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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:08 am, the temperature is 37.2 degrees.

Rain is expected today again with a high temperature in the middle 40’s. We have a lower chance for rain tonight with a low in the middle 30’s. More rain is possible tomorrow with a high temperature in the middle 40’s. What we need is sunshine!

Little River is flowing at 817 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 3.11 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 293 cfs. The river is rising. The water temperature is 44.6 degrees this morning.

Little Pigeon River is flowing at 1,700 cfs, 3.45 feet, compared to median flow of 638 cfs. The river is rising this morning.

Oconaluftee River is rising. Flow is currently 1,430 cfs, 2.99 feet, which compares to median flow of 536 cfs.

Tellico River is flowing at 565 cfs, 2.24 feet and rising. Median flow for this date is 296 cfs.

Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 313 cfs, 3.24 feet, compared to median flow of 127 cfs. The creek is currently rising.

The numbers above indicate that most streams in the Smokies are flowing high and swift. If you go, be careful wading. Stand in safe water to fish. Fish in the lower elevations where the water is warmer. Water temperatures are below the preferred range for trout. Your best bet is to use weighted nymph rigs.

Wading will be limited in the lowland rivers which are flowing higher than normal. If you plan to fish where trout are stocked, stand in safe water and use weighted nymph rigs.

TVA and the Corps of Engineers will be cranking water through the many days today, making wade fishing on tailwaters very limited. I don’t check every generation schedule so visit the TVA website yourself and you may find something interesting. The Corps appears to be turning down the flows a bit each afternoon at Center Hill Dam. I don’t know if they are sluicing there during those times because they do not mention that on the web page. If you fish the Caney often, you probably know.

The Caney Fork River, below Center Hill Dam was my “go to” trout river in the 70’s and early 80’s when I lived in Nashville. I also fished the Elk River, below Tims Ford Dam, but not nearly as often as I fished the Caney.

My fishing buddies and I knew all the good access points, and most did not require sneaking to spots while trespassing on private land. Wayne and I did have to cross a farmer’s property to get to one unbelievable place that nobody else seemed to know about or maybe avoided out of caution.

We were there one day, catching trout hand over fist, and found ourselves apparently the target of excessive gunfire. We practically low crawled back to my truck to avoid being shot, something we both learned to do in the Army. We could hear bullets hit the trees above.

Wayne and I found the assailants and confronted them. They were target shooting with .22 rifles. After a brief verbal exchange about firearm safety and being in the wrong place at the wrong time, we left and fished somewhere else. We did throw caution to the wind and returned occasionally to that wonderful fish’n hole. I was younger then.

We used to enter the Caney at the rest area on Interstate 40. One day I was stopped by a man who appeared to be in charge of the rest area. He tried to stop me from going fishing. He said, “Don’t you know it is against the law to fish on State property?” I replied, “It is not against the law to fish on State Property”. I told the man he should call in a State Trooper and I would explain the same thing to him. I walked away and went fishing. The police never showed up.

We were approached by a State Trooper once. We were suited up and preparing to descend a steep slope to the river below. The problem was, we were parked barely off the shoulder on the interstate at a bridge. When the trooper pulled up behind us, one of my buddies was about to reach in the cooler to pull out a couple of beers to tuck in his vest. “Don’t open that cooler”.

The trooper was very kind, though he told us we could not park there. He told us about a small road that would get us exactly where we wanted to fish, and park legally. He was a nice guy. We knew we were sort of breaking the law. I was younger then.

I have not been back to the Caney Fork since moving to Townsend 30 years ago. Drifting down the river and fishing with guide David Knapp, reliving my younger days, is on my bucket list. The Caney Fork is a beautiful tailwater.

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

Byron Begley
February 13, 2021   

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com