to the competition anglers like Will and others.
I spent the better part of a day in Townsend with Josh Graffam a couple of months ago. Josh is the national sales manager at Umpqua Feather Merchants. He has competed around the world as a member of the Fly Fishing Team USA. I really enjoyed meeting Josh. He is a good guy to work with and Umpqua is an excellent company. We have been buying and selling their products for around 25 years.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
December 18, 2020
Buy a Walter Babb made bamboo fly rod or his beautiful 10- dozen flies for charity.
“Due to Covid-19, there will not be a Needy Family Fund Auction this year. I made a rod and tied some flies for the Auction this Spring, so I will be selling them and the proceeds will go to the Needy Family Fund.
Th rod is an 8’ 0” 2 piece 6-weight Stan’s Blackfoot, a great taper from Stan Smartt. This is a single tip rod. The price is $850 plus sales tax.
There is also a box of 10 dozen of my favorite nymphs and wet flies. The price is $253.95 plus sales tax if you are a Tennessee resident.
If interested, call Walter Babb at 423-337-6772. I have many other rods, in case someone wants a rod for lighter lines or a shorter small stream type rod.”
Walter
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |
