Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:44 am, the temperature is 42 degrees.

I am sorry this report is late. I wrote if from home at 4:44 am. When I tried to load it on our remote server in Colorado at about 6:00 am, the server was down. I drove to work at the shop early to do some things. At about 8:00 am, the server was functioning again. I suppose they were rebooting it at the data center. I drove home and loaded the report onto the server.

Today will be partly cloudy with a chance for showers. The high temperature will be in the upper 60’s with a low tonight in the upper 40’s.

Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy and warmer, in the low 70’s with a chance for showers and thunderstorms. The chance for showers will increase overnight with a low temperature in the middle 50’s.

Expect rain Friday with a high in the middle to upper 70’s.

Little River is flowing at 146 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.87 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 254 cfs. The water temperature is 50.7 degrees this morning.

Streams in the mountains are flowing lower than normal. Water temperatures are chilly in the higher elevations. Right now, the water temperature at Cataloochee Creek is 46.6 degrees.

If you go today, fish in the lower elevations where the water is warmer. Nymphs may be your best option today though dry flies and wet flies may work as well, especially later today. It should be cloudy at times, which will be beneficial. The streams are flowing low so stealth is essential to your success.

Fishing for stocked trout in the low elevations is good. Cloud cover will be helpful. Nymphs, squirmy worms, emergers, midge pupa and possibly small streamers are good fly choices.

Smallmouth bass may be active today in the lowland rivers. I would go later today when the water is warmer. Nymphs and streamers will likely work best for you.

This should be a good lake fishing day. Winds will be calm. Cloud cover expected today is a welcome condition. I would target smallmouth bass, which have moved into shallow water in some lakes. Cast weighted streamers to the rocky banks and retrieve slowly. Let your streamer fall as the water becomes deeper further from the bank.

There are breaks in the generation scheduled at several dams today, some long and others shorter and more frequent. Check the schedules at Norris and South Holston dams. Tailwater anglers have some choices today, whether you wade fish or will be drifting in a boat.

The long term weather forecast indicates we will enjoy warmer nights, which will improve fly fishing in the free flowing streams, rivers and lakes. I don’t see any nights with lows in the 30’s through May 10th. Spring is here for us to enjoy.

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

Byron Begley
April 26, 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