Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:40 am, the temperature is 46 degrees.

The warming trend continues to improve fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains. It will be sunny today with a high temperature in the upper 70’s, dropping to the high 50’s tonight. Tomorrow will be breezy, partly sunny, with a high in the low 80’s and a low in the high 50’s. Rain will arrive overnight.

Saturday’s forecast includes showers, possibly a thunderstorm, breezy conditions, but still warm temperatures with a high in the middle 70’s. Sunday will be sunny with a high in the low 70’s.

Little River is flowing at 301 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.34 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 398 cfs. The water temperature is 47.7 degrees this morning.

Most streams in the mountains are flowing at or below normal. Rain fell in the Tellico River basin, causing the river to rise above normal. The river is receding now.  

The streams are warming which is good news. Fishing will improve in the free flowing rivers each day this week except for the possibility of higher water Saturday. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. Otherwise, trout will be actively feeding.

If you go today, fish in the lower elevations where the water is warmer. Weighted nymphs or nymph rigs will work for sure. You may see trout feeding on aquatic insects on the surface later today and through the week. If you do, switch to a dry and dropper rig. The dropper could be a nymph or emerger pattern.

Fishing for stocked trout in the low elevation rivers is good and will continue to improve through the week as the rivers warm. Sub-surface flies will probably work best. Try weighted nymphs, eggs, squirmy worms, caddis pupa, midge pupa or small streamers.

Fishing for smallmouth bass will improve in the lowland rivers this week. Nymphs or streamers will work best for you.

TVA and the Corps will be offering tailwater anglers some breaks in the generation today. Click through the list of dams from the links below to see what options are available for you.

Park Burson from Orvis spent a few hours with us yesterday. It is always great to see Park. We have been friends for over 20 years. He has been on the road for 5 weeks and we were his last stop before going home.

We are having a good year so far at the shop. There are two compelling reasons. First, we are a great staff who are willing to help customers in every way. We will welcome a new staff person in a few days who you will really like. Second, we kept the store stocked extremely well during the Winter months and that is the case now. I don’t remember when we have had this much inventory. “You can’t sell out of an empty wagon”.

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

Byron Begley
March 23, 2023

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Parking Tags are now required to park your vehicle inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park for more than 15 minutes. Tags may be purchased at Visitors Centers, including the center in Townsend. Or, they may be purchased online. You can buy a daily, weekly or annual tag. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com