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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:44 am, the temperature outside is 36.1 degrees.

Today will be sunny and very cool. It will be breezy, especially in the higher elevations of the Smokies. Areas in and around the Park are subject to a frost advisory or freeze warning this morning and tonight. Monday will be sunny and quite a bit warmer.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PREDICTED HIGHS AND LOWS TODAY

Little River is flowing at 205 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.00 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 77 cfs. The water temperature is 55.9 degrees this morning.

Little Pigeon River is flowing fairly high at the Sevierville gauge. The current flow is 566 cfs, compared to median flow of 137 cfs for this date. All streams in the Smokies are likely flowing above normal today.

Stream flows are very good, though some may be flowing fairly high. Little River is flowing about perfect, much higher than normal in October, which is a month when streams are flowing very low. Higher water is best for fishing. We’ve got that.

Water temperatures at most elevations are within the trout’s preferred range, almost perfect. You may find cold water in the highest elevations this morning and tomorrow morning. The mid to low elevation temperatures are great.

Now that we have had or will have our first freeze in the mountains, terrestrial insect activity will decrease. As we transition into late Fall with colder temperatures, aquatic insect activity is changing. There will be some aquatic insects on the water during the cold months. You will begin to see more midges, blue wing olives and small black stoneflies in the future.

This time of the year, when it is colder, most fly fishermen use nymphs, that mimic aquatic insects. When you see a hatch of blue wing olives, by all means switch to dry flies or emergers.

We will see cooler water today and tomorrow, then the temps may rise some later this week. Still, I would use nymphs. You may be out of practice, if you fished using mostly dry flies through the warm months.

I think presentation is more important than fly choice right now. Your sub-surface flies need to drift and the same rate of speed as the current, without drag. If you can do that most of the time, you will be successful. You can use the “high sticking” technique or strike indicators.

Leaves are falling in the water and there will be many more to come. So, you will be catching more leaves than you did this Summer.

Cold water does not hold dissolved solids well. That is why the streams appear clearer during the cold months. When the water is clear, stealth is even more important. When it is sunny, you may not see many trout out in the open, unless they are feeding on the surface due to a hatch or spawning. Fish the broken water or deep.

Fall conditions are finally here. Fall and even Winter can be an enjoyable time to fly fish. Some days, you have pretty much got it all to yourself. During the cold months, fishing is different. When the water gets really cold, the trout’s metabolism slows. They do not need as much food. They are not as active as they were during the warmer months. But, they can still be caught, unless the water becomes extremely cold. I don’t think we’ll see that happen anytime soon, at least in the lower elevations.

Get out and enjoy this beautiful day. I think fishing will be fine.

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

Byron Begley
October 21, 2018

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com