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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:41 am, the temperature is 56.7 degrees.

We have a chance for showers and thunderstorms today with a high temperature in the low 70’s. It may be breezy today. Heavy rain is not predicted. It will be warm tomorrow, in the upper 70’s, with a low chance for showers and thunderstorms.

Saturday and Sunday will continue to be warm. Showers and thunderstorms are likely Saturday. Sunday will be mostly sunny.

Little River is flowing at 382 cubic feet per second or 2.41 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 367 cfs. The water temperature is 55.8 degrees this morning and rose to near 58 degrees yesterday at the low elevation USGS gauge site near Townsend.

All streams in the mountains are flowing at or slightly higher than normal. Water temperatures are excellent in the lower elevations. Fishing in the Smokies is very good.

Nymphs, wet flies and dry flies will work. Aquatic insects are active and trout are feeding on them. You will have to try different fly techniques to determine what works best. A dry fly with a wet fly dropper may be a good option. I would probably use a Parachute Adams for my dry and trail an unweighted wet fly behind, attached with tippet material to the hook bend of the dry fly. You could do the same with a nymph and a dry fly, using a small bead head nymph like a Pheasant Tail.

Or you may want to try a weighted nymph rig. There are many ways to do this. Many fly anglers are using a heavy nymph as an anchor fly, and tie on an unweighted nymph above, on the tag created using a blood knot or double surgeons knot, and leaving one tag long to tie on the unweighted nymph or midge. If you do not have heavily weighted nymphs, you can add split shot above the anchor fly.

Fishing is good in the Smokies. You should be out there. Rain and wind may be an issue for you today.

Lowland rivers are flowing about normal. Fishing for trout is good where they are stocked. Smallmouth bass fishing is likely improving as the water warms. Nymphs and streamers will work for both.

I checked the TVA website looking for possible tailwater fishing opportunities. I saw none this morning but I did not check every one. Generally, they are generating around the clock right now. They are sluicing at many dams and even spilling at some. TVA and the Corps are trying to lower the lakes to meet their operating guide for this time of the year.

Lake fishing is improving as the waters warm. I have not heard any good lake fishing report yet. It won’t be long if this warm weather continues.

Yesterday started out routine for me. I wrote and loaded the fishing report early, took a shower and headed to work at 7 am. I was walking toward the carport, when Paula came outside and yelled, “Watch out for the bear, it’s huge”. Sure enough, there he was, on the other side of the carport. I stopped and Paula came up behind me. The bear was huge.

I think he saw Paula and after staring at us for a few seconds, he turned and walked slowly into the forest and stopped, looking back at us. We watched as he finally walked away and disappeared in the dense forest.

I drove to work thinking, I’ve never been that close to a bear that large outside. We’ve seen some big ones from a distance or while we were in our home. I’ve accidentally been as close as 30 feet from a bear outside.

Only once has a bear shown aggressive behavior to me and she had two cubs. What I got that day was a warning and after the cubs took off, so did mom.

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

Byron Begley
April 8, 2021

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com