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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:33 am, the temperature is 68.9 degrees.

It will be mostly sunny today with a slight chance for thunderstorms and a high temperature around 84 degrees. Showers and thunderstorms are likely tomorrow, Friday and Saturday. High temperatures during the period will be in the low to middle 80’s.

Remnants of Tropical Depression Fred arrived early yesterday morning. It rained all day. Weather stations reported high rainfall totals which are:

Knoxville Airport – 2.81” which was a record for the date
Fox Hollow Personal Weather Station in Townsend near our shop – 5.16”
Old Tuckaleechee Personal Weather Station near our house – 4.71”
TVA Rain Gauge at Cades Cove – 3.66”
TVA Rain Gauge at Cosby – 2.84”
TVA Rain Gauge at Gatlinburg – 3.43”

Streams in the mountains are flowing extremely high, with each USGS gauge site indicating records have been set for this date and of course, yesterday. Current readings are:

Little River – 5.32 feet or 2,800 cubic feet per second (cfs). Little River rose to over 8’ at the Townsend gauge yesterday. Flood stage is 7’.

Little Pigeon River at Sevierville – 8.56 feet or 11,300 cfs.

Oconaluftee River at Birdtown – 4.64 feet or 3,450 cfs.

Tellico River at Tellico Plains – 6.28 feet or 2,630 cfs

Cataloochee Creek – 3.93 feet or 607 cfs.

Most if not all streams in the mountains are flowing high, probably stained and too dangerous to wade. Lowland rivers flowing out of the mountains are flowing high and unsafe to wade.

You might find some tailwater fishing opportunities today. TVA is flushing a lot of water through and over the dams on the Tennessee River. They will likely hold back water at the tributary dams until the larger rivers recede. Check the TVA website to see what tailwater fly fishing options you have.

Lake fishing may be fine today. I think some lakes will be stained, especially those on the Tennessee River.

I believe we will enjoy good stream flows in the Smokies for a while. Soon, we will also enjoy cooler days and nights, allowing us to fish the larger rivers in the lower elevations. Though this recent storm is causing poor fishing conditions temporarily, we will benefit from the rain in the longer term.

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

Byron Begley
August 18, 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