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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:49 am, the temperature is 39.0 degrees.

We may see snow flurries early today with a high temperature in the low 40’s falling to the low 30’s tonight. Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy and slightly warmer, reaching a high in the upper 40’s.

Newfound Gap Road from Gatlinburg to Cherokee is still closed due to snow and ice. Most other roads are open, including Little River Road, Laurel Creek Road and the Cades Cove Loop Road.

Little River is flowing at 193 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.93 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 281 cfs. The water temperature is 39.7 degrees this morning.

All streams in the Smokies that have USGS gauge sites are flowing below normal, cold and clear.

Fishing is slow in the mountains due to the cold water conditions. If you go, use weighted nymph rigs, fished deep where the trout are hunkered down. Trout do not need to eat when the water is this cold. Their metabolism slows and they become lethargic. When food is scarce, the trout survive through the cold Winters.

Lowland river fishing is slow. Try fishing the sections of rivers that are stocked with trout. Nymphs or egg patterns might entice a trout or two. Smallmouth bass and other lowland river species are inactive.

There are breaks in the generation schedules at several dams today. You may find some tailwater trout fishing options by visiting the TVA website from the links below. Maybe you can work with some of the schedules, especially if you are boating.

People are not fishing often during January, but they are tying flies. We have been increasing our inventory in the fly tying department. If our suppliers are out of stock on some items, which has been happening, our goal is to have enough on hand in the shop until those items are available again. The plan is working.

We enlarged the department last Fall. I’ve never seen it look so good. I spent the day yesterday ordering again. We are ordering weekly now from many of our suppliers.

Actually, our whole shop has never looked so good. It is clean, organized and we are very busy as a result. New merchandise has arrived for Spring and there is more to come.

I worked nine days straight through yesterday and I will be off today. I will go in early to sanitize surfaces, something I do every morning. I don’t notice the smell of bleach anymore.  I will run some reports and check the online store for fly tying orders that came in overnight. Then I’m coming home to relax.

I really appreciate all of you supporting all of us at Little River Outfitters. As a team, we are dedicated to serving you in the best way possible and I think we do it very well.

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

Byron Begley
January 18, 2021

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com