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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:27 am, the temperature outside is 29.5 degrees.

Today will be mostly sunny with a high temperature near 50 degrees. The low temperature tonight should be near the freezing mark. Tomorrow will be sunny again with a high in the upper 50’s dipping to the low 40’s at night. Wednesday will be nice. Rain returns to the forecast Thursday.

Little River is flowing at 1,950 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 4.53 feet on the flow gauge near Townsend. Median flow for this date is 331 cfs. The water temperature is 47.3 degrees this morning.

Little Pigeon River is flowing at 3,900 cfs, 4.99 feet, compared to median flow for this date of 568 cfs.

Oconaluftee River is flowing at 3,900 cfs (exactly the same as Little Pigeon), 4.95 feet, compared to median flow of 655 cfs.

Tellico River is flowing at 1,760 cfs, 4.76 feet, compared to median flow of 306 cfs.

Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 1,080, a record for this date. The gauge reading is 4.68 feet. Median flow for this date is 134 cfs.

The streams are still flowing very high though they have receded considerably since Saturday. Wading is dangerous in the Smokies.

Some roads in the Park are closed due to downed trees and flooding. They include: Highway 441 (Newfound Gap Road), Little River Road from Sugarlands to Townsend and the Cades Cove Loop Road. Hopefully they will open later today.

For those who did not read the fishing report this weekend, we got a lot of rain. Townsend recorded over 4 inches while to our west and north, 6 inches of more rain fell Saturday. The South US is still recovering from the flooding and violent storms.

Little River missed reaching flood stage by 6 inches, at 7.5 feet on the gauge. Flooding was bad in Knoxville and in areas to our west. Less rain fell in the Smoky Mountains and in Townsend, than was recorded in other areas. It could have been much worse in the mountains.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is holding back water at their tributary dams, to avoid worse flooding in the Tennessee River. Norris Lake is above Summer pool. Other lakes are much higher than TVA would like to see them be at this point. They will probably be releasing water at those dams soon, to create more storage capacity.

Mother Nature has not been friendly to fly fishermen in the valley for a while. Last year was the wettest on record in the Tennessee Valley. This year is starting out worse. So far this year, the Knoxville Airport has recorded 17.81 inches of rain, compared to normal of 7.98 inches, since January 1st. That is a 9.83 inch surplus in two months.

Since December 1st, 25.31 inches of rain fell at the Airport, compared to normal of 12.48 inches, a 12.83 inch surplus. Basically, we have had twice as much rain as normal.  

We have had very high water in the mountains at times. Tailwater anglers have seen the rivers flowing too high to fish during the past few months.

We don’t want to see a drought, but less rain would be nice.

What amazes me is, our business has held up well. Last year was one of the best we’ve had. This year is starting out better than last year.

The fly tying department is performing extremely well. I worked all weekend receiving and displaying materials and tools that arrived Friday. Today and tomorrow, I will re-order again. I suppose fly fishermen have more time to tie flies, due to less opportunities to go fishing.

Our fly tying department is much larger than most. It is well stocked, though some materials are hard to get right now, especially dry fly hackle and some hooks. Everything else is plentiful and we’ve got it. The department is re-stocked every week.

Managing the fly tying department is a full time job for one person. We all pitch in as a team to keep it running smoothly so nobody has to do it all. We package our spooled items, like thread, wire and tinsel. That takes a lot of time but it makes it easier for you to shop for them. And, it makes it easier for us to track the inventory, because each item has a unique number and barcode.

I don’t know when the streams in the Smokies will be fishable again. They seem to be receding quicker than I thought they would. That depends heavily on how much rain we get later this week.

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

Byron Begley
February 25, 2019

NOTICE: Great Smoky Mountains head fisheries biologist Matt Kulp will be giving the State of the Park Fisheries Address at the Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited's February meeting. Date: Tuesday February 26th.

The chapter meetings are held at Barley's Restaurant in downtown Maryville, Tennessee. Social hour begins at 6 pm. The meeting starts at 7:00 pm. You do not have to be a TU member to attend. Newcomers are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited has partnered with Great Smoky Mountains National Park, voluneering and raising funding, since 1993.

Fly Tying Classes January, February and March 2019 Taught by Walter Babb and Brian Courtney Beginner to Advanced CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Respond to: info@littleriveroutfitters.com