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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:47 am, the temperature is 46.6 degrees.

It will be cloudy early, then becoming sunny with a high temperature in the middle to upper 60’s. Tomorrow will be sunny and very warm with a high in the middle 70’s. There is a chance for rain Wednesday with a high temperature only in the middle 50’s, dropping to the low 30’s at night.

Little River is flowing at 167 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.90 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 272 cfs. The water temperature is 53.2 degrees this morning.

All streams in the Smokies that have USGS gauge sites are flowing below normal for this date. Water temperatures are fair in the low to middle elevations, but they will be warming later today.

Fishing is good. Trout are taking nymphs for sure. Dry flies may work too, especially later today. I would fish in the lower elevations where the water is warmer.

Lowland rivers are flowing well, though currently below normal in most cases. Fishing is good where trout are stocked. Use nymphs and streamers. Fishing for smallmouth bass will improve some as the water warms later today.

There are breaks in the generation scheduled at some dams today, including Norris and South Holston. Until we get some heavy rain, this trend will continue. Check the TVA website to see what your options are. If you are boating, you will have more.

If you are fly fishing on a lake today, go early when we are expecting cloud cover. I talked to one of our neighbors yesterday, who fished a lake on Saturday. Where he was fishing on the Little Tennessee River, the water was chilly and fishing was slow. He told me the surface water temperature was in the low 50’s. Some lakes, or areas in lakes are probably warmer than where he was fishing. Look for warmer water temperatures and cast to the rocky banks for smallmouth bass, using streamers. You may also find active largemouth bass in the warmer water. Trout fishing below the dams feeding the lakes, where the water is cool, will be good.

We have been busy at the shop. Many people from the colder areas in the east have come here to fly fish for trout. We join North Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina as the early Spring trout fishing destination. Trout fishing in the freestone streams starts first in this region, when it is still cold to our North.

Our fly tying suppliers are telling me they are still slammed and overwhelmed. But, most of the shops they serve are in the Rockies, where Spring fishing has not started. I am seeing the fly tying business drop some, as more of our local customers and those traveling here are fishing. If and when fly tying slows, like it normally does during the warm months, I am hoping our suppliers catch up and stock better. We had a tough Winter, trying to keep the tying department stocked.

There are some items our suppliers have been out of for months.

Last year, fly tying was extremely active, even during the warmer months. I don’t think that will be the case this year. Things are different now.

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

Byron Begley
April 19, 2021   

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com