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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:53 am, the temperature is 28.8 degrees.
It will be warm today and Christmas Eve with high temperatures in the low to mid 50’s. Tonight’s low will be in the upper 40’s. It will be windy both days. Rain will move into the Tennessee River Valley tomorrow, changing to snow later in the day and through Christmas Eve night. Expect frigid temperatures tomorrow night through Christmas night. The high temperature Christmas Day will be in the mid to upper 20’s. Lows at night will be in the mid to upper teens.
Little River is flowing at 260 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.13 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 278 cfs. The water temperature is 41.4 degrees this morning.
Streams are flowing at about normal in the Smokies. Water temperatures are chilly. If you go today, wait a while for the stream temperatures to bottom out and begin to rise. Nymphs will work best. Fishing may improve somewhat today but don’t expect good fishing. Fishing will be slow in the Smokies Christmas Day as the water temperatures will be cold and trout will be lethargic.
Lowland river fishing will be slow today and tomorrow except possibly where trout are stocked. Nymphs and egg patterns are good choices.
TVA and the Corps will be generating all day at the dams I checked this morning in our area. If you are boating, there are options. I did not check the TVA generation schedule for every dam so look yourself from the links below. You might find something interesting.
If you plan to fish on a lake today or tomorrow, expect breezy to very windy conditions. High winds of 20 miles per hour are possible today. That number increases to 35 miles per hour tomorrow. I would not launch our boat and fish when it is going to be this windy.
Paula and I were enjoying cocktail hour looking out the back of our house toward the forest last evening and a bobcat stalked by. It was probably the same bobcat I saw Saturday. This was our third bobcat sighting in the past three or four weeks. This one is big. They can weigh up to 40 pounds. The cat we saw a few weeks ago was much smaller. We saw that one walk by once, then return with a dead squirrel it had caught.
Bobcats are beautiful animals that we have enjoyed watching over the years. Unlike bears, we see bobcats infrequently. For one thing, they blend in well. They are hard to see.
We only see them during the Winter months. The bobcat’s mating season has begun. That could be one reason. We also feed birds during the Winter when the bears are less active. Seed dropped from the feeders attract squirrels. Squirrels attract bobcats. I watched a bobcat kill a squirrel once from a distance of just a few feet, right next to our house. The bobcat saw me standing at the window, looked up and appeared to snarl at me. Then, it got back to the business of killing the squirrel. That was something to watch.
CLICK HERE to learn more about bobcats in Tennessee on the TWRA website. Notice the photo of the kitten, and the look on its face, while be held by a TWRA wildlife officer. The kitten had been rescued by the officer, but it is not happy being held by a human.
We will be closed tomorrow and Christmas Day. Customer traffic is very slow at the store and mail order has slowed too.
I hope all of you have a great Christmas and thank you for being here for us.
Byron Begley
December 23, 2020
WE WILL BE CLOSED THURSDAY CHRISTMAS EVE AND FRIDAY CHRISTMAS DAY. WE WILL ALSO CLOSE NEW YEARS DAY.
Buy a Walter Babb made bamboo fly rod or his beautiful 10- dozen flies for charity.
“Due to Covid-19, there will not be a Needy Family Fund Auction this year. I made a rod and tied some flies for the Auction this Spring, so I will be selling them and the proceeds will go to the Needy Family Fund.
Th rod is an 8’ 0” 2 piece 6-weight Stan’s Blackfoot, a great taper from Stan Smartt. This is a single tip rod. The price is $850 plus sales tax.
There is also a box of 10 dozen of my favorite nymphs and wet flies. The price is $253.95 plus sales tax if you are a Tennessee resident.
If interested, call Walter Babb at 423-337-6772. I have many other rods, in case someone wants a rod for lighter lines or a shorter small stream type rod.”
Walter
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |
