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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:16 am, the temperature outside is 59.7 degrees.

It is going to be sunny and hot, in the low 90’s, today and tomorrow. Cooler temperatures will arrive later this week. We’ll see highs in the mid-80’s and lows in the 50’s beginning Thursday. There is a chance for rain some days through the week, especially on Wednesday. Otherwise, it will be dry through the weekend.

Little River is flowing at 25.5 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.23 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 76 cfs. The water temperature is 71.2 degrees this morning.

Little Pigeon River is flowing low at 94.6 cfs, 1.17 feet, compared to median flow of 159 cfs.

Oconaluftee River benefited from a little rain yesterday. The river is flowing at 175 cfs, 1.24 feet, which compares to median flow of 199 cfs. The water temperature is 66.9 degrees at this time.

Tellico River is flowing at 67.5 cfs, .72 feet, compared to median flow of 73 cfs.

Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 33.6 cfs, 2.19 feet, and that compares to median flow of 41 cfs. The water temperature is 61.7 degrees.

The advice remains the same due to low water conditions, and warm water in the low elevations. Fish higher where the water is cooler. Look for water temperatures in the 60’s.

Trout will be hiding in broken water in riffles, plunge pools and runs. Or they will be near the cover of rock ledges and vegetation.

Stealth is more important to your fishing success than usual, due to the low water. Dress to blend in and stay as low as possible. Use long leaders and light tippet. Wade as little as possible.

The lowland rivers are flowing very low. Go early or late. Smallmouth bass, rock bass and sunfishes can be caught in the deep pools on poppers and foam floating flies. Streamers and nymphs may work well too. Concentrate on shaded areas.

Go early or late if you plan to fish the lakes today. Fish shaded banks with poppers, foam floating flies, streamers and Rubber Legged Dragons.

I don’t see many trout tailwater options today for wading. There are some, depending on how far you want to drive from here. Boating gives you more opportunities. Visit the TVA website to determine if you can fish on a tailwater today, where and when.

September has been slow at the shop, which is normal. This year, for the first two weeks in September, our sales have been lower than they were last year. That is not normal. Through August, our business has been up, when compared to last year.

Slow business now is due to the hot and dry weather. Weather drives fishing participation and weather drives our business.

The department with the best increase in our shop, so far this month, is the fly tying department. That makes sense. While less anglers are fishing, those who tie flies are tying more, preparing for better fishing conditions. Tying flies keeps us involved in the sport, when we don’t want to go fishing. That is why Winter gives us our best business in the fly tying department.

School attendance is down more than any other department, so far in September.

So, like you, we are all waiting for cooler temperatures and rain. Cooler temperatures will arrive later this month, according to the long term weather forecast. We expect that in October without the benefit of a long term forecast.

What we really need now is rain. According to the US Drought Monitor, we are not in a drought, though it seems that way. According to the report, it is not even abnormally dry in East Tennessee. I suppose we have benefitted from the wet conditions we have had most of the year.

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

Byron Begley
September 16, 2019  

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com