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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:24 am, the temperature outside is 39.7 degrees.

It will be sunny today and tomorrow with high temperatures in the low 60’s today and the upper 60’s tomorrow. The low temperatures both nights will be in the low to mid 40’s.

Rain is in the forecast Saturday night and Sunday.

It rained yesterday, finally. The Knoxville Airport reported .55 inches. We got .59 inches in Townsend. Some areas in the Park probably got more.

The area streams were affected positively by the rain.

Little River is flowing at 83.3 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.48 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is lower than actual flow at 79 cfs. The water temperature is 57.9 degrees.

Little Pigeon River is flowing at 131 cfs, 1.25 feet, compared to median flow for this date of 116 cfs.

Oconaluftee River is flowing at 204 cfs, 1.33 feet, compared to median flow of 186 cfs. The water temperature is 54.7 degrees.

Tellico River is flowing at 84.7 cfs, .89 feet, compared to median flow of 73 cfs.

Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 31.2 cfs, 2.17 feet, compared to median flow of 40 cfs. The water temperature is 51.4 degrees.

Fishing conditions in the Smokies are very good. Fishing has improved. Flows are normal and water temperatures are excellent in the low to mid elevations. The streams will be receding today, through Saturday, then more rain is expected. The long term forecast through the end of October looks promising for fishing in the mountains. It will continue to be cool, with a good chance for rain on several days through the period.

Dry flies may work. I would use attractor patterns like a Parachute Adams, Orange Stimulator or an Elk Hair Caddis. Nymphs might work better. Drop a weighted nymph off your dry fly or fish them alone and deep.

This is what we have been anxiously waiting for.

Lowland river fishing for smallmouth bass and other fishes has improved. Floating flies might work. Streamers and nymphs might work better. Go early or late, or fish shaded areas during the day.

You might find a favorable generation schedule on your favorite tailwater today, depending on when you can go and where. Check the TVA website from the links below to plan your day. In a couple of cases, you should be there right now.

I am bulking up the fly tying department, knowing that Fly Tyers Weekend is upcoming in a couple of weeks. There will be a lot of fly tyers in town. Don’t miss this event. It is Free. It will be held at Tremont Lodge on November 2nd & 3rd. We have over 50 fly tying demonstrators lined up for you to watch and talk to all weekend. Learn more by CLICKING HERE.

We have been working on the wading department too. I think we have more waders and wading boots than I can remember. Our goal is to keep a near full stock, always. To do this, we will be ordering once a week from Simms, Orvis, Korkers and Chota. In some cases, we may be ordering twice a week. Orders will be placed before the last order arrives in some cases.

A list is posted in the wading department. I will update the list as orders are placed or received. If we are out of a size, we will be able to tell you when that item is expected to be in stock. Shipping times vary. Simms, Orvis and Chota get to us quickly, usually within 7 days. Korkers is shipped from the West Coast so those boots cross through five shipping zones. We anticipate getting Korkers products in about 10 days after they are ordered.

Orders will be placed every Monday, so they will be filled, on the way and hopefully arrive by the weekend or the following Monday.

We’ll see how this works out. I think this is a huge improvement. The wading department has never been this organized.

I did something similar to this in the fly tying department over a year ago. That department’s sales grew unbelievably and it continues to grow. I can’t remember for sure, but I think sales in the department are up 40% over last year, year to date. You don’t see many fly tying departments like ours. Whiting hackle and some Tiemco hooks are still hard to get. Fulfillment from Tiemco seems to be improving. I placed a large order from Whiting Farms two weeks ago and it still has not arrived. The last one took a month to get. They are busy and low on stock. They are great people to work with.

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

Byron Begley
October 17, 2019

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com