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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:33 am, the temperature is 23.0 degrees.
It will be sunny today and tomorrow and warmer. High temperatures will be in the low 50’s today and the upper 50’s tomorrow, with lows around 30 degrees at night.
It will be warm and wet Wednesday night through Friday. We may see a daytime temperature over 60 degrees Thursday. Rainfall through the period may reach 2 to 3 inches.
January was wet early on, but it has been dry lately. Precipitation for the month is about 1 inche above normal at the Knoxville Airport. Since December 1st, precipitation has been normal. Last year was drier during the period.
According to the Park’s Roads Twitter page, Cherokee Orchard Road, Cades Cove Loop Road, and Laurel Creek Road have re-opened. There is no mention of Little River Road or Newfound Gap road re-opening, so I assume they are still closed. That will change soon.
Little River is flowing at 181 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.95 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 289 cfs. The water temperature is 35.2 degrees this morning.
The lowland rivers are flowing lower than normal, as are most streams in the mountains. The water is cold at all elevations. Both water temperatures and stream levels will likely rise over the next few days.
There are long breaks in the generation schedules at some dams today but not at many others. Check the TVA website from the links below to see what tailwater fishing options you have.
We should all be watching the long term weather forecasts as we move into February. Right now, the one I am looking at predicts normal temperatures next week through the middle of February, which are not bitter cold like it has been. After the warming trend this week, we should get back to normal again.
What we are waiting for in the mountain streams and lowland rivers is a sustained water temperature near 50 degrees. When that happens, fishing will be good unless the streams are flowing high. When the water temps reach 50 degrees, aquatic insects and trout will be active. When the lowland rivers warm closer to 60 degrees, smallmouth bass will be active.
These conditions can occur in late February. We have seen that happen during the past 10 to 15 years or so. Maybe this will be one of those years.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
January 31, 2022
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com
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