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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:57 am, the temperature outside is 67.6 degrees.

It was foggy when I drove to the shop this morning. Now, I just see fog following Little River from the Park, through Townsend. I also saw three school buses this morning. Haven’t seen one of those in a while. Schools are back in session in our County.

Today will be mostly sunny and warm, with a high temperature around 87 degrees. Thunderstorms are likely tomorrow afternoon. More rain is predicted Friday.

Little River is flowing t 170 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.85 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 116 cfs. The water temperature is 68.7 degrees this morning.

All streams in the Park that have USGS gauges are flowing above median flow. Tellico River was affected by rainfall last night. The river is flowing at 276 cfs, 1.58 feet, compared to median flow of 107 cfs.

Stream flows are great, especially for August. Stream temperatures in the lowest elevations of Little River are rising to slightly over 70 degrees during the heat of the day. You may want to fish a little higher where the water is cooler. Look for water temperatures in the 60’s.

Fishing is good. I’m not hearing any complaints. Trout are taking dry flies and nymphs.

More important than fly selection is stealth. Stay hidden from the trout and you will catch more.

Lowland river fishing is probably fair. Go early or late when the sun is off the water. Or, fish shaded areas of the river. I would use poppers or foam floating flies for smallmouth bass.

Lake fishing is fair to good too. Again, go early or later unless it is overcast. Poppers, foam floating flies, streamers and Rubber Legged Dragons are what I would use.

I don’t see many tailwater fishing opportunities this morning. Check the TVA website yourself from the links below to find suitable water conditions somewhere.

A woman hiker collided with a bear while hiking near the Appalachian Trail, Saturday. She was not injured. Evidently her hearing was impaired by headphones, so she didn’t hear the bear coming. The bear crossed the trail knocking her over, then continued on its way. You can read more on the WBIR website by CLICKING HERE.

I saw that wild turkey hen with the huge brood again yesterday at our house. I was driving by them, and this time, I stopped to count the poults. There were eight. I’ve never seen a hen with that many poults. Maybe some were orphaned and adopted by her.

This time of year, the poults look like small adults. They have been flying for months. I have seen very small turkeys fly before and I was shocked when I saw that.

Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.

Byron Begley
August 6, 2019

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com