Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:40 am, the temperature in Townsend is 43 degrees.

Today will be mostly sunny with a high temperature in the middle 70’s, dropping to the upper 40’s tonight.

There is a chance for showers tomorrow, with a high in the middle 70’s and a low in the low 50’s. Rain will continue tomorrow night and Wednesday.

Little River is flowing at 442 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.49 feet on the gauge. We consider 2.5 feet on the gauge as being on the high side of good. Median flow for this date is 364 cfs. The water temperature is 49.1 degrees this morning.

Streams and rivers in the Smokies have receded to about normal or a little higher than normal. Most if not all streams are fishable, though they may be flowing higher than some anglers prefer. I talked to a customer yesterday who fished at Abrams Creeks and told me the water was higher than he likes.

The big news is water temperature. Stream temperatures are holding near or higher than 50 degrees in the low elevations. That is within the trout’s preferred range. The fish are hungry and feeding.

These water temperatures will also cause many aquatic insects to become active. We should see some Spring hatches this week. You may see Quill Gordons, Blue Quills, Blue Wing Olives and other insects on the water. When the trout become accustomed to seeing food on the surface, they will begin feed on the surface.

When that happens, switch to a dry fly and possibly an emerger dropper. Wet flies are a good choice. The hatches can be sporadic and short lived. Fish in the low elevations where the water is warmer.

Fishing for stocked trout in the lower elevations is good. Nymphs and other sub-surface flies will probably work best.

The turbines will be churning at most dams today which may not work well for wading tailwater anglers. If you are boating there are more options. Check the TVA website to see what tailwater fishing options you have today.

Fly fishing Spring has finally arrived. There will be some cold nights in the near future so fishing may slow temporarily at times. After all, it is March. And, we have had cold temperatures in early April before. Right now, fishing conditions are good.

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

Byron Begley
March 4, 2024

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Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com