Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:43 am, the temperature is 57 degrees.
It will be sunny today with a high temperature in the low 80’s, falling to the upper 50’s tonight. Tomorrow and Sunday will be sunny with a high in the low 80’s and lows in the high 50’s. As the high pressure builds, we can expect much warmer temperatures through next week with no rain predicted. Cooler air will move in by next weekend and remain through the end of September.
Little River is flowing at 81.8 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.52 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 76 cfs. The water temperature is 62.2 degrees at the low elevation USGS gauge site near Townsend.
Streams in the mountains are flowing right at normal or slightly higher than normal. Normal in September is low.
Trout are hiding in the broken water or near cover. They will take dry flies or nymphs. Hit the pockets, plunge pools or deep runs with a dry and dropper combination, a dry fly or a weighted nymph rig. Flies that mimic terrestrial insects are good fly choices. Try beetles, ants and inchworm patterns. You should do well, especially if you stay hidden from the trout.
Fishing for smallmouth bass and other warmwater species is fair in the lowland rivers. The rivers are flowing low. Fish in the deeper pools and runs. Be willing to switch between top water and sub-surface flies. Your fly selection should include poppers, foam floating flies, nymphs, streamers and crayfish patterns.
I think you will do best using weighted streamers and swimming nymphs on the lakes. My fly choices would be a large weighted black Wooly Bugger, a threadfin shad pattern, or a damsel fly imitation. Go early or late when the sun is low. The larger fish will likely be deep. Get your flies down as deep as possible.
TVA and the Corps will be generating all day at some dams or start generating later this morning or early afternoon. There are some generation schedules you can work with, especially early. Check out the generation times on the TVA website to plan your tailwater fishing day.
Business at the shop is usually slow in September. This year, so far, September has been very busy compared to past years. The same was true in August, which is normally very slow. I don’t know exactly why but I do know the shop is stocked well. Our suppliers are stocked much better too, which helps us serve you.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
September 16, 2022
Note: We have a very large and well stocked fly tying department located on the second floor of our shop. Our fly tying materials and tools can also be found and bought on our online store with Free Shipping.
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com
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