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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:18 am, the temperature outside is 42.8 degrees.

Expect rain today and a high temperature in the low 50’s. Rainfall amounts between a tenth and a quarter of an inch are possible today. The showers will continue tonight, with a low in the upper 40’s and up to a half of an inch of rain is possible. Tuesday will be warm again, with a low chance for rain.

Little River is flowing at 315 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.32 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 344 cfs. The water temperature has risen to 44.8 degrees this morning.
 
All streams in the Park that have USGS gauges are flowing above median flow except Little River. Water temperatures are warming in the freestone streams and that trend will continue through Wednesday. The rain will be warm today and tonight, causing water temps to rise.

Some streams are swift but many are fishable.

Fishing in the Smokies is fair. The waters are warming and receding for now. Fish the low elevations where the water is warmer. Rainfall may cause rivers to rise somewhat through tomorrow.

I would start with nymph rigs. Be on the lookout for hatches. The aquatic insects on the water include midges, quill gordons, blue quills, blue wing olives, caddis and stoneflies. If you see that going on, switch to dry flies to match what you are seeing on the water. Emergers and wet flies might be a good option.

I was out of town so I did not know that the gravel section of Tremont Road is closed. Evidently, the road was partially washed out during the flood earlier this month. I will try to find out what plans the Park has to repair and open the road.

I feel sure this washout is not nearly as bad as the one we had in the 1994 flood. I think it took at least two years to re-open Tremont Road after that one. During that time, Paula and I accessed the upper Middle Prong of Little River on our mountain bikes. Those trout became very easy to catch during the closure. Fishing pressure on the stream was light.

Little River Road from near Elkmont to Townsend was also closed for at least a year and maybe longer, after the 1994 flood.

Tremont Road is the access to Lynn Camp Prong and Thunderhead Prong in addition to the upper reaches of the Middle Prong of Little River.

TVA and the Corps of Engineers continue to flush a lot of water through the dams in the area, including East Tennessee, Middle Tennessee and Wolf Creek Dam in Kentucky. They are generating, sluicing and in some cases spilling at the dams. I didn’t see any trout tailwater fishing opportunities today anywhere close to here.

We have some cold days and nights coming our way soon. High temperatures in the 40’s and lows at night in the 20’s are in the forecast Wednesday night through Saturday. Sunday is going to be chilly too. Next week will be warmer, cloudy and wet.

Warmer is good for Spring fishing. Cloudy is good for fishing. What we don’t need right now is more rain. I don’t see anything in the long term forecast that indicates significant rainfall through March 8th. I hope that holds true.

Our customers have not been fishing much this Winter around here, but many are tying flies. The fly tying department is performing extremely well. I finished receiving and displaying last week’s fly tying material and tool orders yesterday. Today, I will order again. More tools and materials will arrive again Friday.

I love the fly tying department. It’s my favorite department in the store and it has been for 25 years. It’s a challenge keeping everything in stock. There are so many small items. Customers love a good fly tying department. I enjoy serving fly tying customers.

Yesterday I got to help a nice lady with a new fly tying vise she bought from us. After we got everything set up, she showed me the flies she has been tying. They looked great. I enjoy seeing the end product made from materials and tools people purchase here. I find that very satisfying and a learning experience as well.    

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

Byron Begley
February 24, 2020

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com