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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:45 am, the temperature outside is 71.6 degrees.
It was dark and extremely foggy when I drove to the shop this morning. Now, it is lighter but still foggy. Today will be hot and tomorrow will be hotter. Tuesday will be hot too. Expect highs near or above 90 degrees. No rain is predicted until Tuesday night and Wednesday.
Little River is flowing at 81.8 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.60 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 129 cfs. The water temperature is 72.1 degrees at the low elevation USGS gauge site near Townsend.
Little Pigeon River looks better. It is flowing at 210 cfs, 1.54 feet, compared to median flow of 263 cfs.
Oconaluftee River got some rain yesterday. It is flowing at 304 cfs, 1.48 feet, compared to median flow of 264 cfs. The water temperature is 66.9 degrees at the Birdtown gauge.
Tellico River is flowing above normal at 151 cfs, 1.15 feet, compared to median flow of 109 cfs.
Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 64.7 cfs, 2.38 feet, compared to median flow of 55 cfs. The water temperature is 63.0 degrees.
Some rivers in the Smokies are flowing higher than normal, and some are not. Little River is flowing especially low, compared to the others.
The water is very warm in the lowest elevations. Drive to the higher elevation streams where the water is cooler. Look for water temperatures in the 60’s.
It will feel much better to you in the higher elevations too. If you are hiking into the backcountry, carry plenty of water or a purifier. You will need it.
Fishing is good overall in the Park, though it will be tougher in the streams that are flowing low. By tougher, I mean, you need to take extra care not to spook the trout.
I would plan on using dry flies with a Green Weenie dropper. Terrestrial insects are an important food source for trout right now. Tie on a foam beetle or other floating fly that looks like a land based insect. The trout are hungry and looking for food.
Some lowland rivers are probably fishing fair and maybe good, depending on where you go. I would be out there right now, tossing poppers or foam floating flies, targeting smallmouth bass. The bass will likely be in the shade, near cover and current.
I don’t think lake fishing will be good unless you go early or late when the sun is off the water. It is supposed to be sunny today. And, it is going to be hot.
They are still churning the turbines at Cherokee Dam, around the clock. Douglas Dam will be on and off today until later. Then, the flows will be high until late tonight. Look at the generation schedule at Norris Dam and see if you can work with it. You may find the Caney Fork below Center Hill Dam fishable today. Check that out. They are sluicing at Wolf Creek Dam. That might be OK if you are floating. You can visit the TVA website from the links below to make some fishing decisions today. I hope you can.
We are having a very busy August, way up from normal. The store was packed with customers yesterday. Maybe it was so hot, people decided to shop and wait for friendlier weather to fish. I talked to customers who drove long distances to shop.
There were six of us here yesterday, and everyone was working hard. I’m planning to build that new cash register checkout counter this winter. We could have used it yesterday. We have three computerized cash registers, two in the customer service area and one in the shipping department for mail orders. Next year we will have four and room to add a fifth one when we need it.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
August 11, 2019
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |