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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:51 am, the temperature is 30.0 degrees.

It will be sunny today, with a high temperature in the upper 40’s, falling to the mid-30’s tonight. Rain will return tonight, though it is not expected to be heavy but tomorrow will be wet too. We could get another half on an inch or more. Expect rain Wednesday night mixed with snow before ending.

Heavy rain fell night before last and into the morning. 1.7 inches was recorded at a personal weather station near our home before the rain finally moved out. Streams in the Smokies were rising quickly when I wrote the fishing report early yesterday morning. They rose much further before beginning to recede. They are still flowing high.

Little River is flowing at 859 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 3.24 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 255 cfs. The river rose to over four feet on the gauge yesterday. The water temperature is 44.4 degrees this morning.

Little Pigeon River is flowing high at 2,760 cfs, 4.19 feet, compared to median flow of 333 cfs. The river rose to almost seven feet yesterday at the Sevierville gauge.

Oconaluftee River is flowing at 1,090 cfs, 2.64 feet, compared to median flow of 438 cfs.

Tellico River is flowing at 718 cfs, 2.60 feet, which compares to median flow of 199 cfs for this date.

Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 298 cfs, 3.26 feet, compared to median flow of 84 cfs. The creek rose to over 4 feet yesterday.

What we have this morning is still very high water in the Smokies. This will not be an ideal fishing day in the Park. You could stand in safe water and “high stick” heavy nymphs. I would fish in the low elevations where the water is warmer. Be careful wading. The rivers are swift.

Jack reminds me from time to time, “fish love water”.  

Lowland rivers are flowing very high. Wading will be limited. This is not a good day to be fishing on the larger rivers in the valleys.

TVA and the Corps of Engineers will be generating heavily at most dams in the Tennessee Valley today. I did see some breaks in a couple of schedules that I checked. If you are boating or floating with a guide, you may have some options. Check the TVA website from the links below before going.

I don’t know what to expect on the lakes today or actually anytime during the Winter months. I just don’t do that anymore. The wind will be calm today. It will be sunny and feel fairly warm. If I decided to launch our boat and fish, I would use heavily weighted streamers, cast to the banks and retrieve slowly, letting the flies drop deep.

Today looks to be a good fly tying day to me.

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

Byron Begley
December 15, 2020

Buy a Walter Babb made bamboo fly rod or his beautiful 10- dozen flies for charity.

“Due to Covid-19, there will not be a Needy Family Fund Auction this year. I made a rod and tied some flies for the Auction this Spring, so I will be selling them and the proceeds will go to the Needy Family Fund.

Th rod is an 8’ 0” 2 piece 6-weight Stan’s Blackfoot, a great taper from Stan Smartt. This is a single tip rod. The price is $850 plus sales tax.

There is also a box of 10 dozen of my favorite nymphs and wet flies. The price is $253.95 plus sales tax if you are a Tennessee resident.

If interested, call Walter Babb at 423-337-6772. I have many other rods, in case someone wants a rod for lighter lines or a shorter small stream type rod.”

Walter   

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com