If you do not see today’s Fishing Report, please refresh your browser to empty your cache.

Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:46 am, the temperature is 63.0 degrees.

It will be sunny today with a high temperature in the middle to upper 80’s, dropping to the middle 60’s tonight. There is no chance for rain today. The forecast for tomorrow is similar to today, with a slight chance for thunderstorms. Wednesday will be cooler with a higher chance for thunderstorms.

Little River is flowing at 149 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.80 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 87 cfs. The water temperature is 63.7 degrees this morning.

Most if not all streams in the mountains are flowing higher than normal.

Fishing is good in the Smokies. With stream flows higher than normal, and fairly cool water temperatures, trout will be active. They are taking dry flies and nymphs or a combination of both. Terrestrial insects are plentiful and trout will be watching for them on the surface or submerged. More important than fly choice is stealth and presentation. Don’t let the trout see you, don’t spook them with your fly line or shadow, get a good drift, and you will catch more.

Lowland rivers are still flowing higher than normal and at good levels for September. Fish the deeper pools and runs with poppers, foam floating flies, nymphs, streamers or crayfish patterns. You should do well today fishing for smallmouth bass, rock bass and panfish.

There are some tailwater fishing options today, especially this morning. TVA will be generating all day at some dams, including Douglas and Appalachia. Visit the TVA website from the links below to plan your day.

Winds will be light and the sun will be bright today. I would plan to go early, at daybreak, to fish on the lakes. Poppers or foam floating flies may work. If not, try streamers or swimming nymphs. As the sun rises higher, find shaded banks to fish.

I wrote a tutorial years ago about making your own poppers and it is very popular. You can read it on our website by CLICKING HERE or find it under the Fishing Info menu on the site. These poppers are made using foam cylinders for the body. I used to cup the faces of the poppers using a Dremel tool but found this to be an extra step that is not necessary.

Making these poppers is a lot of fun, they are very durable and they work well for bass and panfish.

We sell everything you need to make these poppers online or at the shop in the fly tying department upstairs.

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

Byron Begley
September 13, 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