If you do not see todays Fishing Report, please refresh your browser to empty your cache.

Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:48 am, the temperature outside is a chilly 33.1 degrees.

Today will be sunny with a high in the mid-60’s and a low tonight in the mid-40’s. It will continue to get warmer through the weekend with highs Saturday and Sunday in the low 70’s.  The warm air will raise the water temperatures in the Park streams. Fishing will get even better over the next 4 days. There is a good chance for showers and possibly a thunderstorm Saturday night and Sunday.

Little River is flowing at 549 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.76 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 384 cfs. The water temperature is 46.8 degrees this morning.

Little River and other streams are flowing fairly high. The water levels are receding, but doing so slowly. I would probably fish a smaller stream today. And, because the water temperature dropped last night, I would fish today in the lower elevations where the water is warmer.

I would possibly change those tactics tomorrow, as the water will be lower and warmer. Fishing should be very good Saturday and Sunday. The only possible negative would be high water, if we get quite a bit of rain Saturday night, swelling the streams Sunday.

You will likely see many different species of aquatic insects on the water, depending on what elevation you are fishing. Have a selection of Spring mayfly dry flies in your box. It is hard to beat a Parachute Adams or Elk Hair Caddis right now. Bead Head Pheasant Tail nymphs are essential. I would always have a selection of Stimulators in my box. A Squirmy Wormy or Pink Weenie would be good choices for the brook trout streams. They will work for rainbow and brown trout too.

Presentation and getting a good drift is more important than the fly pattern you use, unless you find yourself in the midst of a large hatch with trout rising, which may happen at times. Then, presentation, a good drift and an appropriate imitation of the insect you see on the water are all important.

I think we will enjoy some very good fishing this weekend, at least through Saturday and hopefully on Sunday.

The long term weather forecast looks good through April 6th, from a water temperature perspective. We have rain in our future, which is good. Of course, heavy rain can blow out the streams temporarily, which happens about any time of the year.

Later this morning, the updated U.S. Drought Monitor will be released. See it by CLICKING HERE. I am hopeful, and I think it is likely, we will see significant improvement in the drought situation that has plagued the Southern States and other areas in America, for a while. When you view the map, click on the state you are interested in. That will display the region. Click on the state again to see a more detailed view.

Tonight, the Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited will hold it’s monthly meeting at Calhoun’s near Target in Maryville. Social hour begins at 6 pm and the meeting gets underway at 7:00. Tonight’s program will be given by Brad Redmon, who worked on the design/build team, that built Hatchery Creek in Kentucky. This is a man-made trout stream, 1-mile in length. It is open to catch and release fishing now. Trout have been migrating into the steam to spawn from the Cumberland River tailwater, below Wolf Creek Dam.

This is a fascinating story and you will enjoy this program. You do not have to be a TU member to attend. You may join TU and the Little River Chapter at the meeting if you desire.

The Little River Cleanup will be held Saturday. If you want to participate, be at the Metcalf Bottoms picnic area before 9 am. Wear hiking shoes. Trout Unlimited and the Park Service will provide gloves, high visibility vests, garbage bags and grabbers. The cleanup will last about 3 hours. Lunch will be served afterwards by TU, at the picnic area.

After the cleanup, and lunch, it will be “fishing time”.

Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.

Byron Begley
March 23, 2017

Respond to: Byron@littleriveroutfitters.com