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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:22 am, the temperature outside is 50.7 degrees.
It will be mostly sunny today with a high temperature in the low 80’s. Expect more of the same tomorrow and Saturday, though it will be warmer, maybe reaching the mid-80’s Saturday. Sunday will be warm again with a chance for thunderstorms, especially in the afternoon.
Little River is flowing at 256 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.11 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 223 cfs. The water temperature is 52.7 degrees this morning.
Streams in the Smokies have receded to a good fishable level, though most are flowing above normal for this time of the year. Water temperatures are rising. Both conditions are improving fishing. Trout are actively feeding and that will continue through the week.
Plan on using dry flies or nymphs. Trout are taking both. A dry fly with a nymph dropper is a good rig choice. Try a small Bead Head Pheasant Tail or possibly a Green Weenie as your dropper. Dry fly choices should include, Yellow Stimulator, Yellow Neversink Caddis, Elk Hair Caddis and many other options. Stealth and presentation are important to your success. Get a good drift and stay hidden from the trout. You will catch more.
Lowland river fishing is improving for both trout and smallmouth bass. We will see more improvement in smallmouth bass fishing as the week progresses, due to warming water and more wading opportunities as the rivers recede further.
TVA and the Corps have cut way back on the generation at some dams. There are opportunities for tailwater trout fishing, for boating and in some cases wade fishing. They are sluicing at a couple of the dams so don’t be fooled by looking at the generation schedules alone. Tailwater fishing opportunities are improving. Hopefully there will be even better discharge schedules in the days to come. Check the TVA website from the links below to see if you can work with the anticipated conditions today and through the week.
Lake fishing is improving too. As the surface temperatures warm, you will find fish in shallow water, where we do well fly fishing. Air temperatures in the 80’s through the remainder of the week will improve the lake fishing further. Try streamers and nymphs. Try poppers and foam floating flies. You will do best fishing early and late on sunny days.
Overall, fishing is getting better and we are all pumped about that. Fishermen are getting out more too. We are seeing a lot more anglers at the shop. Business is good again.
People are traveling more, in their own vehicles. I notice more cars at the hotels in town. We are seeing more out of state license plates. It appears tourist activity has increased at least in the towns surrounding the Smokies. More people are camping too.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park management has not moved into phase two of the re-opening yet. Some secondary roads are closed for now. That has limited access to some streams. Hopefully soon, those roads will open.
This lack of access and parking has also limited those who want to backpack into the backcountry to fish. I tried to help a customer plan a backpacking trip yesterday. That was not easy to do, especially since he plans to fish. It can be done but you might need to plan on hiking further from where you end up parking while you are gone.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
May 14, 2020
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |