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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:54 am, the temperature outside is 69 degrees.
The high temperature in Townsend yesterday was 95 degrees at 2:40 pm. That reading was taken in direct sun at a personal weather station near our home. The Knoxville Airport reported a high temperature yesterday of 92 degrees. Needless to say, it was hot.
It may be slightly cooler today, in the upper 80’s. Those numbers will be reached at least until Friday. Lows will be in the mid to upper 60’s through the weekend.
There is a slight chance for afternoon thunderstorms today and tomorrow. The rain chance is much higher Thursday through Sunday, 50% to 60%.
Little River is flowing at 127 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.68 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 121 cfs. The water temperature is 70.9 degrees right now. Yesterday, it peaked at over 74 degrees at the low elevation USGS gauge site near Townsend, in the Park.
Most streams in the Park are flowing slightly above normal for this date.
Trout are going to be spooky. The water is low, which is usual in early July. They will be hiding near cover, or in choppy water found in riffles, runs and plunge pools. Stealth is paramount to success. Stay low, dress to blend, hide when you can, and wade as little as possible.
Dry flies and nymphs will work. My choice and that of others is a black foam beetle with a Green Weenie dropper. That is always a very good Summer combination. It is also hard to beat a small Yellow Stimulator or Yellow Neversink Caddis. You might try fishing a Green Weenie weighted with split shot and drifted deeper in runs.
When rain returns, conditions should improve, unless we get too much.
Fish the mid to high elevations where the water is cooler. Look for temperatures in the 60’s. Warm water does not hold dissolved oxygen well. The trout will be more active and healthy in cooler water.
Fly fishing in the lowland rivers is fair for smallmouth bass and rock bass. I would use poppers and streamers. Fish the shaded areas of the river. Go early or late.
Fly fishing on the lakes should be done early or late unless you pick an overcast day. We will likely have cloud cover at times later this week. You might get chased of the lake by thunderstorms so be prepared for that.
Some dams are offering angler friendly flows at times today and others are not. Click on the links below to visit the TVA website to make your plans.
Fishing seems to be normal. We could not say that early this year, due to the huge amounts of rain we got in the Tennessee River watershed and others. Rainfall amounts this year in our area are about 14 inches above normal. It really is nice to be fairly normal again.
Business is very good at the shop. We are stocked better than I can remember. The store looks great too. Paula and I spent a lot of money this year on the building, and it shows. I will be outside in a few minutes watering the flowers and blowing off the parking lot before opening time. I am doing that after I finish this report every day. it’s kind of my morning break. I get to work at about 6:45 every morning.
The grass is green and it’s going to get greener. Bill, our grounds guy aerated, limed, fertilized and over seeded recently. We have a maintenance plan set up to improve our grass and there is plenty of it to maintain. By next Spring, the grass will be beautiful.
This building was a good investment, Paula and I made over 15 years ago. It’s paid for, so rent is essentially free. That might come in handy during the next economic downturn.
I’m planning some extensive remodeling inside, maybe this year of possibly next year. The goal is to utilize office space better to expand the fly tying department by 300 to 400 square feet. I work every week on that department, keeping it stocked and organized. This year, through June 30th, the fly tying department is up 46.9% over last year.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
July 2, 2019
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |