This is the fifth straight day of sunny skies, light winds, and no rain. TVA continues to operate two or more generators twenty-four seven at Douglas Dam. The Little Pigeon River reads 2.3 ft at the gauge in Sevierville, and the water is clear. The smallie bite has been off the past couple of days, due to a drop in water temperature and cold front type conditions. When I say off, I mean that we are still catching fish, but not at the lights out pace we were this past weekend. The bright sunny skies have kept the bite down during the day, but the activity has been quickly picking up almost everyday about an hour and a half before dark. This is not unexpected, because we all know who fish, that some of the most productive times are early in the morning, and late in the evening before the sun goes down. I figured it was about time for the tide to turn, and hoped that the father and son team of Joe and Tyler would get to experience some of that hot smallie action that I hoped was right around the corner. They were in Gatlinburg for a few days, and wanted to escape from a family planned trip to one of the more popular attractions in Pigeon Forge. I was happy to be their accomplice. They are from Mobile, AL, and said that they had fished both the Delta and Mobile Bay itself over the years. I had fished both bodies of water myself back in the day, and we shared a few stories about our adventures catching speckled trout and redfish. After a few casts, it became apparent that they were much more than casual fisherman. Joe and Tyler were the kind of anglers that could place a cast, wherever you asked them to, which made my job easy. The bright cobalt blue skies had once again reduced the bite during the day. However, just like clockwork, about an hour and a half before dark the smallies turned on. The smallies we found were quality fish, with the majority of them in that seventeen to nineteen inch range. At this point, the bragging and one upmanship had begun. It was a dogfight, and I honestly, could not tell you who caught the most or biggest fish. However, the picture included in this report does show Tyler holding a much bigger smallie than Dad. Just sayin’… Bye the time, I had to button everything up, and head back to the ramp they had managed to catch twenty-one smallies. Seventeen of those were caught the last hour before dark. I thoroughly enjoyed guiding Joe and Tyler. I was happy the bite had improved, and hoped that they had some fish stories to tell, when they rejoined the rest of their family in Gatlinburg.
River Smallie Adventures Fishing Report March 20, 2019
