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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:43 am, the temperature is 37.8 degrees.

It will be sunny today with a high temperature near 60 degrees, falling to the middle 30’s tonight. It is going to be partly sunny to sunny every day through next Tuesday. Temperatures will be fairly warm each day and cold at night through the period.

Little River is flowing at 974 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 3.28 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 337 cfs. The water temperature is 45.7 degrees this morning.

Streams in the Smokies are flowing high but they are receding. With no rain predicted for several days, we will see water levels fall every day. The sun will warm the streams during the day then we’ll see the temperatures fall at night until next week.

If you go fishing in the mountains today, expect swift currents so be careful wading. Stand in safe water and use weighted nymph rigs. Fish the lower elevations where the water is warmer. Conditions will improve every day this week.  

Warm air will move into the Smokies beginning next Tuesday. We will enjoy highs in the 60’s with lows in the 40’s and 50’s at night through at least Saturday March 13th. Fishing will improve to fair and maybe good next week as the streams warm.

I got an email newsletter from Guide David Knapp yesterday. David reported seeing quill gordons, blue quills, early brown stoneflies, black caddis, and midges on a guided trip last week. Fishing was good for David and his client. Though there were adult aquatic insects on the water, they caught fish on nymphs. You can read David’s newsletter by CLICKING HERE.

David is a good friend of mine and an excellent fly fishing guide.

Lowland rivers exiting the Smokies are flowing high and wading is limited. The rivers are too cold for good smallmouth fishing right now. You might do fairly well fishing the areas of these rivers where trout are stocked. Nymphs and egg patterns will work best. Fishing in the lowland rivers will show much improvement next week.

TVA and the Corps will be generating at most dams in our area today. Check the schedules to see if there are any tailwater fishing options near you.

Finally, fly tying materials are arriving again. That awful Winter storm two weeks ago slowed the supply chain to a crawl. Our suppliers are behind, with at least one completely closed for a week due to the storm. The shippers are behind.

I will spend the day receiving and displaying a large Wapsi fly tying order. I placed the largest order ever with them on Sunday. Will received Umpqua and Firehole yesterday. There are more orders coming soon. When the shipments arrive, we re-order immediately. What usually takes a week, now takes two weeks.

Our suppliers are doing the best job they can under the circumstances. Will and I are increasing the inventory to adjust, trying to keep the fly tying department stocked.

It is obvious that Spring is here. The wild turkeys are acting differently. About 30 hens were loafing in the woods right behind our house a couple of days ago. A gobbler walked in and fanned as if it were mating season. The hens were not interested. It’s too early.

I am seeing robins. When they show up, Spring is near.

Aquatic insects in the streams are emerging. That is another good sign of things to come.

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

Byron Begley
March 3, 2021  

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com