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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:35 am, the temperature is 43.0 degrees.

During the past 24 hours, rainfall amounts of around three quarters of an inch or more have been recorded in the Townsend area. It was warm yesterday and overnight, causing water temperatures to rise in the Smokies.

We have a chance for rain this morning, mainly before 9:00 am. Expect cloudy skies and a high temperature in the middle 40’s today. Rain may return after midnight tonight, with a low temperature in the upper 30’s. There is a greater chance for rain tomorrow and a high in the middle to upper 40’s. There is a chance for more rain on Sunday and Monday with highs in the middle to upper 40’s and lows in the 30’s.

Little River is flowing at 745 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 3.02 feet on the gauge. The river is rising. Median flow for this date is 278 cfs. The water temperature is 46.0 degrees this morning.

Little Pigeon River is flowing at 1,460 cfs or 3.25 feet at the Sevierville gauge. Median flow for this date is 560 cfs. It appears the river has peaked.

Oconalfutee River is flowing at 1,320 cfs, 2.88 feet and rising. Median flow is 530 cfs.

Tellico River has peaked at 460 cfs. 2.00 feet, compared to median flow of 294 cfs.

Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 342 cfs, 3.32 feet, compared to median flow of 118 cfs. The creek is rising quickly at this point.

Most streams in the Smokies are flowing higher than normal. The water is swift. Some streams may be temporarily stained. Wade fishing will be limited. Be careful wading. It may be prudent to wait until later today to go fishing when the streams are more likely to be receding and clear. Stand in safe water and use weighted nymph rigs.

Wade fishing in the lowland rivers is limited. I would go later today, stand in safe water and use weighted nymph rigs where trout are stocked.

TVA and the Corps will be generating all day at many dams in the area, limiting wade fishing in most of the tailwaters. I did notice some breaks in the schedule at South Holston Dam. There may be others. Check the TVA website from the links below to see what is going on at your favorite tailwater today.

I am going to spend today and tomorrow updating inventory levels in the fly tying department. This is done to let our computers know how much to order based on what we have. Sounds like a lot of fun, doesn’t it? We sell 2,550 different items in the fly tying department, with several each of many. Will and David put out a lot of items for you from Wapsi yesterday. We will order from them again this weekend. Maintaining a fly tying department is a never ending process. We re-stock every week and re-order every week.

Other people who work here are doing the same thing, preparing for Spring fishing.

When the weather breaks we will all have plenty to do. I am looking forward to that but I don’t know exactly when it will be. It will not be this week or next week. It will be sometime after that.

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

Byron Begley
February 12, 2021

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com