Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:40 am, the temperature is 68 degrees.

Today will be sunny and hot with a high temperature in the low 90’s and a heat index value as high as 99. Tomorrow will be sunny and hot with temperatures similar to today. The heat will continue through Saturday. It will be cooler Sunday with a chance for thunderstorms.

Little River is flowing at 141 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.80 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 109 cfs. The water temperature is 70.0 degrees this morning. Yesterday, the water temperature peaked at 72.3 degrees at 4:45 pm.

Some streams in the mountains are flowing close to normal or slightly above normal. Other streams are flowing quite a bit higher. Normal is low in August so be glad the rivers are flowing higher.

Streams in the lowest elevations are very warm, climbing to over 70 degrees in the afternoon. Trout that are caught and released in water this warm may die. If you are planning to fish in the Smokies today and through Saturday, pick locations in the higher elevations where the water is cooler. Look for water temps in the middle 60’s or cooler. I noticed Travis Williams recommended fishing at an elevation of 2,500 feet or higher over the next three days on the Gatlinburg Trout Facility Facebook page. Travis manages the trout program in Gatlinburg and he is also a professional guide.

Fishing for trout is good in the higher elevations. Trout are taking dry flies and nymphs.

Fishing for smallmouth bass, rock bass and panfish is good in the lowland rivers. Many of the rivers are flowing higher than median flow. Median flow is low in August. Fish in the deep pools using streamers, crayfish imitations, foam floating flies or poppers.

Fishing on the lakes will be best early or late when the sun is low. The larger gamefish will likely be deep in most lakes. Cast streamers or swimming nymphs to the banks and cover and retrieve slow so the flies will remain as deep as possible. You may do well in the cooler lakes using foam floating flies or poppers.

There will be pauses in the generation at some dams today with little to none at others. Visit the TVA website from the links below to see what tailwater fishing opportunities you have today.

We will finish this week hot. Next week should be much cooler with a heightened chance for thunderstorms some days. Hopefully this will be the last hot spell this year. The historical monthly average high temperature in September is 78 degrees in Townsend. The average low temperature is 56 degrees in September.

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

Byron Begley
August 24, 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