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

Today will be mostly sunny and windy with a high temperature in the low to middle 60’s, dropping to the upper 30’s tonight.

Tomorrow will be sunny and warmer with a high near 70 degrees and a low in the middle 40’s.

Rain returns to the forecast Friday and Saturday.

Little River is flowing at 159 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.92 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 249 cfs. The water temperature is 51.4 degrees and falling.

Streams in the Smokies are flowing lower than normal for this date. Water temperatures are chilly this morning, especially in the higher elevations.

If you plan to go fishing in the mountains today, fish in the lower elevations where the water is warmer. Weighted nymphs will likely work best early today. Dry flies and wet flies will work best later today when the water is warmer.

Fly fishing for stocked trout will be good today, especially later. Weighted nymphs, emergers, midge pupa, squirmy worms and small streamers are good fly choices.

Fishing for smallmouth bass in the lowland rivers may begin slow this morning, but pick up later when the water is warmer. Nymphs and streamers will work best for you, especially early. Try foam floating flies or poppers later today.

This will not be an ideal lake fishing day due to the expected windy conditions. Wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour are predicted. If you go, cast weighted streamers to the rocky banks and retrieve slowly.

There are long periods of no generation scheduled at every dam I checked this morning, with some short periods of pulsing mixed in. Tailwater anglers have many choices. Check the TVA website from the links below to plan your tailwater fishing day.

Bart Carter came by the shop yesterday. He is a great guy and a good friend. We visited in my office for a while. He is the Chief of Fisheries at Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) in our region. He has enjoyed a great career at TWRA. He told me, “I remember the day we met”. I told him, “I remember that day well”.

About 30 years ago, I was given the opportunity to organize a new Trout Unlimited Chapter to work directly with Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I had just moved here from Nashville and did not know many people at all. I got enough together to qualify for our new chapter charter. The chapter would be named, “Little River Chapter”.

I didn’t know anyone in the Fisheries Department at the Park. One day, Joe Bogle and I decided to drive to Park Headquarters to look around and find the Fisheries Department. We found it in the basement, and we found Bart Carter who worked there as a fisheries biologist. Later we met Steve Moore, who ran the department at the time. Thus began a long and beneficial relationship between Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited and other chapters of Trout Unlimited.

According to Steve Moore, we were the first Trout Unlimited chapter to work directly with a National Park.

Bart moved on to TWRA probably 25 years ago. Shortly after, Matt Kulp was hired to take Bart’s position. Matt is now in charge of the Park’s Fisheries Department.

It is interesting how things work out.

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

Byron Begley
May 3, 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