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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. It is a beautiful Spring morning. Wildflowers are blooming and bugs are hatching. Time to head to the mountains.

The weather forecast for this week looks wonderful. High's in the low 80's and lows in 60's. The best part is no rain till late in the week.

Water levels in the Smokies are still slightly above normal but at a good fishing level. The gauge on Little River is reading 2.35 feet or 336 c.f.s. This is just a bit above the daily normal of 255 c.f.s. The streams are flowing clear.

Normal is normal because of history going back to 1963. The normal level can still be high and pushy. I always think about the river flow using the gauge height in feet level. Others think about the c.f.s. ( cubic feet per second ) level. I use the feet because years ago we had to drive up to the Park boundary where the actual stream flow gauge is and look at the physical gauge which is literally a measuring stick in the water. We would go and look at where the water was on the gauge and take the water temperature using a thermometer. Back at the Shop we had a paper chart that correlated the height in feet to a c.f.s. rate. Thankfully now we have the streamflow gauge website which has the water temperature and flow. If you haven't looked at it you should definetly check it out. You can even change the dates and look at more time than just a week. The link to the streamflow gauges are always lower on this page.

Ok, back on track. Water temperatures rose yesterday. This morning the Little River is 57.5F. Water temperatures will rise over the next several days. This should make the dry fly fishing even better than it has been.

Anglers have been doing well across the Smokies. With water temperatures warming, higher elevation streams are going to be fishing well. Low elevation streams are fishing good also. Where to go depends on what you want to do. If you just want to hike then stay along the roads. Middle Prong (Tremont) is good along its whole length. I tend to fish up on the gravel section of road but you can fish on the pavement this time of year also. The Little River between the Sinks and Elkmont Campground is always good. If you want to hike, then go upstream of Elkmont or hike in the Middle Prong Trail and fish for brookies on Lynn Camp Prong.

Dry flies are working well in the afternoons. The hatches are lighter in color now. Light Cahill, Hendricksons, yellow stoneflies and caddis are hatching. Use a Light Cahill, Smoky Mountain Candy, Rob's Hellbender, Elk Hair Caddis or Neversink Caddis. Sizes are going to be from size 12 to 16.

Nymph patterns like Prince Nymphs, Pheasant Tails, Tellico Nymphs and Squirmy worms are good. Don't be afraid to try a big nymph even a 10.

Morning have been a little slower but fishing picks up in the afternoon. Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.

Daniel Drake
April 28, 2019

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