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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:45 am, the temperature is 68.5 degrees.

Thunderstorms moved through Townsend and portions of the Smoky Mountains overnight. Up to .60” of rain fell at personal weather stations in the area. The first storm woke me at 2:00 am.

It will be cooler today with a high temperature in the low 80’s. Showers and possibly thunderstorms are likely today. It will be sunny and cooler tomorrow, with a high in the low 80’s.

Little River is flowing at 121 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.69 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 139 cfs. The river is rising quickly. The water temperature is 72.0 degrees this morning.

Other streams in the Smokies that have USGS gauge sites do not appear to be affected by the storms, at least not yet. Most are flowing below normal. Tellico River is flowing higher than normal, which has been the case for several days.

Little River may continue to rise and could be stained. Or, the rising water could peak soon and recede. That may be the case in other streams. It is too early to tell right now.

The streams are very warm in the low elevations. Fish higher where the water is cooler. Dry flies and nymphs will work. A dry  and nymph dropper rig is a good choice. Larger buggy looking terrestrials would be my choice for a dry fly and a Green Weenie or smaller bead head fly would be trailing the dry fly.

Some lowland rivers exiting the mountains are flowing below normal. Little River just rose above normal within the last couple of minutes and it is still rising. Lower Little River may be stained. It will be mostly cloudy today, which is a benefit. Fish the deeper pools and runs with poppers, foam floating flies, streamers, nymphs or crayfish patterns. This could be a good smallmouth fishing day, depending on the water conditions.

I checked the generation schedules at Center Hill, Cherokee, Douglas and Norris dams and found pretty much the same results. There are periods of no generation with pulsing in the mornings with discharges planned later. Check the TVA website before going fishing on your favorite tailwater to plan your day.

This may be an ideal day to fish on one of the many lakes in the area. It is predicted to be overcast. Winds should be out of the west at 5 to 10 miles per hour. There is a good chance for scattered rain and thunderstorms. One weather website puts the chance at 60% while another is indicating a 70% chance. I would go. Fish the banks with poppers, foam floating flies, streamers or swimming nymphs. Enjoy the cooler conditions while we have it.

August has arrived. We always see less tourists in August. Kids are going back to school. Young families will be at home. This happens every year, and has for at least the past 26 years we have been in business. There should be less people visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park this month and it would normally remain that way until Fall. We’ll see what happens this year.

I looked at the USGS Little River page one more time. The river is still rising. I am happy to see that.

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

Byron Begley
August 1, 2021

WALTER BABB MADE BAMBOO FLY RODS FOR SALE – CLICK HERE

Walter is selling a selection of over 50 bamboo fly rods. All but one was made by him. The other one was custom made for Walter by Walton Powell. Read the description of each rod on the list and contact him if you are interested in buying one or more than one. Even if you are not interested in a purchase, this web page is very interesting to read. Walter has made over 285 bamboo rods over the past 20-years. You will be working directly with Walter on a purchase and you can test cast the rods before you buy one at his home. Or, call him and he will ship a rod to you. His contact information is on the web page he and I created.

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com