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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:21 am, the temperature outside is 45 degrees.
Rain began falling yesterday afternoon and it never stopped. During the past 24 hours, 1.13 inches fell in Townsend.
Showers are expected to continue this morning, then move out. It will be warm today, with a high in the upper 50’s, falling to the low 40’s tonight. Christmas Eve will be sunny and warm with a high in the low 60’s. Christmas Day will be sunny and very warm, with a high in the mid-60’s. Highs in the 60’s and lows in the 40’s will continue through the weekend.
Little River is flowing at 442 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.59 feet on the gauge and rising somewhat slowly for now. Median flow for this date is 271 cfs. The water temperature is 48.4 degrees.
Little Pigeon River is rising quickly and the water is high. Flow is currently 2,280 cfs, 3.87 feet, compared to median flow of 369 cfs for this date.
Oconaluftee River is stable right now, flowing at 933 cfs, 2.53 feet, compared to median flow of 484 cfs. The water temperature is 46.8 degrees.
Tellico River is rising. Current flow is 565 cfs, 2.21 feet, compared to median flow of 213 cfs.
Cataloochee Creek is rising sharply. Flow is 413 cfs, 3.51 feet, compared to median flow of 86 cfs. The water temperature is 45 degrees this morning.
Some streams in the Park are already flowing high while others are not. It is hard to say now what to expect later today. Little River is not blown out at this point. Oconaluftee River is not rising. But, other streams are. Little River is fishable at this level, as of 5:21 am, but the flow could continue to rise to a level where wading would not be safe.
My advice is to check the flows in the watershed where you intend to fish in a few hours, then make the decision to go or wait for the waters to recede. Some streams may be temporarily stained.
I would plan on using nymphs and streamers in the Smokies today. Check the flow before you go.
Water temperatures will continue to warm all week long. After early today, the rain should end. How long it will take for some of these streams to recede to a fishable level is anyone’s guess right now. I think, later this week, fishing could be very good, if the streams do not continue to rise to an extremely high level.
I don’t see much of a chance for wade fishing any of the trout tailwaters nearby today.
Hey, the days are getting longer! Well, maybe only one minute longer each day for now.
We always plan on getting a lot of big projects done during the cold Winter months when business is slow at the shop. I have a “to do” list, that I update every day. Mine is typed and it is two pages long. I love marking off those lines on the list. The problem is, I add more to the list almost every day. And, I change the priority of the lines from time to time.
The year will end in a little over a week. That is when business slows and it is “big project time”.
One of my big projects I hope to accomplish this Winter is building and installing a third cash register and customer service station in the shop. I will build the cash wrap counter in my workshop here at home with Jack. That will help us better serve customers during peak times. We sell fishing licenses. When the tourist season begins, we have people lined up to buy licenses every day. That is when we really need a third cash register and customer service station. We have three cash register computers now, two in the front of the store and one in the shipping area. With four, we can give you better service during peak times.
The Winters have been shorter over the past few years, or so it seems. We are seeing Spring fishing begin in February often, shortening the big project time. I’m not complaining at all. I love seeing Spring fishing begin in February.
Our business is very weather dependent. This has been a very good year. It could have been much better if the weather and fishing conditions had been more stable.
Rainfall this year is over 16 inches above normal. Much of that increase came early in the year. Tailwater fishing opportunities were slim to none during that time. Streams in the mountains were good at times, and blown out at other times. Last year, we had more rainfall in the valley than ever before, since records have been kept. This year may be close to a record. Then, we had the flash drought in the early Fall. That lasted about two months. We’ll see what happens next year.
We will be open all day today. Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, Dave and I will be there to serve you between 9 am and noon. Then, we’ll shut down for the Holiday. We will be closed Christmas day and I will not be writing a fishing report. Maybe I’ll sleep in! I doubt it.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
December 23, 2019
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |
