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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:48 am, the temperature is 33.4 degrees.
It will be sunny today with a high temperature in the middle to upper 50’s, falling to the middle 30’s tonight. Tomorrow will be sunny again and warmer with a high in the low to middle 70’s and a low around 50 degrees tomorrow night. Thursday will be partly sunny and warm.
Little River is flowing at 431 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.56 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 270 cfs. The water temperature is 49.8 degrees and falling.
Most streams in the mountains are flowing higher than median flow for this date. Some are flowing higher than anglers prefer and wading could be limited depending on which stream you are fishing.
Water temperatures fell overnight and continue to fall this morning. The sun will reverse this trend at some point today but the streams may not warm much. I would wait a while before going fishing today. Fish the low elevations where the water is warmer. Weighted nymph rigs will probably work best for you.
The same is true if you plan to fish in the stocked rivers for trout. Go later when the water is warmer. Nymphs, small streamers, squirmy worms, mop flies and bead head midges are your best fly choices.
Fishing for smallmouth bass in the lowland rivers will probably be slow today. The rivers are chilly and I think the bass will be sluggish. If you go anyway, use nymphs, streamers and crawfish patterns.
The turbines will be turned off for long periods at several dams today. Most of the pauses will occur late morning or this afternoon. There are many tailwater fishing options today. Actually, a tailwater may be your best option today. The schedule at Norris Dam indicates a long pause from 10 am until 9 pm tonight. Visit the TVA website to see what choices you have and plan to go.
I have been reading Midge Magic again. The book was written by Don Holbrook and Ed Koch. Ed owned Yellow Breeches Fly Shop in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania. That shop has always been one of my favorites. Don was one of Ed’s customers. Together, they fished and studied midges and wrote the book.
I have done a lot of fly fishing in Pennsylvania, beginning in the early 80’s. Those limestone streams and spring creeks are loaded with aquatic insects, with some species I have never seen anywhere else. Most of the streams are fished heavily. The trout can be very picky. Sometimes, switching to midges can make your day.
As we expand our fly tying department, I am trying to include new materials that are used to tie midges. Fishing with midges is very popular in our area, especially on the tailwaters. But, they can save your day on the freestone streams as well.
Lately, fly tying customers have been trying to find glass beads in the fly tying department. We don’t have them. We will soon. They will be ordered and stocked later this week or early next week.
I talked to a professional guide yesterday, about the fact that more fly tyers are using brighter materials. We are selling more light reflective colored threads, beads, wire, tinsels and other newer body materials than ever before. I see more brightly colored flies in the fly department too. Customers are buying those flies.
With that in mind, I ordered and stocked some new fly tying wire from Semperfli last week. The colors are awesome. Some colors are different than any I had seen until now. You can see them on our online store by CLICKING HERE. This wire is offered in three sizes and 17 colors of each size. The X-Small wire is .1 mm thick, so fine and light it can be used to rib dry flies.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
April 19, 2022
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com
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