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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:09 am, the temperature outside is 64.0 degrees.

Today, tomorrow and Sunday will be warm and pleasant, with highs in the mid to higher 80’s and no chance for rain. Temperatures at night will dip into the mid to low 60’s through the period. I saw the word “pleasant” on the WBIR website. I suspect we will enjoy lower humidity this weekend.

Little River is flowing at 41.0 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.36 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 93 cfs. The water temperature is 71.2 degrees this morning.

Little Pigeon River is flowing closer to normal at 143 cfs, 1.35 feet, compared to median flow of 168 cfs.

Oconaluftee River is flowing at 184 cfs, 1.27 feet, and that compares to median flow of 233 cfs for this date. The water temperature is 67.3 cfs.

Tellico River is flowing closer to normal at 83.1 cfs, .82 feet, which compares to median flow of 90 cfs.

Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 38.8 cfs, 2.23 feet, compared to median flow of 48 cfs. The water temperature is 63.5 degrees this morning.

I heard one very good fishing report yesterday. A customer told me he fished on Lynn Camp Prong. He tried several fly patterns he normally uses this time of the year, and fishing was slow at first. Then, he switched his fly to a Parachute Adams and started catching brook trout. He said he caught the largest brook trout he has ever caught in the Park.

Bill fished on Oconaluftee River for a couple of hours yesterday. He told me the water levels were much better than we have here in Little River. I didn’t ask how well he did because I knew the answer. Bill is a good fisherman.

I talked to another out-of-town customer. He was wearing a white fishing shirt. I told him he should get out of that shirt and wear something darker.

The streams are low and the trout are spooky. Blending in for stealth is essential to your success. Don’t let the trout see you and you will catch more.

Fish the broken water where the trout are hiding. Hit the riffles, upper plunge pools and runs. You might try casting a foam black beetle or other rubber legged terrestrial to the shaded banks near cover. Brown trout are often hiding in the shade near the banks, looking for land based insects on the water.

Fish the higher elevations where the water is cooler. Look for water temperatures in the 60’s.

Lowland rivers are flowing low. Smallmouth bass and other warmwater species will be lying along the banks near cover, in the shade later in the day. Toss foam floating flies to the banks. Heavy poppers may not work as well as the lighter, quieter foam flies. The foam flies sound like real insects when they land on the water. Smallmouth bass, in slow water, can be less likely to be attracted to a loud “plop” sound.

I use the foam floating flies on lakes, for the same reason. However, the loud sounds made by poppers work well for largemouth bass and sometimes smallmouth bass along the banks. If those flies don’t work, move or switch to streamers or Dragons. Go early or late when the sun is off the water.

Look for gamefish attacking shad on the surface. That is happening right now, especially early or late. I would use a small Puglisi Threadfin Shad pattern in the “jumps”. There is no telling what you will catch in the jumps.

You will likely find angler friendly flows on some of the tailwaters today. Check the TVA website from the links below. Watch for the word “sluicing”. I noticed they are sluicing at Center Hill Dam to supplement the generation flows. That has been going on for a while. They are sluicing at Wolf Creek Dam too, and maybe at other dams.

Rain is back in the forecast next week. I hope that turns out to be true.

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

Byron Begley
September 6, 2019

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com