Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:39 am, the temperature in Townsend is 36 degrees.

It is going to be warm day and night through the weekend. Today will be sunny with a high in the low 70’s and a low tonight in the middle 40’s.

Tomorrow will be sunny with a high temperature around 80 degrees with a low in the middle 50’s overnight.

We can expect showers and thunderstorms Friday, with a high around 70 degrees and a low in the low 50’s. It will be breezy.

Little River is flowing at 573 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.72 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 350 cfs. The water temperature is 46.9 degrees this morning.

Some streams in the Smokies are still flowing quite a bit higher than normal while others are flowing much closer to normal. The streams will continue to recede today and tomorrow. You may find swift water at times so be careful wading.

The good news is, water temperatures will rise to the trout’s preferred range. I think we’ll see water temperatures of 50 degrees or warmer later today and continue through the weekend in the low elevations. When we reach 50 degrees, we will see trout and aquatic insects become more active.

If you go fishing in the Smokies be ready for anything. You might only catch trout on nymphs. But you may also find trout feeding on the surface, especially late today, tomorrow and beyond. Blue Quills and Quill Gordons are what we expect to be active this time of the year. Fish in the low elevations where the water is warmer.

Fishing for stocked trout in the low elevation rivers is improving as water levels fall and the water warms. Try nymphs or other sub-surface flies but you should also have some dry fiies and  mayfly emergers in your box just in case.

TVA and the Corps will be generating all day at almost every dam. I did not see many tailwater wade fishing options. Check the TVA website and you may see some opportunities I missed this morning.

Some early Spring anglers are traveling to the Smokies to fish. We are also seeing a lot of young families with kids traveling due the it being Spring Break.

I looks like Spring here for sure. I’m seeing some trees turning green and many flowering trees in full bloom. Wildflowers are in bloom. I noticed bright yellow forsythia yesterday for the first time this Spring.

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

Byron Begley
March 13, 2024

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Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com