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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:34 am, the temperature outside is 59.4 degrees.
It will be sunny and warm today with a high temperature in the low 80’s, which could be a record for this date. We have a chance for showers and thunderstorms tomorrow. It will be somewhat cooler, in the mid 70’s.
Little River is flowing at 664 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.93 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 325 cfs. The water temperature is 57.2 degrees this morning, perfect for trout activity.
Most streams in the mountains are flowing above normal. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is closed until April 6th.
Now is the time to consider alternatives to the Park. You may find fishable water in the Cherokee National Forest, both of them. National Forests in North Carolina may be a good choice to scout and possibly fish.
Lowland rivers are flowing high but fishing while standing in safe water near the banks in some areas could be possible.
TVA and the Corps of Engineers plan to generate at most dams today. In some cases they are sluicing and even spilling at some. I did notice a break in the generation schedule at Center Hill Dam. The Corps will be sluicing though, so I don’t know if the Caney Fork will be safe to wade. If you fish there often, you probably know.
Fly fishing on the lakes is one choice today. If you have a canoe, kayak or boat, you may have an option available to you. I would cruise the banks casting a heavily weighted Wooly Bugger. My favorite color is black this time of the year. We have nine impoundments in our immediate area. Some could be stained. Others will be clear.
Look around. I bet you have some public small lakes and ponds near where you live.
We are open for business, sort of. You can call us to purchase anything we stock and pick it up curbside. We have a credit card terminal on the front porch for your use. We can work with you over the phone, to process your transaction.
Our shipping department is very busy. Customers are buying from us online. Others are calling the shop to place orders. Fly tying materials are very popular items right now. Renzetti vises are selling well. There will be four of us working today. Call us at 865-448-9459.
I will spend today and every day for a long time, photographing and adding fly tying materials to the online store. This won’t happen quickly. I think we stock almost 2,000 items. You will be able to watch the progress if you want to.
I’m starting with hooks. Then, I’ll go to beads. Next will probably be thread. I’m not thinking much further than that at this point. The fly tying online store will evolve.
When this happens, we know the department will grow quickly. I am in charge of ordering and receiving fly tying items. Daniel and I were talking yesterday. Just doing that will be a full time job. Even now, I spend about half of my time on the fly tying department. I may need to hire someone to help me at some point.
To keep things stocked, we’ll need to increase our inventory and adjust as necessary. We have the latest, greatest inventory management tools. Our inventory system has been up and running since January 2019. We are all glad we made that positive upgrade.
We all miss having direct contact with you. Though that is not possible now, it is what we miss the most. We are fortunate to be working but it’s not the same. I love watching customers milling around the shop. I enjoy talking directly to you. We feel proud when a new customer says, “This is one of the best fly shops I have ever seen”. That is what we have all worked hard to enjoy and be proud of.
When this is over, we are going to throw the best Grand Re-Opening ever! I can’t wait for that. All of us are looking forward to the future, when things are different, normal and better.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
March 28, 2020
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |