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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:37 am, the temperature is 51.1 degrees.
Heavy rain fell in our region overnight and it is still raining this morning. So far, rainfall totals since the rain started at 7:59 pm last night have amounted to 2.75 inches in Townsend, 2.18 inches in Cades Cove and 2.09 inches in Gatlinburg.
The rain is predicted to last until about 10 am this morning and it could be heavy at times. It will be mostly cloudy today with a high temperature in the middle 60’s, dropping to the middle 40’s tonight.
Another round of rain will arrive Thursday. A high temperature around 70 degrees is expected with a low of 50. More rain is predicted Friday.
Little River is flowing at 2,500 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 5.02 feet on the gauge. The river is rising quickly. Median flow for this date is 358 cfs. The water temperature is 51.1 degrees this morning.
Little Pigeon River is flowing at 7,210 cfs or 6.81 feet on gauge in Sevierville. The river is rising.
At the Birdtown North Carolina gauge, Oconaluftee River is flowing at 1,800 cfs, or 3.36 feet. The river is rising.
Tellico River is flowing at 2,500 cfs, 6.08 feet and rising.
Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 612 cfs or 3.94 feet and rising quickly.
I don’t know what to expect later as the rivers are still rising fast. Most streams in the mountains are too high to wade or fish. I did notice the gauge on the Davidson River in Brevard North Carolina is not indicating an increase in stream flow. The gauge appears to be reporting data. Maybe that drainage and others were not affected by the rain.
Most if not all lowland rivers in the area are flowing too high to fish or safely wade.
There are fairly long pauses in the generation scheduled at some dams today. Check the TVA website from the links below to see if you can find reasonable flows on a tailwater near you. Some tailwaters may be stained in areas due to the inflow from tributaries.
With the high water we have now, and more rain expected over the next two days, planning a fishing trip to the west side of the Smokies this week is not a good idea.
It is 5:52 am. Little River has risen to 6.19 feet or 3,920 cfs from 5.02 feet at 4:37 am. The river is still rising. Flood stage at the Townsend gauge used to be listed at 8 feet. Now, flood stage is listed at 7 feet on the USGS gauge site. I am not sure why that changed.
On August 17 last year Little River rose to 8.2 feet. A short section of the highway in town where Short Creek enters the river was flooded and temporarily closed. Traffic was re-routed around that area. On March 27, 1994, Little River peaked at 15.75 feet. That was the devastating flood we will never forget.
There have been no road closings reported by the Park Service in the Smokies at this time.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
February 23, 2022
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com
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