After an unseasonably cool spring weekend and the rain that fell during that time making the Little Pigeon River difficult to fish it was nice to see the conditions improve today. I spent most of my time fishing the Little Pigeon and concentrated my efforts a little further upstream into Sevierville. I had not taken a trip to that section of the river so far this spring and was anxious to see if any significant numbers of pre-spawn smallies were that far upriver. I got my answer in short order as I managed to catch twenty-five smallies and break the five pound barrier for the first time this spring. That hefty pre-spawn female was 21 ½ in. long and weighed 5 lbs. 2 oz. I also caught a beautiful 21 incher that was a little on the thin side that weighed 4 lbs. 0 oz. Most of the smallies I caught were in the middle of the river, so I am assuming that these were pre-spawn fish making their run upstream. The water temperature had dropped significantly over the past several days and was in the mid-fifties. The forecast is for the weather to continue to warm up over the next three days and be near eighty degrees on Friday. With no rain in the forecast until Saturday and very little generation at Douglas Dam projected for the next several days the table is being set for what could be some really fantastic fishing for the remainder of this week. Stay tuned…
River Smallie Adventures Fishing Report April 10, 2018
