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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:17 am, the temperature outside is 45.1 degrees.

This will be another beautiful day, partly sunny with a high temperature in the mid-60’s. Tonight’s low will be warmer too, in the mid to upper 40’s. A chance for rain returns tomorrow and lasts through the weekend.

Little River is flowing at 859 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 3.19 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 318 cfs. The water temperature is 49.6 degrees this morning.

Little Pigeon River is flowing at 1,830 cfs, 3.55 feet, compared to median flow of 655 cfs.

Oconaluftee River is flowing at 2,050 cfs, 3.56 feet, and that compares to median flow of 601 cfs for today’s date.

Tellico River is flowing at 1,000 cfs, 3.20 feet, compared to median flow of 324 cfs for this date.

Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 521 cfs, 3.76 feet, compared to median flow of 130 cfs.

The streams in the Smoky Mountains and nearby are receding. The water is still swift. Be careful wading.

It is possible to fish and you may catch trout. Plan on standing near the bank. Pick a stream that is angler friendly during high water events. Anthony Creek in Cades Cove may be a good choice today. Other smaller streams in the low elevations may offer fair fishing.

I would plan on “high sticking” nymphs, but be on the lookout for hatches of Quill Gordons, Blue Quills and Blue Wing Olives. You may see other aquatic insects on the water.

These are certainly not ideal conditions and your access in the streams will be limited by high water.

Water temperatures are on the chilly side this morning, but the streams should warm some today.

We are expecting cold air to move into the area Sunday night and continuing through March 8th. We will see rain and possibly snow at times after Sunday.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is pushing huge amounts of water through the dams, to create storage capacity in the lakes. TVA is spilling or sluicing, as well as generating at most dams. Wade fishing and boating is dangerous under these conditions.

Rain is coming and I hope it will be light in the near future. The last thing we need is more heavy rain. Rainfall amounts in East Tennessee and other areas have set records during the past year. This year has been worse than last year, so far.

We are preparing for Spring fishing at the shop and hopefully good business ahead. The Spring gear orders are coming in. The store is stocked extremely well. The water will recede and warm. It always does.

The water table is full. The spring creek that runs through our property, behind the house is flowing extremely high. That does bode well for the future. High rainfall amounts are a double edged sword, temporarily keeping anglers away, but ensuring good flows later in the year.

That is what we hope for.

We want fishing conditions to be perfect, every day. Sometimes they are and other times they are not, and there is nothing we can do about it. So, we wait, plan our trips, prepare our gear, tie flies, dream and be patient.

Fishermen tend to be patient people. If we were not, we would have moved on to something else a long time ago.

Jack Gregory and Walter Babb will be at the shop, performing their fly tying skills as well as talking about fly fishing Saturday, between 10 am and 2 pm. These guys are fly fishing legends in our area. The event is free. All you have to do is show up. Don’t miss this one!  

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

Byron Begley
February 27, 2019   

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

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