Summer arrived early here in East Tennessee with record high temperatures near the eighty-degree mark for several days in a row. Douglas Dam has been running the water at two or more generators for quite a while. This day was no exception with TVA running the generators at an average of 20K cfs making it a challenge to fish the French Broad. The water temperature in the French Broad was forty-nine degrees and the water was stained. I decided to fish the Little Pigeon River where the water temperature was an unseasonably warm sixty-one degrees and the water was slightly stained. I did manage to catch three nice smallies in about four hours of fishing. I saw no sign of any pre-spawn movement, but I know that we are getting close to experiencing some of the best smallie fishing of the year once March arrives.
River Smallie Adventures Fishing Report February 22, 2018
