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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:45 am, the temperature is 32.9 degrees.

It will be sunny and warm today with a high temperature in the low to middle 60’s, dipping to the low 30’s tonight. No rain is predicted today and through the weekend. Expect highs in the middle 50’s and lows in the upper 20’s each day through Sunday.

Little River is flowing at 715 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.97 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 340 cfs. The water temperature is 45.1 degrees this morning.

All streams in the Smokies are slowly receding. Water levels are higher than normal, higher than most anglers prefer. The water will be swift in some areas so be careful wading. Water temperatures are cool, below the trout’s preferred range.

Fishing will be slow until the temperatures rise next week and the streams recede more. Your best option today is to stand in safe water and use weighted nymph rigs.

Lowland rivers that exit the Smokies are flowing high and chilly. Wading is limited. Smallmouth bass fishing will be slow. You might catch stocked trout using nymphs and possibly streamers.

The news is not good for tailwater anglers today, especially if you plan to wade. TVA and the Corps will be generating at most dams all day. I did not check the schedule for every dam so you may find something of interest if you look further.

Fishing will begin to improve in the freestone streams next Tuesday. Very warm air will move into the region, boosting the water temperatures. There is a chance for rain every day beginning Thursday, through the weekend.

Fishing may improve some by this weekend, mostly because the streams will be flowing lower. Water temperatures will remain chilly.

Be prepared for Spring fishing conditions next week. We will see heightened trout feeding activity and probably scattered Spring hatches of quill gordons, blue quills and other aquatic insects.

I checked the Fishing Report last year on this date. Water temperatures were slightly warmer but stream flows were higher. Rainfall at the Knoxville Airport, for the year so far was 20.21 inches, compared to normal of 9.01 inches. We did not know then, but a flood was coming in the near future, on April 13th. Little River rose to 9.71 feet on that date. Flood stage is 7 feet.

I hope we don’t see that happen again this year.

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

Byron Begley
March 4, 2021

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com