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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:50 am, the temperature outside is 38.1 degrees.

Light rain has been falling this morning. Rain and snow will be mixed early today. There is a chance for snow this afternoon. Temperatures will fall during the day. It will be very cold tonight.

Snow is expected this morning and today in the Park. Between one to four inches is predicted in the higher elevations. It will be windy today. Most of the Smoky Mountains is under a winter storm warning. Tonight, through tomorrow night, there is a wind chill advisory issued by the National Weather Service. Wind chill factors as low as 10 below zero is predicted.

Some roads in the Park have closed in anticipation of hazardous road conditions and wind. They include, Little River Road between Townsend and Metcalf Bottoms, and Highway 441 (Newfound Gap Road) from Gatlinburg to Cherokee.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PREDICTED HIGHS AND LOWS TODAY

Little River is flowing at 426 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.54 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 302 cfs. The water temperature is 45.1 degrees this morning.

Most streams in the Park are flowing above median flow. The water temperatures are fairly warm this morning, but they will fall today and tonight.

If you go fishing in the Smokies today, you should probably stay near an entrance as more roads may close. Roads may be slick.

I would plan on using heavily weighted nymphs or streamers.

It would be a good idea to have an extra change of dry and warm clothes in your vehicle, in case you get wet.

I plan to work today. I do like fishing when it is snowing. It is peaceful and beautiful.

Some friends and I used to travel to Yellowstone National Park to fish, the last week in October. Sometimes we camped at Madison Junction. Other times we stayed in motels in West Yellowstone. Fishing was usually very good. Brown trout were spawning. Rainbows were hanging with the browns to eat their eggs.

But, it was always cold. And it always snowed.

Jack and I were fishing together one day, on one of those Yellowstone trips. It was snowing like crazy, sideways due to the high wind. Bison were laying on the ground, covered with snow. We walked by them, close, and they didn’t seem to notice us.

Jack had a thermometer attached to his vest. I asked him, “how cold is it”. He looked at the thermometer and told me it was about eight degrees. That was enough for me. We headed back to camp to sit by the fire. I think Jack would have stayed and fished all day. I know he would have.

It is still raining. The rain should have turned to snow by now. It is too warm. The radar I am looking at indicates rain and not snow. I guess we’ll see what happens later today.

I take that back. I turned on some outside lights and walked out on the front porch. The rain is mixed with snow. The temperature has dropped to 35 degrees.

UPDATE 8:11 AM - THE SHOP WILL OPEN LATE TODAY DUE TO WEATHER.

Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.

Byron Begley
January 29, 2019

Fly Tying Classes January, February and March 2019 Taught by Walter Babb and Brian Courtney Beginner to Advanced CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com