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 5:15 am, the temperature outside is 70.0 degrees.

We have a 50% to 60% chance for thunderstorms today and tonight. The high temperature will be in the low 80’s. There is also a chance for thunderstorms tomorrow morning.

Little River is flowing at 80 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.59 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 103 cfs. The water temperature is 70 degrees this morning.

Little Pigeon River is flowing higher than normal at 300 cfs, 1.74 feet, compared to median flow of 176 cfs.

Oconaluftee River, Tellico River and Cataloochee Creek are all flowing at or slightly above median flow this morning.

Fishing is good. I talked to several customers who had returned from fishing yesterday. They all did fair to very well. Nymph and dry fly fishing was good. One person I talked to did not do well using dry flies.

I would fish the higher elevations where the water is cooler. The East Prong of Little River above Elkmont is a good choice. Upper Middle Prong and Lynn Camp Prong are other good spots to fish.

I would use a dry and dropper. My dropper would be a Green Weenie.

It will be mostly cloudy today, which is a good condition for fishing in the Smokies. The rain is predicted to begin after 11 am.

Some lowland rivers are flowing at a normal level today. Though Little River is flowing lower than median flow at Townsend, it is flowing higher than normal downstream at the Maryville gauge. You might encounter stained water later today, if thunderstorms affect the watershed.

I would use foam floating flies or poppers.

This will be a good lake fishing day, thanks to the overcast skies. Use poppers, foam floating flies, streamers or Rubber Legged Dragons. You might get chased off the lake by a thunderstorm.

I don’t see many tailwater trout fishing opportunities today. Maybe you can make something work for you, especially if you are boating. Refer to the TVA generation schedules from the links below to find out.

Cades Cove and the campground will be closed for about two months while repairs are made to the tunnel on Laurel Creek Road. The closing date will be January 3rd, 2020. During that time, the Park will open Elkmont Campground for campers.

The tunnel will be closed off and heated for the Winter repairs.

The tunnel, known as the Bote Mountain Tunnel, was built in 1948.

You can learn more on the WBIR website by CLICKING HERE.

The stream you seen in one of the photos is the West Prong of Little River. That stream is full of rainbow trout, mostly smaller fish. I have always loved fishing near the tunnel except for one thing. Motorists love to honk their horns in tunnels. I don’t get it, and I don’t like it. That is something you have to put up with when fishing near the tunnel. Still, that is a great little stream to fish and it is very quick to get to from Townsend.

It is 6:00 am and it is raining at our house. In fact, it is raining hard. I guess I won’t have to blow off the parking lot at the shop this morning. Wet leaves don’t blow well.

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

Byron Begley
August 27, 2019

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com