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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:14 am, the temperature outside is 57.6 degrees.
Yesterday morning at this time, the temperature was 22.6 degrees. What a difference a day makes!
Rain is coming, today, tonight and tomorrow with more Thursday. The weather predictors are vague and disagreeable. We may get a half inch over the next three days. Or, we may get 2 inches. Or we may get more than that. States to our south could see up to 4 inches. The weather websites do agree it will be wet and warm this week.
Thunderstorms are possible. Wind is likely in those storms. I can hear the wind right now, blowing through the trees at our home.
Rainfall recorded at the Knoxville Airport indicates we have had 18.7 inches of rain this year. Last year at this time, we had 18.51 inches. Normal for the period is 8.72 inches.
Little River is flowing at 287 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.22 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 345 cfs. The water temperature is 43.7 degrees this morning. Most streams in the Park are flowing near or below normal.
I can say for sure, the streams are going to warm much further this week, which will be great for fishing. The trout and aquatic insects are going to think Spring is finally here. Anglers will feel the same. They already do. We are very busy at the shop.
Rainfall is the big question. I am hoping for the lower estimates. A little rain would be great, warming the water and improving fishing.
If you go, plan on using nymphs at first. As the water warms, dry fly action is likely. You may see quill gordons, blue quills, midges, blue wing olives, caddis and stoneflies. And, you may see trout rising and gulping them off the surface. Be prepared with dry flies and emergers.
TVA and the Corps are doing just about everything in their playbook to lower the lakes. They are generating around the clock. They are sluicing at many dams. And they are spilling at others. I checked them all this morning and didn’t find any tailwater fishing opportunities. I looked in Kentucky, Middle Tennessee and East Tennessee. The lakes are receding. Maybe we will be able to fish on the tailwaters soon, and I think it will be sooner than last year.
Walter Babb and Jack Gregory will be conducting fly tying demonstrations at the shop Saturday, between 10 am and 2 pm. These demos are free. These guys are both long-time friends of mine and I can safely say, they are experts at tying and fly fishing. They are legendary anglers. Plan on spending next Saturday at the shop. You will enjoy your day and learn from Walter and Jack.
I have learned more about fly tying and fly fishing from these guys than I have from anyone else, period. We have all been friends for 25 years or longer.
I tied my first fly on July 11, 1962, my 11th birthday, and I’m still not good at it. Believe me, they are.
I caught my first fish on a fly that day, a largemouth bass. I caught the bass on a fly I tied earlier that morning. Walter is a little older than me. He was a very accomplished fly fisherman in 1962. Jack is a few years younger. I’m not sure what kind of fishing he was doing then but I know he was catching trout somehow. Both have been fishing in the mountains all their life.
Walter grew up in Loudon County. His family owned a cabin in the Cherokee National Forest near Tellico Plains. Jack grew up in Walland, not far from here. Little River has been his lifetime home water.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
March 2, 2020
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |
