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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:44 am, the temperature is 63.7 degrees.

It will be mostly sunny today with a high temperature in the middle 80’s and a low in the middle 60’s tonight. We do have a chance for thunderstorms this afternoon. Tomorrow will be identical during the day but cooler at night. Thursday will be sunny with a high in the upper 70’s and the low at night in the middle 50’s.

Little River is flowing at 279 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.21 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 98 cfs. The water temperature is 63.7 degrees.

Most streams in the mountains are flowing higher than normal and at good fishing levels. Water temperatures have been remaining cool, even in the low elevations. We could not ask for better mountain trout fishing conditions in early September. That will likely continue for a while.

Trout will take dry flies or nymphs. With water temperatures remaining in the trout’s preferred range, they will be actively feeding.

More important than fly selection, is stealth and presentation. Don’t let the wild trout see you and you will catch more. Don’t spook them with your cast and get a good drift.

The fish are accustomed to seeing terrestrials this time of the year. I would choose a terrestrial dry fly and drop a bead head nymph off the dry. A Green Weenie is also a good choice for your dropper.

The lowland rivers are looking good. Flows are higher than normal. Water temperatures are cooler than they have been in the past few weeks. Fishing conditions for smallmouth bass, rock bass and panfish are good. Try poppers, foam floating flies, nymphs, streamers or crayfish fly patterns.

There are angler friendly flows predicted for some tailwaters today, especially early. Check the TVA website from the links below to see what your options are and plan your tailwater fishing day.

We will see the lakes being drawn down in the near future to create more water storage capacity. The summer recreation boating season is officially over. There should be less boaters on the lakes.

Surface water temperatures in the lakes will be falling as we move into Fall. I have always picked cloudy days to fish on the lakes in our area using fly fishing gear. I think both species of bass and other fish tend to be near the surface on cloudy days. Of course, we go fishing when we can. If a sunny day is predicted, go early or late for better fly fishing. I have almost never used sinking fly lines on the lakes. One reason is, I enjoy fishing with top water flies, like poppers or foam floaters. Or, I fish sub-surface flies fairly shallow, on a 9 foot fluorocarbon leader with a floating fly line.

There are times when floating flies don’t work well. If that is the case, switch to streamers or swimming nymphs. I use two different streamers almost exclusively, a large weighted black Wooly Bugger or a Puglisi Threadfin Shad. My swimming nymphs are always some version of a dragonfly, tied in many different colors. My favorite colors are olive, chartreuse, black and rusty orange.

Fishing conditions are good, about as good as they can be this time of the year. We have many choices. Get out and go!

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

Byron Begley
September 7, 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