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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. We had a VERY windy day in East Tennessee yesterday. At 9:30 most all the road in Great Smoky Mountains National Park are closed due to debris and downed trees. They closed the roads early yesterday. Falling trees is one of the greatest dangers in the mountains on a windy day.

The winds are much calmer today in Townsend. The weather forecast is calling for more rain this afternoon. Not a huge amount but maybe enough to raise water levels to an unfishable level. All we can do is wait and see.

Water levels this morning are at 2.47 feet or 392 c.f.s. This is higher than the daily normal of 267 c.f.s. The water temperature is 56.5 F.

What do these streamflow gauge readings mean? My brain always thinks of the gauge using the Feet number. This is because back in the day we didn't have the USGS website with all of their data to use. You had to go to the edge of the Park and look at the gauge. Just after you enter the Park there is a small building on the river side. You may not notice it if you aren't looking. That is where the gauge equipment is. In the river is a physical height gauge. It is measuring sticks in the water and also up the bank for high water events. You can go there and just read where the water level is on the ruler.

So what is high? I've always been told that the kayakers like the gauge around 3 feet for good paddling on Little River. We start considering cancelling our beginner schools when the gauge reaches 2.5 feet. 2.5 - 2.75 is where the water levels get high for fly fishing. You can fish the streams at higher levels but you have to be extremely careful and sometimes creative about fishing locations. You most definitely can't just jump in the river and go. Above 3 feet you should be considering other alternatives.

3 feet on the gauge equals about 680 cubic feet per second. If you haven't looked at the USGS site before click HERE to check it out. The link is always further down the page on the Fishing Report along with other gauges around the region. On the site there is line graphs so you can see trends in water temperature and flows. The size and scale of the graph changes depending on the data. One day you may see a big spike in water flow. A short time later we'll get a big rain event and the water will rise dramitcally. That big spike from earlier in the week may look like a tiny bump in comparision. There is a chart which gives some fun info like record low and high flows for the date. Also, it tells you what the median/average flow for that date. If you dig around a bit you can change the parameters for the charts and extend out the time ranges.

At 10:30 am the roads in Great Smoky Mountains National Park are still closed. For the most up to date info you can call 865-436-1200 then hit 2 and then hit 2 again. This will take you to the road information report. You can also go to Twitter. https://twitter.com/smokiesroadsnps Hopefully they will get the Park open for this weekend.

If things open up and we can get to the river..... Try nymphs sunk down with plenty of split shot. Prince Nymphs, Squirmy Worms, Tellico Nymphs, Pat's Rubberlegs, etc. In the afternoons when temperatures warm some tie on the dry flies. Smoky Mountain Candy, Rob's Hellbenders, Parachute Adams, etc all in #12-#16.

Be careful while wading if you go. High water levels can be very hazardous. Thank you for being here with us.

Daniel Drake
May 5, 2017

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