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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:16 am, the temperature outside is 61.0 degrees.
It is raining this morning. So far, we have had .17 inches. Rain will continue today until early afternoon. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch is possible. The high temperature today will be in the mid-60’s with a low tonight in the upper 30’s. It may be breezy at times today, especially in the higher elevations.
Temperatures will fall to the low 30’s in the mountains tonight. Expect a low of 31 degrees at Mount LeConte, 35 degrees at Newfound Gap, and 33 degrees at Smokemont.
Little River is flowing at 24.6 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.09 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 88 cfs. The water temperature is 61.3 degrees this morning.
All streams in the Smokies that have USGS gauge sites are flowing below median flow. It appears some are beginning to rise slightly.
Water temperatures are within the trout’s preferred range in the low to mid elevations.
We don’t know for sure what affect the rain will have on the streams today. Hopefully, they will rise. Water temperatures will remain cool.
I would plan on fishing in the lower elevation, larger streams. Trout will be hiding in broken water. You may see brown trout out in the open, preparing to spawn. Some were spotted yesterday in Little River. Otherwise, fish the choppy water where most trout are hiding.
Stealth remains very important to your success. It will be overcast today, which is a benefit to anglers. Unless the stream you are fishing becomes stained due to the rain, fishing should be much better today.
You might try dry flies, but I think this could be a good nymphing day.
The water is low in the lowland rivers this morning. They may rise today. You might do fairly well fishing for smallmouth bass and other fishes. Try poppers and foam floating flies, streamers or nymphs. Due to the overcast skies, you might find fish in shallower water.
There are trout and smallmouth bass fishing opportunities on some tailwaters in the area today. Visit the TVA website from the links below to see if you can work with their generation schedules.
About 100 rainbow trout hatched in the “Trout in the Classroom” aquarium at the shop last week. Most have almost lost their egg sacs and are just beginning to feed orally. Paul put some tiny sinking food in the tank yesterday, and the trout appeared to be feeding. They are fun to watch. Come on by and see them.
The Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited put the aquarium in the shop for homeschooled kids to enjoy. The children come in small groups to visit the shop to learn about fish biology. Paul maintains the tank with the help of TU volunteers. A small electric chiller keeps the water temperature in the upper 50’s. The fish will be fed daily, using small food at first, then gradually feeding with larger pellets.
The trout will eventually be released in Little River by the children. We kept a couple of trout in the tank this Summer, to see how large they would grow. The largest one grew to about nine inches, before it was finally released.
I’m glad that tank is not in my office. I would not get much work done.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
October 16, 2019
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |