If you do not see today’s Fishing Report, please refresh your browser to empty your cache.

Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:44 am, the temperature is 54.0 degrees.

We got a little rain overnight, .12 inches. It will be mostly cloudy and warm today, with a high near 70 degrees and a chance for light rain. Tomorrow and Thursday will be warm, with rain and thunderstorms likely. Severe storms are possible.

Colder air will move in Friday. Expect low temperatures near the freezing mark each night this weekend. Expect water temperatures to fall some this weekend.

Little River is flowing at 225 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.02 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 374 cfs. The water temperature is 53.2 degrees this morning.

All streams in the Smokies are flowing below normal. Oconaluftee River and Cataloochee Creek are rising this morning. Water temperatures are warm in the low elevations.

If you go today, fish in the lower elevations where the water is warmer. Trout and aquatic insects are active. Hatches will probably be sporadic. Nymphs and dry flies will work but you might find trout feeding on the surface as well. Be prepared for anything. I would have several sizes of Parachute Adams dry flies in my box. Quill Gordon dries and wet flies are a good fly choices too.

Lowland river fishing will be good where trout are stocked. Nymphs, egg patterns and streamers will produce for you. I would definitely have some #10 Wooly Buggers in my fly boxes. I don’t expect smallmouth bass to be very active but they may.

TVA and the Corps will be generating and/or sluicing at most dams today. Check out South Holston Dam and others. You might find possibilities for tailwater fishing in the region.

Will and I will be receiving and displaying more fly tying materials today. He is working with a company in England to buy new materials for the fly tying department. This will be a first for us, importing fly tying materials from a manufacturer in another country, if it works out. Fly tying has been very popular in the UK, as it has been in the US this past year.

We are busy at the shop. It was this week last year that our business fell dramatically due to the Covid pandemic and that continued through April. We closed the shop to customers and offered curbside service in April. Great Smoky Mountains National Park closed during that month.

It is Spring here, or it looks and feels like Spring. Trees and flowers are blooming. Wildlife is active and acting differently. We removed and cleaned the bird feeders here at home. We know bears are roaming. When bears are roaming, the birds have to fend for themselves.

Have a great day and thank you for supporting us.

Byron Begley
March 16, 2021  

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com