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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:55 am, the temperature outside is 36.5 degrees.

Today will be sunny and warm with no rain expected. A warm front is moving in to stay for three days. Expect highs in the upper 60’s to low 70’s in Townsend, today through Wednesday. Rain is coming Thursday and Friday.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PREDICTED HIGHS AND LOWS TODAY

Little River is flowing at 253 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.14 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 80 cfs. The water temperature is 50.5 degrees this morning.

Water temperatures in the higher elevations are cold right now. For instance, the temp at Cataloochee Creek is 44.6 degrees this morning. The streams will warm over the next three days thanks to warm days and nights.

If you plan to fish early this morning, you will probably do best in the lowest elevations. Later today, fish the mid-elevations after the water warms somewhat. If you like fishing the high elevation streams, wait a day or so.

Flows are perfect for fly fishing for trout. All streams are flowing above median flow. Streams are normally very low right now.

I would start out, fishing with nymphs, then switch to dry flies if you see blue wing olives, midges or other insects on the water, and trout feeding on them. Otherwise, I think the trout will be fairly inactive on top and hopefully feeding on sub-surface nymphs.

I don’t know how warm the streams will be later today and through Wednesday or Thursday, but they will be warmer and fishing will get better in the higher elevations.
I remember when I started fly fishing in the Smoky Mountains, almost 40 years ago. I had fly fished for trout in other places, including out west and on tailwaters. I found fishing in the Southern Appalachians to be different and difficult. Back then, there were no fly shops in this area that I knew of. If there were fly fishing guides, I did not know about them. I struggled to catch trout in the Smokies at first. Over time, I learned some of the tricks.

I think most people who fly fish in these streams, at first, try to cast too far and wade too much. I think they may fish in the same spot too long, instead of moving on. High gradient streams make it difficult to get a good drift at long distances, due to the conflicting currents. The trout are wild and spooky. The water is clear. There are tree branches everywhere to get hung in.

I know there are anglers who fish here and struggle too, just like I did. I talk to people often who share the same frustrations I did long ago.

I talked to a young man at Fly Tyers Weekend who is trying hard to learn, but not catching many trout.

I told him he should hire a fly fishing guide for a day. Doing that can change your life, and cut the learning curve by a huge amount of frustrating time. What you will learn to do, is probably not what you expected at all.

We are not in the guiding business. We recommend guides we know well and trust. Three guides actually teach at our school. If you hire one, you will be working directly with them. We don’t make money when you hire them. They keep it all.

Rob Fightmaster, David Knapp and Josh Pfeiffer are excellent choices. You can find their contact information by CLICKING HERE. The specialize in teaching you to fly fish in the Smoky Mountains. All three teach at our school.

If you want to learn to fish on the tailwaters, there are more guides on that page who we recommend. There are other guides who are not on that page, and are also good choices.

I have used guides to help me all of my adult life and earlier than that. My father hired guides to help me when I was a kid.

When I was talking to the young man this weekend, Joe walked by. I remember when Joe started fly fishing in the Smokies. And, I know he has hired Rob Fightmaster to help him learn. Joe told this fellow, “A guide can make the difference between catching 5 fish a day and 30 fish a day”. I’ll take that one step further, one day with a guide may change your odds from catching zero fish a day to 30 fish a day.

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

Byron Begley
October 30, 2018

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com