Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:38 am, the temperature is 67 degrees.

Scattered thunderstorms and showers moved through our area yesterday. It pretty much rained all day. One personal weather station in Townsend recorded 2.37 inches during the past 24 hours. Another station near our home recorded 1.67 inches. The Knoxville Airport reports 1.78 inches fell there.

We have a chance for showers and thunderstorms today, mainly this afternoon then this evening. The high temperature will be in the middle 80’s.

There is a slight chance for showers and thunderstorms tomorrow with a high in the low 80’s.

Sunday will be sunny and dry with a high in the low to middle 80’s.

Little River is flowing at 1,540 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 3.99 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 135 cfs. The water temperature is 62.8 degrees this morning. The river is receding slowly.

Most if not all streams in the mountains are flowing high this morning. I doubt if you can find a stream that is safe to wade.

Free flowing rivers in the low elevations are flowing very high. Some may be stained.

This may be a fair to good lake fishing day. It will be partly sunny. Winds will be out of the west at 5 to 10 miles per hour. You may find stained water entering the lakes from tributaries. Dams on the Tennessee River will be generating all day. Streamers, swimming nymphs, foam floating flies and poppers are good fly choices, should you decide to go.

Check the TVA website to see what is going on at your favorite tailwater. I looked at several and did not see unusual generation schedules. They will be generating all day at Dale Hollow Dam. You should be able to work with many of the generation schedules with careful planning. Check the TVA website before you go.

A lot of people will be wondering what stream flows will look like this weekend in the mountains and lowland rivers. The ground is saturated. Runoff may be slow. We could see more rain today and tonight. The rivers could remain high for a while. It’s really hard to say right now. I wish I could give you a definitive answer, but I can’t.

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

Byron Begley
July 21, 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