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

Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:57 am, the temperature outside is 43.7 degrees.

Rainfall in Townsend amounted to 1.27 inches during the past 24 hours. The Knoxville Airport reports 1.16 inches.

Today will be mostly sunny with a high temperature in the upper 40’s, dropping to the high 20’s tonight. Rain, heavy at times, is predicted Tuesday through Sunday. Flooding is possible. Parts of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina may receive between 5 and 7 inches of rain this week.

Little River is flowing at 1,570 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 4.10 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 341 cfs. The water temperature is 51.3 degrees this morning. The water level is rising and it is close to setting a record for this date.

Little Pigeon River, at the Sevierville gauge, is flowing at 3,750 cfs or 4.89 feet. The river is rising.

Oconaluftee River at the Birdtown gauge is flowing at 2,590 cfs, 3.99 feet, and rising. The current flow is a record for this date.

Tellico River is flowing at a record level for this date, at 2,760 cfs or 6.48 feet.

Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 516 cfs or 3.75 feet. Median flow for this date is 143 cfs.

I think it is safe to say, all streams in and near the Smoky Mountains are flowing high and not safe to wade.

The ground is saturated. Rain we get this week will run off into the streams, instead of soaking into the ground. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is generating, sluicing and even spilling at some dams, to create more storage capacity in the reservoirs. Fishing on the tailwaters is not recommended.

This is going to be one heck of a week.

People are preparing for Spring fishing. Our business has been good this year, much better than last year. And, last year was one of the best years we have had at the shop. Thank you all for your support. We are all working hard to improve the shop this year. I think you will be very happy with the changes we are making.

People are also enrolling in our beginner fly tying classes. I think we are going to see a lot of new fly anglers this year. I mentioned the school in the fishing report yesterday, and some people called to enroll. You can see this year’s schedule and learn more about our classes by CLICKING HERE. Call us at 865-448-9459 to book your dates.

A lot of people are tying flies too. This has been a good year to tie flies. Good fishing conditions have been limited by weather and high water. I hope that changes soon.

Steve Gregg and Clayton Gist will be tying at the shop Saturday. These demonstrations are free. All you have to do is show up.

Steve is a long time Smokies angler and fly tyer. He is the lead fly tying instructor at the Orvis store in Sevierville. I’m looking forward to meeting Steve and watching him tie.

Clayton has tied flies most of his 77 years. He has taught fly tying in Colorado, Utah and here. His home water is the Clinch and his away from home water is the San Juan River in New Mexico. Clayton is very active in the Clinch River Chapter of TU, Wounded Warriors and Project Healing Waters.

These guys will be demonstrating between 10 am and 2 pm, Saturday February 23rd.

The last free fly tying event of the Winter will be held on Saturday March 2nd. The featured demonstrators are Walter Babb and Jack Gregory. We will see a lot of people in the shop that day. I bet Rickey from Alabama will be here for that.

UPDATE 8:11 AM - DANIEL CALLED AND TOLD ME HIGHWAY 321 IS CLOSED OUTSIDE TOWNSEND FROM MARYVILLE DUE TO A ROCK SLIDE. THOSE WHO ARE DRIVING FROM WALLAND TO TOWNSEND SHOULD USE THE OLD WALLAND HIGHWAY. THE SLIDE IS SUPPOSED TO BE CLEARED THIS AFTERNOON.

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

Byron Begley
February 18, 2019

NOTICE: Great Smoky Mountains head fisheries biologist Matt Kulp will be giving the State of the Park Fisheries Address at the Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited's February meeting. Date: Tuesday February 26th.

The chapter meetings are held at Barley's Restaurant in downtown Maryville, Tennessee. Social hour begins at 6 pm. The meeting starts at 7:00 pm. You do not have to be a TU member to attend. Newcomers are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited has partnered with Great Smoky Mountains National Park, voluneering and raising funding, since 1993.

Fly Tying Classes January, February and March 2019 Taught by Walter Babb and Brian Courtney Beginner to Advanced CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Respond to: info@littleriveroutfitters.com