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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:37 am, the temperature outside is 44.8 degrees.

It will be sunny and warmer today with no chance for rain. Showers will arrive late tonight and continue through Saturday. Rain is not expected to be heavy. Saturday night will be much cooler. Sunday will be sunny and cool. We may see patchy frost Sunday night.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PREDICTED HIGHS AND LOWS TODAY

Little River is flowing at 164 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.86 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 81 cfs. The water temperature is 55.2 degrees this morning.

Little Pigeon River, Oconaluftee River and Cataloochee Creek are all flowing above median flow today.

Median flow in October is very low. This is historically our driest month. October has been much warmer than normal. As a result of both, fly fishing in the Smokies is much better than normal. I talked to some fly fishing customers, and many were visitors from other states. They can’t believe our excellent water flows. In some recent prior years, flows in some have been below normal.

Today will be sunny. I would use nymphs or find shaded water to fish. I would also concentrate on broken water, where the trout feel less threatened by predators. Or, you could go early or late when the sun is off the water. Dry flies may work well too.

Dress to blend in with the forest to so you won’t be seen as easily by the trout. Stay as low as you can which also helps keep you hidden. When these wild trout see you, they are much less likely to be caught. Stealth is paramount to your success.

For nymphs, I would use Tellico, Pheasant Tail, Prince, Hare’s Ear and possibly Green Weenie patterns. My dry fly choices would be, Yellow or Orange Stimulator, Parachute Adams, Smoky Mountain Candy or an Elk Hair Caddis. Other fly patterns may work as well or better.

Fly Tyers Weekend will be held beginning a week from tomorrow. A large tent will be erected behind the shop, where the fly tyers will be demonstrating. We usually have about 20 people tying at one time. Shifts will change at mid-day.

Fly Tyers Weekend lasts two days, Saturday and Sunday. It is always well attended.

There is no charge. Fly Tyers Weekend is Free. I am looking forward to this. I will be there every day, talking to people and watching the tyers. Many attendees stay all day, both days.

This year, it is not going to be cold but we may get some rain. There is a chance. That won’t be a problem. I remember some years, there was frost on the tent early in the mornings. It looks like this year will be warm, with highs in the 60’s and lows in the mid-40’s. No frost.

The fly tying department at the shop is in great shape. Orders just arrived and the materials are out. I ordered more yesterday to beef up the best sellers.

Whiting Farms is still low on 100 packs of saddle hackle. I ordered some yesterday but I would like to have bought more. I talked to Phil, Whiting’s sales manager yesterday. Though the roosters are born and raised in Colorado, the feathers are shipped to China for packaging. He told me he is expecting a shipment next week. If they arrive early in the week, I may be able to buy more, use expedited shipping, and get them before the event.

Mustad hooks are hard to get right now. I don’t know why. We buy them from Wapsi. About every thing else is available from Wapsi.

I order for the fly tying department every week. That is the only way to keep everything in stock. There are so many items, and you never know what will be popular at a moments notice.

I bought plenty of tungsten and brass beads in all colors. Last weekend, I checked our sales on beads and made adjustments in our stock levels. We sell a lot of beads. Size popularity has changed for some reason this year. Tungsten slotted beads are also becoming more popular, for Euro nymph fishermen, to use on small jig hooks. So, I beefed up those too.

To draw attention to new materials we are now stocking, I devoted a fixture for “Recent Arrivals”. I even had a sign made for the fixture. You can’t miss it. On that display are snowshoe rabbit feet, something that has been hard to find lately. Now we can get them in the colors cream and different shades of dun. Hair from a snowshoe rabbit foot makes excellent wings for dry flies. It floats well. We can’t get white right now. Evidently, they will be available during the Winter months, for some reason. I have heard the snowshoe rabbit changes color to white during the Winter, when it snows. I don’t know if that is true. I will look it up.

If you have always wanted to learn to tie flies, we have classes available for you. Maybe you tie but would like to hone your skills. We have classes for that too. Our first beginner fly tying class for the Winter season will be held on Saturday November 3rd. More classes will be held during the Winter months. You can see our class schedule by CLICKING HERE. Just call the shop at 865-448-9459 to reserve your spot.

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

Byron Begley
October 19, 2018

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com