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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:49 am, the temperature outside is 50.2 degrees.

The rain continues. It is raining now. We can expect more rain today through Saturday night. Temperatures will be warm through the period, with highs in the 50’s to low 60’s through Sunday. No rain is predicted Sunday through next Tuesday.

Flooding is possible this week, with the heaviest rain occurring Friday. Areas in East Tennessee have flooded already. Rock and mud slides have temporarily closed roads.

Rainfall at the Knoxville Airport, since December 1st, is reported to be 19.23 inches, 7.37 inches above normal. Since January 1st, we have had 4.37 inches of rain above normal with the total being 11.73 inches.  

Little River is flowing at 1,620 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 4.15 feet on the Townsend gauge. Median flow for this date is 342 cfs. The water temperature is 52.3 degrees.

Little Pigeon River at Sevierville is flowing at 3,640 cfs, 4.82 feet, compared to median flow for this date of 706 cfs.

Oconaluftee River is flowing at 3,280 cfs, or 4.52 feet at the Birdtown gauge. Median flow for this date is 626 cfs. The water temperature is 48.6 degrees.

At Tellico Plains, Tellico River is flowing at 1,620 cfs, 4.50 feet, compared to median flow of 356 cfs.

Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 779 cfs, 4.23 feet, compared to median flow of 139 cfs. The current flow is a 74 year record for this date.

Once again, I hate to report very high water in the Smoky Mountains. Wading is not recommended. You could stand near the bank and high stick nymphs. If you go, be careful.

To add insult to injury, the early Spring hatches are occurring.

Next week will bring improvement in fishing conditions. I don’t see any heavy rain events in the forecast through March 7th, after we get through Saturday. There is a chance for showers and the possibility for snow some days.

Cades Cove Loop Road was closed yesterday morning due to high winds and downed trees. The Park Service has not announced a re-opening as of this morning.

All I know to do right now is work, 7 days a week. Believe me, there is plenty to do. We are receiving fly tying tools and material orders, several big ones, that have to be entered into the computers and displayed. Fly tying departments are very labor intensive. There are so many small items, to replenish every week.

I talked to Lily Renzetti yesterday for a while. We have been friends for a long time. She and her husband Andy own Renzetti, our largest manufacturer of high quality fly tying tools. She told me, they have seen a surge in their business over the past two years. She is not sure why and neither am I. I have been ordering from Renzetti on almost a weekly basis this year and late last year. Two vises arrived yesterday.

I am photographing their tools in our studio, and putting the items on our online store. I’ve got a few more to add. You can visit the Renzetti tool department on our store by CLICKING HERE. Lily told me they all really like our photography. I shot the vises from many different angles, using a contraption I built in our workshop downstairs. It is made from 2 x 4’s and it is ugly, but it works. You won’t see it in the photos thankfully. I cut it away in Photoshop.  

 I started working on the new Sunglasses and Optic department on our online store yesterday. I hope to have that up and running in a couple of weeks. I think, when I’m finished, there will be about 120 different models for sale online, with free shipping. We are going to order special small boxes for shipping. I can’t wait to see how that works out. We have never sold sunglasses online.

One of our friends told me yesterday, he is going to travel for three months, fly fishing for bluegill. He just sold his business. Like me, he loves catching bluegill on poppers. Like me, he enjoys making poppers.

I may need to make some poppers this year. I’ll have to check my boxes. I usually make 40 or 50 at a time. They are simple to make, using foam cylinders. Years ago a wrote and photographed a tutorial called, “Making Poppers the Easy Way”. You can see it by CLICKING HERE. Bob Clouser showed me how to do this almost 20 years ago.

You will see in this tutorial, I cup the faces of the foam poppers using a Dremel Tool. I quit doing that. It’s a lot of trouble and I don’t think it helps that much. I don’t bar the legs anymore either. I don’t use hackle, only rubber legs and Krystal Flash for the tails. Chartreuse and black are the best colors where I fish for bluegill and shellcrackers.

Don’t forget, our Free Saturday Fly Tying Demonstration this week will feature Steve Gregg and Clayton Gist. They will be tying from 10 am to 2 pm. All you have to do is show up.

Saturday, March 2nd, Walter Babb and Jack Gregory will be demonstrating.

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

Byron Begley
February 21, 2019

NOTICE: Great Smoky Mountains head fisheries biologist Matt Kulp will be giving the State of the Park Fisheries Address at the Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited's February meeting. Date: Tuesday February 26th.

The chapter meetings are held at Barley's Restaurant in downtown Maryville, Tennessee. Social hour begins at 6 pm. The meeting starts at 7:00 pm. You do not have to be a TU member to attend. Newcomers are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited has partnered with Great Smoky Mountains National Park, voluneering and raising funding, since 1993.

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: info@littleriveroutfitters.com