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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:46 am, the temperature is 28.9 degrees.

It is colder this morning than was predicted yesterday. But, a warm front is moving in. Today will be sunny with a high temperature around 60 degrees, and a low tonight in the upper 30’s. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high in the upper 60 falling to the low 40’s. Tuesday will be warmer, in the low 70’s. This warm air will linger through Friday. Rain returns to the forecast later this week.

Little River is flowing at 117 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.70 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 139 cfs. The water temperature is 47.1 degrees and falling this morning.

Stream conditions are similar throughout the Smokies. Most streams are flowing at normal or below normal. Water temperatures are cool or cold in the higher elevations.

I think fishing will be slow early today and improve some later when the water warms. Fish the low elevations where the water is warmer. Cold water is clear. The lower the temperature is, the less ability the water has to hold dissolved solids. Dress to blend with the forest. Don’t let them see you and you will catch more. Most trout will be hiding in the broken water. Adult brown trout may be seen in the open. Nymphs will probably work best today.

Lowland river fishing for smallmouth bass will be slow due to the cool temperatures. Fishing for trout, where they are stocked in these rivers will improve as the water warms later today. Use nymphs, streamers or egg patterns.

There will be continuous generation at many dams today, with afternoon breaks at some, including Center Hill, South Holston and Watauga. These schedules are subject to change so check the TVA website from the links below to see what options you have. You will have more if you are boating and be willing to travel.

This is not a perfect lake fishing day. It will be cold this morning with bright sun later. Winds are supposed to be calm. I think your best bet is to cast heavily weighted streamers and retrieve slowly. My choice would be a 2/0 weighted black Wooly Bugger. I have not fly fished the lakes this late in the year so I am only speculating.

The warmer temperatures later this week will improve fishing in the freestone streams. Today will be a nice one to be on the water. Go if you can.

I will be ordering fly tying materials today, like I do every Sunday. Our suppliers will be processing the orders first thing tomorrow morning, and we will hopefully receive the shipments later this week. I have added many new materials to our Hareline order going out today.

Because our ordering is done automatically by our inventory management system, I just create new items, enter the desired inventory level for each, and the computer takes over from that point, placing the first order and maintaining the inventory level as those items sell.

Since we order weekly from our larger suppliers, something that is out of stock one week, may be in stock a week or two later.

We usually don’t know what is coming until the order is shipped with a few exceptions.

An invoice is emailed to us when the orders ship. At that point, we enter the order into the inventory control system. Then, we can order again before the shipment arrives at the shop. These protocols keep the fly tying department stocked as well as possible and that is our goal.

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

Byron Begley
November 7, 2021  

WALTER BABB MADE BAMBOO FLY RODS FOR SALE – CLICK HERE

Walter is selling a selection of over 50 bamboo fly rods. All but one was made by him. The other one was custom made for Walter by Walton Powell. Read the description of each rod on the list and contact him if you are interested in buying one or more than one. Even if you are not interested in a purchase, this web page is very interesting to read. Walter has made over 285 bamboo rods over the past 20-years. You will be working directly with Walter on a purchase and you can test cast the rods before you buy one at his home. Or, call him and he will ship a rod to you. His contact information is on the web page he and I created.

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com