Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:53 am, the temperature is 33 degrees.

The cold nights with temperatures near freezing are over, I think. Today will be mostly cloudy with a high temperature in the upper 60’s, falling to the lower 40’s tonight.

Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy with a chance for showers. The high temperature will be in the low to middle 60’s with a low in the upper 40’s.

It will be warmer through the weekend with a chance for rain each day and night.

Little River is flowing at 146 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.87 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 245 cfs. The water temperature is 50 degrees and falling. Yesterday, the water temperature continued to fall until 9:30 am and then began to warm.

Streams in the mountains are flowing below normal. Water temperatures are chilly or cold at all elevations this morning.

If you go fishing in the mountains, wait until at least later in the morning when the water will start warming. Fish in the low elevations where the water is warmer. It should be overcast today which is a good condition. Trout will be taking nymphs for sure. They may be taking your dry flies later today.

Fishing for stocked trout in the low elevation rivers will be good today. Fishing will be best later when the water is warmer. Nymphs, emergers, squirmy worms and midge pupa are good fly choices.

Fishing for smallmouth bass in the lowland rivers may be slow today, especially early due to the colder water conditions. If you go, wait a while. Nymphs and streamers will probably work best for you. Overcast skies will be beneficial.

This may be an excellent lake fishing day. It will be overcast, which is very helpful. Smallmouth bass have moved into shallow water in some lakes. Cast to the rocky banks or cover with weighted streamers. Retrieve slow, allowing your fly to sink deep as the water becomes deeper. Winds will be light out of the north.

TVA and the Corps of Engineers continue to shut off the turbines for long periods and that will be the case today. Generation pauses will occur in the morning at some dams, and in the afternoon at others. There will be intermittent pulsing for about an hour at many dams. With careful planning, tailwater anglers should be able to spend ample time on the water today, whether you are wading or boating.

Chase, our sales representative who works for Umpqua, Waterworks/Lamson and other companies visited with us yesterday at the shop. He showed us a complete new line of fly boxes from Umpqua. They looked and felt great.

Of particular interest to me were the new Umpqua X-Series fly tying hooks. I found some models that I will bring into inventory for you on the next order. I normally order Umpqua and Tiemco hooks every other Monday. The company has done an excellent job keeping their products in stock this year.

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

Byron Begley
April 25, 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