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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:53 am, the temperature is 49.5 degrees.

We will enjoy cool Fall temperatures with no rain predicted today, and through the weekend. The high temperature today will be in the upper 60’s falling to the low 50’s tonight. Highs in the 60’s will continue each day through the weekend. Lows will dip to the 40’s each night through Sunday.

Much more than predicted rainfall once again affected river levels in the mountains. 1.8 inches fell yesterday on top of .59” before midnight, the night before, for a total of 2.39 inches in Townsend. About an inch was predicted.

Less rain fell at the Knoxville Airport, as the weather system with the heaviest rain moved through to the east. This has been an extremely wet year. Rainfall for the year so far at the airport total 55.48 inches, compared to normal of 36.73 inches, an 18.75 inch difference. Last year at this point the airport had recorded 48.26 inches. Last year was the second wettest year on record in the Tennessee Valley. 2018 was the wettest year on record in the valley.

Little River is flowing at 1,110 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 3.47 feet on the gauge. The river peaked yesterday at slightly over 4 feet. Median flow for this date is 81 cfs. The water temperature is 56.7 degrees this morning.

Little Pigeon River is flowing at 2,730 cfs, 4.17 feet, compared to median flow of 173 cfs. The river peaked at over 5 feet yesterday afternoon.

Oconaluftee River is flowing at 1,200 cfs, 2.73 feet, which compares to median flow of 214 cfs for this date. The river peaked at over 3 feet yesterday.

Tellico River is flowing at 827 cfs, 2.83 feet, compared to median flow of 74 cfs. The river peaked at 4 feet yesterday.

Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 178 cfs, 2.89 feet, compared to median flow of 44 cfs.

It appears the heaviest rain fell on the Tennessee side of the Park. Little Pigeon River and Little River are flowing too high to safely wade today. All the streams are receding. Fishing will improve every day through the weekend as the water recedes. You may find some streams fishable today, especially to our east.

Water temperatures are plunging but they are well withing the trout’s preferred range. This trend will continue through the weekend. You may find better fishing later in the morning after the streams have warmed later this week. Temperatures are predicted to fall into the 30’s Friday night in the higher elevations.

Most lowland rivers are flowing high. I saw Little River twice yesterday. It was flowing very high and stained in town. Fishing in these rivers will improve every day through the weekend.

I took a quick look at the TVA website and found long periods of generation today at many dams. If you are planning to fish on a tailwater today, check the predicted generation schedules to see what you think.

I do not know what to expect on the lakes today except, it may be breezy. We should expect sustained winds at 5 to 10 mph and gusts to 20 miles per hour. Some lakes may be stained. We have had a lot of rainfall two weeks in a row. We have many impoundments in the area, nine of them. You know your favorite lake better than I do unless you fish the ones I do. I usually fish the lakes on the Little Tennessee River and I think they will be clear. I don’t know that for sure. They may all be clear. They could all be stained.

We will wake up tomorrow to October. I love October. The trees turn into their Fall display. That is something we all enjoy living here or visiting the Smokies. Brook trout and brown trout will be spawning. We will love watching that. Cooler, comfortable temperatures will give us relief from the heat we endured this Summer.

October is normally dry, our driest month of the year. We normally complain about that. I bet we will not be complaining about low water this October. The long term forecast shows only a slight chance each day through mid-month. Maybe we will be compaining.  

Bears are foraging for the hard mast, preparing to den for the Winter. Top on their menu now are acorns. The acorns falling around our house were tiny. Now we are seeing larger acorns on the ground. A small bear wandered by our house early last evening. Paula saw it up close but by the time I caught a glimpse, it was over 50 feet away. We have seen more individual bears this year than ever before at our house.

I wonder how many we don’t see?

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

Byron Begley
September 30, 2020

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com