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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:18 am, the temperature outside is 61.7 degrees.
Rainfall over the past 24 hours amounted to .39 inches at the Knoxville Airport and .48” in Townsend. Light rain is still falling in Sevier County.
Today will be mostly sunny with a high temperature in the upper 60’s. There is only a slight chance for rain this morning. It will be dry and warm through Tuesday, with rain arriving again Wednesday and Thursday.
Little River is flowing at 205 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.96 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 80 cfs. The water temperature is 61.9 degrees this morning. The river is rising.
Little Pigeon River is flowing at 558 cfs, 2.13 feet, compared to median flow for the date of 135 cfs. The river has peaked and is receding.
Oconaluftee River is flowing high are rising quickly. Flow is 2,210 cfs, 3.69 feet, compared to median flow of 194 cfs. This mornings flow is a record for this date, set in 1998 at 1,220 cfs. The water temperature is 59.2 degrees.
Tellico River is flowing at 144 cfs, 1.18 feet, compared to median flow of 78 cfs.
Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 113 cfs, 2.64 feet, which compares to median flow of 43 cfs. The creek is rising quickly. The water temperature is 56.3 degrees.
This may turn out to be a good fishing day in the Smokies but that depends on when and at what point the rivers peak. If you are planning to fish on Little River this morning, a stream gauge reading of 2.5 feet is high but fishable. And, some prongs may be flowing higher than others. I checked again, and Little River is flowing at 2.56 feet right now. Earlier this morning, Little River was flowing at 1.96 feet.
Some streams may be stained temporarily. Oconaluftee River is stained now. That gauge site measures turbidity. And, the river has continued to rise since I took the readings earlier. Now, Oconaluftee is flowing at 3,210 cfs while earlier, it was flowing at 2,210 cfs.
The same thing happened yesterday morning. Little River had peaked and was receding. The rain had stopped in Townsend, but it was still raining in the Little River watershed. The water levels rose again later in the morning, after this report was uploaded.
When this is happening, you should refer to the USGS web pages from the links below to see if there have been changes in the data I post here early in the mornings. Then, make your decision on when and where to go fishing.
I would plan on using nymphs, heavily weighted and dredge the stream bottoms.
Watch for spawning trout and their beds over the next few weeks and months. The last thing you want to do is walk through a redd, where these trout have spawned. You could destroy eggs or young trout. The redds are round or oval in most cases and the color of the substrate differs from other areas of the stream. Look closely and you will see them. Wade where you know a trout would not have spawned. Pay special attention to the tails of pools.
Also, I would never intentionally fish for a spawning wild trout, on a redd. My friends who target big brown trout would not do that either. It is best to leave these trout alone to spawn. They are fun to watch. Future fishing depends on a successful spawn. There are plenty of trout in the streams that are not actively spawning on a redd. They are fair game, in my opinion. The choice is yours though.
Fishing on a trout tailwater might be a good option today, if you find a favorable generation schedule on your favorite river. Check the TVA website from the links below to plan your day.
UPDATE: MANY ROADS ARE CLOSED IN THE PARK DUE TO DOWNED TREES. YOU CAN SEE WHICH ROADS ARE CLOSED OR HAVE RE-OPENED BY CLICKING HERE.
STREAM LEVELS HAVE BEEN RISING THIS MORNING. SOME ARE TOO HIGH TO WADE. LITTLE RIVER IS RECEDING FROM A HIGH THIS MORNING OF 4 FEET. LITTLE PIGEON RIVER IS BLOWN OUT CURRENTLY. OCONALUFTEE RIVER IS FLOWING VERY HIGH. CHECK THE USGS STREAM GAUGES FROM THE LINKS BELOW BEFORE GOING.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
October 27, 2019
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com |