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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:36 am, the temperature is 44.1 degrees.
Rain is possible early today and more likely this afternoon with a high temperature in the upper 60’s. It may be windy at times. Showers are likely tonight and thunderstorms are possible. There is a chance for showers tomorrow morning before clearing later in the day. It will be breezy again tomorrow with a high temperature in the low 60’s and a low in the high 30’s. Sunday will be sunny with a high in the low 60’s.
Little River is flowing at 549 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.68 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 387 cfs. The water temperature is 51.8 degrees this morning.
Some streams in the Smokies are flowing higher than normal, including Little River and its tributaries. Some anglers I talked to yesterday were complaining about the high water conditions. Many species of aquatic insects are active. Water temperatures are good in the low elevations.
I would start using weighted nymph rigs today. A Euro Nymph rig with a heavy anchor fly at the bottom to get your flies down is a good tactic. A good choice for your bottom anchor fly is a Perdigon type nymph. These flies are tied with heavy tungsten beads. Perdigons have a tapering slender body that sinks quickly and stays deep in the water column. Many are tied on jig hooks.
You might also try dry flies with a wet fly trailing behind, especially if you see trout feeding on the surface. Or, try fishing a dry fly alone. A Parachute Adams is a good dry fly pattern in three sizes from #12 to #16.
With the water temperatures where they are in the low elevations, trout will be active. Look for water temperatures in the 50’s. If the water is colder than that, trout may be sluggish.
Fishing for stocked trout is good in the lowland rivers flowing out of the mountains. Nymphs, squirmy worms, mop flies and small streamers are good fly choices. Again, you might try heavily weighted Euro style nymph rigs. You can learn to make a Euro Nymph rig on YouTube.
TVA and the Corps are flushing a lot of water through the dams, mostly by generating. I did see a long afternoon pause at Chatuge Dam, just like yesterday. Maybe that will work for you if you live nearby. They will be generating day and night at many dams, trying to lower the lakes to create water storage capacity. Check the TVA website yourself to see if there are fishing opportunities at your favorite tailwater. I did not look at the schedule for every dam.
It is Spring Break in many areas of the country and we are seeing many visitors in town. Some are anglers, here for their first Spring fishing trip. Others are young families with children. They stop in the shop, to see what fly fishing is all about. Official Spring begins Sunday.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
March 18, 2022
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com
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