Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:55 am, the temperature is 35 degrees.

Today will be sunny with a high temperature in the middle 60’s and a low tonight in the low to middle 40’s. Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy with a chance for showers. The high temperature will be in the middle to upper 60’s with a low in the low 50’s overnight. Tuesday will be sunny and very warm, with a high in the low 80’s.

Little River is flowing at 275 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.28 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 357 cfs. The water temperature is 52.3 degrees and falling.

Streams in the Smokies rose yesterday after rain and thunderstorms blew through early yesterday morning. Some streams were temporarily stained.

Little River has receded to below normal. Little Pigeon River is receding but is still flowing higher than normal. Oconaluftee River is flowing right at median flow for this date. Tellico River is flowing slightly higher than median flow. Cataloochee Creek is flowing very close to median flow.

The streams are chilly this morning and the water temperatures are falling. Though Little River is currently within the trout’s preferred temperature range, higher elevation streams are colder. For instance, the water temperature at Cataloochee Creek is 47.7 degrees and falling.

If you go fishing in the mountains, fish in the low elevations where the water is warmer. I don’t know how far the temperatures will fall before daybreak. It might be best to wait a while before going fishing, to give the streams a chance to warm.

Using weighted nymphs or rigs will be a good beginning strategy. You might want to switch to emergers, wet flies or even dry flies later today.

Fishing for stocked trout in the low elevations will probably be best later today. Catch and release season in Gatlinburg ended Friday. Bait fishing and harvest of trout is now legal in the town’s stocked waters.

Sub-surface flies will probably work best in the stocked streams. Try nymphs, egg patterns, squirmy worms, caddis emergers, midge pupa or streamers.

Smallmouth bass and rock bass may be sluggish today in the lowland rivers. If you go, make it later today when the water is warmer. Nymphs and streamers will likely work best.

This will be a nice lake fishing day. Winds will be calm.

If you are planning to fish on the tailwaters today, check the TVA website. There are some very interesting generation schedules with long pauses planned at several dams.

Paula has been hanging five bird feeders during the day behind our house all Winter. She brings them in at night. Last week she decided to clean the feeders and stop feeding because the bears are active again. She does throw some seed out on the ground.

We were watching the San Diego State vs Florida Atlantic basketball game last evening. She saw a large bear in the forest behind our house. He stayed back from the bird feeding area, about 50 feet from our back door. When it became darker, the bear moved to where the seeds were on the ground and licked them up. That’s it. Bird feeding season is over at our house until next Winter. The bear was large and looked to be healthy.

San Diego State won the game at the buzzer. The game was a thriller!

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

Byron Begley
April 2, 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