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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:07 am, the temperature outside is 56.3 degrees.
It will be sunny and pleasant today with a high temperature around 80 degrees and a chance for showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. Tomorrow through Wednesday will be cooler, with highs in the 70’s. Lows will be in the 50’s. We have a chance for showers each day.
Little River is flowing at 114 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.62 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 151 cfs. The water temperature is 64.4 degrees this morning.
Most streams in the Smokies are flowing at or slightly below normal.
Dry flies and nymphs are working. Yellow Sally Stonefly patterns are good choices for your dry fly selection. More important than fly selection is stealth and presentation. Dress to blend with the forest and you will catch more trout. I would fish the choppy water or deep runs where trout are hiding.
Lowland river fishing is fair for smallmouth bass and other warmwater species. The river levels are normal for the most part, which is low this time of the year. Fish the deeper shaded areas with poppers, foam flies, hair bugs and streamers.
There are many fishable tailwaters to choose from today. Every dam I checked this morning will have breaks in the generation at times. Visit the TVA website from the links below to plan your day.
Lake fishing is good. I would go at daybreak. Fish with poppers and streamers while the sun is off the water. The lakes are crowded.
The outdoors is crowded. Americans want to be outside. Traffic in Townsend was unbelievable yesterday. I can’t imagine how many people were tubing down Little River through town. River Rat trucks were running back and forth all day. Traffic was backed up from Wears Valley Road past our store about every time I looked outside yesterday. Traffic in the Park has been very heavy, according to the guides and our customers.
I would plan accordingly and go fishing early in the Smokies today. I would certainly hike into the backcountry at least a mile or more. Elkmont Road will open tomorrow. That will give fishermen the opportunity to fish miles of wild trout streams that have been hard to access this year. That will also take pressure off other trout streams in the area.
Fly shops, bait shops, other fishing stores and marinas have been very busy this year. We have been busy too.
To comply with social distancing guidelines and keep the numbers of people in the store lower, we have not sold fishing licenses since March. Additionally, we have not held classes or private instruction for the same reason. We have the same number of people working in the shop that we had last year. We are all there. We do have more time to take care of customers with needs other than buying fishing licenses.
I am still going to the shop at 7:30 am to sanitize, 7-days a week. I change into sanitizing clothing and shoes in my office because I am using bleach. When I’m done, I change back to my working clothing. I don’t mind doing it, since it does help our staff and customers stay healthy. That smell of chlorine is getting old though. I have noticed none of us got a cold this year.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
June 14, 2020
NOTICE:
The following roads and campgrounds re-opened Monday June 8th:
Cades Cove and Smokemont Campgrounds
Abrams Creek Road, Forge Creek Road and Cataloochee Road (To Palmer Chapel)
The following roads and campgrounds will open Monday June 15th:
Elkmont Road
Elkmont Campground
The Cades Cove Loop Road will be closed every Wednesday beginning June 17th to vehicle traffic. The road will be open to pedestrians and bicyclists only. The Wednesday closing to vehicles will continue through September.
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |
