Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:02 am, the temperature is 65 degrees.

Light rain began falling about a half hour ago. Showers are likely this morning with a slight chance for thunderstorms until about 11:00 am. It will be cloudy early before gradually clearing later. The high temperature will be in the low to middle 70’s, falling to the middle 50’s tonight.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny with a high in the low 70’s and a low overnight in the low 50’s.

Little River is flowing at 85.7 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.56 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 73 cfs. The water temperature is 66.4 degrees this morning.

Many streams in the mountains are flowing near normal but there are exceptions. Little Pigeon River is flowing higher than normal due to rain that fell late yesterday. The river has been receding overnight but it is rising now. Still, it appears to be at a good fishing level, at the Sevierville gauge. Tellico River is also still flowing higher than normal and at a good fishing level.

This is probably the last day you should consider fishing in a middle to higher elevation streams where the water is cooler. Look for water temperatures in the middle 60’s or cooler. Where the water is within the trout’s preferred range, they will be actively feeding. Trout are taking dry flies and nymphs. I would use a Yellow Sally Stonefly imitation or a black foam beetle for my dry fly. I would drop a Green Weenie, unweighted or lightly weighed off my dry. If you do that, you will catch trout. But, you have to be sneaky. Don’t let the trout see you. Dress to blend with the forest. Fish the broken or choppy water where the trout are hiding.

Fishing for smallmouth bass, rock bass and panfish is fair in the lowland rivers. Though most are flowing near normal, normal is low in the middle of September. You can catch them in the deeper pools and runs on streamers, crayfish imitations, foam floating flies or poppers.

It should be cloudy this morning which is an excellent condition for lake fishing or any fishing for that matter. Winds will be calm today. I would still go early when the sun is low and fish through the morning until the sky clears. Hit the banks and cover with streamers or swimming nymphs. Foam floating flies and poppers might work too.

Watch for gamefish feeding on schools of shad during the overcast hours. Be prepared with a streamer that resembles a threadfin shad. A small Clouser Minnow or Puglisi baitfish pattern should do the trick.

There are some very interesting generation schedules for you who are planning to fish on a tailwater today. With careful planning, you should be able to find a suitable situation for a good day or partial day of wade fishing or boating on a tailwater. It will be overcast early today which will be a bonus. Check the TVA site from the links below to plan your tailwater fishing day.

We are busy at the shop and we were very busy yesterday.

I’m excited! Danville 210 denier thread is available now. Yesterday, I stocked the wall with a bunch of colors. Danville 210 is my favorite thread for tying larger flies, for freshwater and saltwater. For some reason it has been impossible to get for about a year.

Our store has never been stocked better. One reason is, our suppliers have recovered from those two crazy Covid years. Now, they are stocked better. And, we decided to increase our inventory substantially to grow the shop more this year. It worked.

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

Byron Begley
September 17, 2023

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Parking Tags are now required to park your vehicle inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park for more than 15 minutes. Tags may be purchased at Visitors Centers, including the center in Townsend. Or, they may be purchased online. You can buy a daily, weekly or annual tag. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com