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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:23 am, the temperature outside is 58.8 degrees.
It will be warm and sunny today. The high temperature will be in the mid-80’s, dropping to the low 60’s tonight. Rain returns to the forecast tomorrow, and continuing every day until Friday. Cooler air will move into the region beginning Tuesday. There is no mention of heavy rain this week, except the possibility in scattered thunderstorms tomorrow.
Little River is flowing at 196 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.93 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 207 cfs. The water temperature is 61.2 degrees this morning.
All streams in the Smokies are flowing near normal, with many flowing slightly above normal. Water temperatures are very good in the low to mid elevations.
Fishing has been good lately and it will continue to be very good today. Trout are taking dry flies and nymphs. Yellow Sally Stoneflies and Sulphur mayflies have been abundant on the rivers at times.
Stealth and presentation are paramount to your success. Dress to blend with the forest, don’t spook the trout and get a good drift. You will catch trout if you pay attention to these recommendations.
The trout are hungry. Their metabolism is in high gear. They need food.
Lowland river fishing is good for trout and smallmouth bass. Nymphs and streamers will catch the stocked trout as well as smallmouth bass. Try poppers or foam floating flies for the bass and panfish.
Lake fishing is improving for shallow water fly fishing as the lakes warm. Streamers will produce. In some areas, poppers and foam floating flies will work. I talked to one of my neighbors last night. He had a good day on Tellico Lake yesterday. He found water temperatures in the 70’s in some spots. You may find water warmer than that on some lakes, especially in coves.
There are breaks in the generation at most dams I checked in our region today. I did not see any dams that are sluicing. Tailwater fly fishermen have several options so check the TVA website from the links below to see if you can work with their discharge schedules. We are finally getting good news from TVA.
Fishing is really good right now. We are seeing a lot of anglers at the shop.
Non-fishing tourists are flocking to the gateway towns. You will see plenty of people in the Park today. Until they open the secondary roads, parking on the main roads is limited. I would plan on fishing early or late in the Smokies today, when there are less visitors.
With rain moving in tomorrow, there will be less people in the Smokies and more parking for fishermen. I am hoping the less traveled roads will open this week. That was the original plan from what I remember.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
May 17, 2020
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |
