Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:43 am, the temperature is 39 degrees.

Today will be mostly sunny with a high temperature in the low 60’s, dropping to the low 40’s tonight. We have a chance for frost tomorrow morning. Otherwise, tomorrow will be sunny with a high in the low 60’s and a low in the middle 30’s overnight.

Little River is flowing at 176 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.98 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 259 cfs. The water temperature is 54.0 degrees and falling this morning.

Most streams in the mountains rose yesterday following rain that fell early in the morning. They have receded back to normal or below normal today. It was cold last night so water temperatures are falling. Right now, water temperatures are in the low 50’s in the low elevations and in the upper 40’s in the higher elevations.

If you go fishing in the Smokies today, you may want to wait a while before going. Water temperatures will bottom out and begin to rise, probably later this morning. Fish in the low elevations where the water is warmer. Trout will be active later and taking nymphs, wet flies, emergers and maybe dry flies.

We have a couple of cold nights ahead, tomorrow and Tuesday. Rain will move in Tuesday night and remain through Friday and it will be warmer at night.

Fishing for stocked trout will be good today but better later. Try nymphs, wet flies, emergers, midge pupa, squirmy worms and possibly small streamers.

Fishing for smallmouth bass in the lowland rivers may be slow, especially early today. Go later when the water is warmer. Nymphs and streamers will likely work best for you.

It will by sunny today so lake fishing will be best early or late. If you are targeting smallmouth bass, cast weighted streamers to the rocky banks and retrieve slow to allow your fly to sink deep on its return to your boat. Winds are predicted to be out of the west and  light today.

Long periods of no generation except for intermittent pulsing are planned at all nine dams I checked this morning. Tailwater anglers have many choices. Visit the TVA website from the links below to plan your tailwater fishing day.

We are busy at the shop. April has been a great month for us so far.

Paula and our niece heard a noise on our front porch night before last. Paula turned on the porch lights and stepped outside. There was a bear on the porch which she ran off. The small bear also appeared on our neighbor’s security cameras the next morning. We do not see many bears during the day. You have to be in the right place at the right time to see them. Security cameras in our rural neighborhood see them all the time, especially at night.

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

Byron Begley
April 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