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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:58 am, the temperature outside is 61 degrees.

Scattered thunderstorms dropped heavy rain at times, for short periods, yesterday and last night. During the past 24 hours, the Knoxville Airport reported 1.27 inches of precipitation, while in Townsend, that number was 1.41 inches.

We may get more rain and thunderstorms today, though the chance is 50%. The National Weather Service predicts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts are possible in thunderstorms. Today will be warm again, 72 degrees, dropping to the high 40’s tonight.

Wednesday and Thursday will be dry, sunny and warm. Rain returns Friday, with clearing Saturday. More rain is predicted Sunday.

Little River is flowing at 1,470 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 3.98 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 381 cfs. Little River has peaked for now. The water temperature is 56.5 degrees this morning.

We got some heavy rain in the Little Pigeon watershed. The river continues to quickly rise. Current flow is 5,780 cfs, 6.09 feet, which compares to median flow of 664 cfs.

Oconaluftee River is receding. Current flow is 1,300 cfs or 2.86 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 676 cfs at the Birdtown gauge. The river was turbid, but it is clearing quickly. The water temperature is 54.9 degrees this morning.

Tellico River at the Tellico Plains gauge is flowing high, but it is receding fairly quickly. Flow is 1,420 cfs, 4.11 feet, compared to median flow of 371 cfs.

Cataloochee Creek is receding. Flow is 187 cfs, 2.90 feet, compared to median flow of 148 cfs. The water temperature is 53.4 degrees.

It appears more rain fell on the west side of the park, so far. And, the rainfall was probably heaviest in the Little Pigeon watershed.

Little Pigeon, Little River and others are flowing too high to fish or safely wade. For that reason, the Fishing Gauge is pointing to “Slow”.

You may find some fishable streams in the Park today. Wait until later to go. Watch the gauges and see how much rain we get today.

Some streams may also be temporarily stained this morning and maybe later today, depending on how much rain we receive and where.

Check the TVA website, to determine the generation schedules on the local tailwaters. I see some opportunities today. It will be overcast, which is always a good condition for fishing.

Most if not all of the lowland rivers are flowing high and they are probably stained. I drive to work at the shop before daylight, so I can’t see what Little River looks like that early.

Fly fishing on the lakes may be an option today. I love fly fishing in shallow water on cloudy days. I don’t like running from thunderstorms in our boat. I would probably go if I were not working.

I think the tailwaters or the lakes are your best option today. Or, possibly fishing in the Western North Carolina streams may work out for you.

I designed a Fly Fishing School ad for this page yesterday. The ad mentions our Euro Nymphing class. Almost immediately, we got a call from two people who signed up for the class.

I will be talking to Rob Worthing from Lexington Kentucky today. Rob is a well known and accomplished Tenkara instructor. We are planning a Tenkara fishing class to be held on June 29th. I will design a page describing the school and talking about Rob, for this website.

You may be able to call today to sign up for the class. Whoever you talk to may not know anything about it. I’m unsure if the sign-up pages were printed yesterday. If you call, they will figure it out downstairs. 865-448-9459

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

Byron Begley
April 9, 2019

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com