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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:39 am, the temperature is 58.6 degrees.
We got very little rain in the mountains yesterday, though thunderstorms and breezy conditions were predicted. It turned out to be a nice day to go fishing.
It will be mostly sunny today with a high temperature in the low to middle 80’s and a low tonight around 60 degrees. We have a fairly high chance for rain tomorrow and showers are likely tomorrow night. The high tomorrow will be in the middle 80’s. Showers are likely Wednesday.
Little River is flowing at 170 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.89 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 257 cfs. The water temperature is 60.1 degrees this morning.
Streams in the mountains are flowing lower than normal. Water temperatures are within the trout’s preferred range. They are feeding actively. You should do well using dry flies, nymphs or a dry and dropper rig. Light Cahills and some of the many imitations of the Yellow Sally Stoneflies are good fly choices for your dry fly. Due to the lower water conditions, I would use smaller nymphs. A #14 or #16 bead head Pheasant Tail is a good choice.
Fishing for stocked trout in the rivers flowing out of the mountains is good. Nymphs, midge pupa, squirmy worms or small streamers will do the job.
Smallmouth bass are active in these rivers further downstream. Nymphs, streamers and crayfish patterns will produce but you might try foam floating flies or poppers to see what happens. You will catch rock bass too, and maybe sunfish as well.
It is time or almost time to catch smallmouth bass in shallow water on rocky banks in the lakes. Where they can be found varies from lake to lake or areas in a lake, due to water temperature differences. Swimming nymphs and streamers will probably work best. I know for sure I would try foam floaters or poppers and hope they work. The bass may or may not be interested.
You may find bluegill and shellcrackers in shallow water. They will be spawning soon. They may be spawning now in some lakes.
There are pauses in the generation scheduled at several dams today. TVA and the Corps are filling their reservoirs for the Summer which is good news for tailwater anglers. You have to plan around the generation schedules so visit the TVA website from the links below and go fishing.
I talked to guide Josh Pfeiffer at the shop yesterday morning where he met his clients from Chicago. They are nice people who have fished with Josh before. I bet they had a good day. I forgot to ask Josh if the smallmouth fishing on the tailwaters is good. He would know. He is an excellent smallmouth fishing guide.
We were very busy at the shop yesterday. I spent most of the day at home, watching all the action on my iPad, wishing I was there. I bummed up a knee day before yesterday working outside at the shop, and kept it packed in ice all day yesterday. I’m not very good at sitting around doing nothing. The knee is better and I will be at the shop early today.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
May 2, 2022
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com
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