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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:51 am, the temperature is 48.9 degrees.
It will be unseasonably warm today, tomorrow and Thursday. Expect highs in the low to mid-50’s each day with low temperatures dipping to the 20’s tonight, 40 degrees tomorrow night and into the teens Thursday night. Rain will move in tomorrow night, mixing with snow Thursday and a slight chance for snow Thursday night. Christmas Day will be sunny and cold with a high in the 20’s.
Little River is flowing at 287 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.20 feet on the gauge. Median flow is 258 cfs for this date. The water temperature is 43.5 degrees this morning.
Most streams in the mountains are flowing higher than normal. Water temperatures are chilly. The streams will warm some during the day until Christmas but become colder again at night. Fishing may improve somewhat as the waters warm during the days ahead.
Fishing will probably be slow but you can catch trout especially later in the day. The warmer the water becomes, the better the fishing will be. Weighted nymphs will work best.
Lowland river fishing will be slow for smallmouth bass. Try fishing the areas in the rivers that are stocked with trout and you may do fairly well. Go later in the day. Nymphs and egg flies will likely work best. Streamers may work too. Greenbelt Lake and Pistol Creek have been stocked with trout in Maryville.
TVA and the Corps of Engineers will be generating at most dams in the area today. You might find decent flows on some tailwaters if you are boating.
Lake fishing may not be that great but it will be warmer today and tomorrow and more comfortable. It will be fairly breezy today and tomorrow and very windy Thursday. Cast to the banks with heavily weighted streamers. You might want to try a sinking or sink tip fly line to get down deeper.
For the first time since 1995, we will be closed Christmas Eve. We normally open at 9:00 am and close at noon. During those three hours we have seen a lot of local customers come in a hang around. People are not hanging around this year. They shop and they go home. Frankly, I could use another day off. I have not had many this year. I don’t expect many if any people coming into the shop Thursday morning.
In 1995 we had land phone lines and phone books. Remember that? We closed Christmas Eve that year. A nice lady knew my name, found our phone number and called me at home that morning. She had planned to shop for Christmas gifts for her husband. They lived in another state and came to Townsend for the holidays.
I drove to the shop, the old shop, the first shop, and met her there. She bought some tackle for her husband and left happy. Since then, we have opened for three hours on Christmas Eve, for 25 years.
Next year may be different. We may be open on Christmas Eve but not this year.
I am looking forward to Spring 2021 for many reasons. I believe next year will be normal and I know we are all ready for that. Spring fishing may be just two months off. It could be six weeks off. We have seen Spring hatches and trout slurping them down in February before. Maybe 2021 will be one of those years. I hope so.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
December 22, 2020
WE WILL BE CLOSED THURSDAY CHRISTMAS EVE AND FRIDAY CHRISTMAS DAY. WE WILL ALSO CLOSE NEW YEARS DAY.
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 |
