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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:07 am, the temperature is 70.7 degrees.

It rained early this morning with .12” reported at a personal weather station in Townsend. It will be cloudy this morning, gradually becoming mostly sunny later with a high temperature in the low 80’s. It will be mostly sunny tomorrow with a high in the middle 80’s and a chance for afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Sunday will be mostly sunny, with a high in the upper 80’s and a chance for afternoon showers and thunderstorms.

Little River is flowing at 490 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.66 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 108 cfs. The water temperature is 64.9 degrees this morning.

All streams in the mountains that have USGS gauge sites are flowing higher than normal. Some streams may be swift but fishable. Be careful wading. What we have now are flows that are more typical in Spring. The rivers are receding. This should be a good weekend to fish in the Smokies, unless a thunderstorm temporarily raises the water levels in some streams. We consider Little River to be flowing on the high side of good at 2.5 feet. The river is flowing just slightly higher than that number right now.

Nymph rigs will work for sure. Dry flies may work too, especially after the streams recede further.

Most lowland rivers exiting the mountains are flowing higher than normal. Fishing for smallmouth bass, rock bass and panfish should be good. Safe wading may be limited in some rivers today. Poppers, foam floating flies, streamers, nymphs and crayfish patterns should work.

You have several wade and boat fishing opportunities in the area tailwaters, with some exceptions. Check the TVA website to see what your tailwater angling options are.

This is probably going to be a good lake fishing day, especially early as it is supposed to be overcast until later today. I would launch early and fish until the sun is not blocked by clouds. Hit the banks with poppers, foam floating flies, streamers or swimming nymphs. Some lakes may be stained, especially on the Tennessee River. I don’t know that for a fact. They may be fine.

I hear thunder, and just checked the weather radar. Thunderstorms are moving though our county, Monroe County and Sevier County, toward Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Cherokee National Forest right now. So, stream levels may be affected by these storms. Check the stream flows before you go. It may take a while for the streams to rise, if they do.

According to the National Park Service, the backpacker who died last year was in fact killed by a bear. A bear was found feeding on the body of the man, and the bear was killed by rangers in the Hazel Creek area, at the scene. This is the second bear-related fatality in the history of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You can read more about this story by CLICKING HERE.

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

Byron Begley
August 20, 2021

WALTER BABB MADE BAMBOO FLY RODS FOR SALE – CLICK HERE

Walter is selling a selection of over 50 bamboo fly rods. All but one was made by him. The other one was custom made for Walter by Walton Powell. Read the description of each rod on the list and contact him if you are interested in buying one or more than one. Even if you are not interested in a purchase, this web page is very interesting to read. Walter has made over 285 bamboo rods over the past 20-years. You will be working directly with Walter on a purchase and you can test cast the rods before you buy one at his home. Or, call him and he will ship a rod to you. His contact information is on the web page he and I created.

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com