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 4:39 am, the temperature is 27.9 degrees.
Today will be sunny and cold, with a high temperature in the middle to upper 30’s, falling to the low 20’s tonight. It will be sunny and warmer tomorrow. The high temperature will be near 50 degrees, with a low in the middle 20’s.
Newfound Gap Road and Laurel Creek Road are closed in Great Smoky Mountains National Park due to snow and/or ice. There is no access to Cades Cove this morning.
Little River is flowing at 1,310 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 3.80 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 389 cfs. The water temperature is 45.0 degrees this morning.
All streams in the mountains that have USGS gauge sites are flowing high. I think it is safe to say, all streams are flowing high, too high to safely wade. This is not a good day to be fishing in the Smokies.
There will be breaks in the generation schedules at some dams today, including Cherokee, Norris, Wilbur and South Holston. Tailwater anglers may be able to fish on these rivers during the right times. Visit the TVA website from the links below to see what tailwater fly fishing options you have.
I have talked to or heard from guides who have taken advantage of shad kills on the tailwaters this Winter. If you are lucky enough to be at the right place, at the right time, fishing during a shad kill can be incredible.
Many threadfin shad die during the winter due to cold water temperatures in the impoundments in their northern range. Enough live to spawn in the Spring to keep the population thriving. The dead shad are released through the turbines into the tailwaters below where hungry trout are waiting for them.
Today is not one when I would be fishing anywhere. It will be cold. If you fall in, you could find yourself in a dangerous situation due to hypothermia. I would be fishing close to my truck and have a change of warm and dry clothes quickly available if I went, which I won’t.
I have to admit, the chance for fishing on a tailwater where dead shad are present is intriguing. All you need is a white Wooly Bugger and you are in business.
By chance, I was fishing on the Caney Fork River below Center Hill Dam one day in the late 70’s. Dead or dying shad were everywhere. Trout were going crazy.
I was alone at the time, but I drove to Hermitage near Nashville, knocked on Wayne’s door, and told him to grab his gear. Then, we drove for about 45 minutes back to the river and caught the heck out of trout. Obviously, this was before we all had cell phones.
What a fishing day we stumbled on, that he or I will never forget. We didn’t know about shad kills back then.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
February 5, 2022
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com
|
