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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:14 am, the temperature outside is 41 degrees.
It was warm on Christmas day, with a high temperature of 66.7 degrees in Townsend. The warm air will remain through the weekend. Expect high temperatures in the 60’ every day, dipping to the 40’s at night. No rain is expected until Saturday night.
Little River is flowing at 332 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.36 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 305 cfs. The water temperature is 48.6 degrees this morning. That number exceeded 50 degrees yesterday.
Little Pigeon River receded over the past few days. Flow is currently 749 cfs, 2.43 feet, which compares to median flow of 437 cfs.
Oconaluftee River is flowing at 691 cfs, 2.23 feet, compared to median flow of 519 cfs. The water temperature is 45.5 degrees.
Tellico River is flowing at 338 cfs, 1.68 feet, compared to median flow for this date of 279 cfs.
Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 249 cfs, 3.07 feet, compared to median flow of 97 cfs. The water temperature is 43.7 cfs.
Stream flows are on the high side of good in many Smokies streams and they will continue to recede at least until Sunday.
Stream temperatures are on the rise and they will remain warmer through the weekend.
Fishing is good in the lower elevations where the water is warmer. Fishing is probably easier and better in the streams that are flowing closer to normal. Little River and Tellico River are good choices today and there are others.
I talked to a customer on Christmas Eve. He had fished Tellico River the day before. He caught over 20 trout, short line nymphing. He checked the water temperature and it was in the low 50’s which is ideal. He is a good fisherman who lives in our area.
Nymphs and streamers are your best bet this week. Your nymph rigs should be weighted to get them down deep. The same is true with your streamers.
Fishing will be good in the lowland rivers where trout are stocked. Some will be flowing high while others are not. Water temperatures will be good this week. Nymphs and streamers are your best fly choices.
It appears TVA and the Corps will be generating at the dams nearby today. I didn’t see any wade fishing opportunities. There may be other tailwaters that are fishable, requiring a long drive if you live here. Check the TVA website from the links below.
In the early 80’s, some friends of mine and I were trout fishing in central Pennsylvania for a week. We met some other guys who were friends who lived in Virginia. It was there, on that fishing trip, I learned to fish using weighted nymphs and what we called the “tight line” method. We didn’t use strike indicators. I don’t think they had been invented, or I had not seen them. We were catching trout by feel and seeing movement in our leaders. Melvin Thomas took Frank and I under his wing and showed us how to nymph fish effectively. That trip changed our lives.
Tight line nymph fishing has evolved since then. One change I have noticed is the lack of split shot on the rig. Now, many anglers are tying heavily weighted nymphs, to be used as an anchor fly on the bottom of the rig. That eliminates the need for split shot. Above the anchor fly, you can tie in a non-weighted nymph, that drifts naturally. A colored piece or two of mono is tied into the leader above the water, called a sighter. The sighter allow you to detect movement below, like a strike indicator would.
Like many of you, I have hooked or almost hooked trout at the end of the drift, when we pull our rig out of the water to cast again. One thing Melvin taught us in Pennsylvania, and it is excellent advice, is to always set your hook at the end of a drift. That works!
I found a short article online this morning that reinforces the notion of setting your hook at the end of each drift when you are nymph fishing. You can read it by CLICKING HERE. Do it and you will catch more trout. Over time, it becomes the natural thing to do.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
December 26, 2019
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |