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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:26 am, the temperature outside is 68.9 degrees.

Today will be partly cloudy and warmer with a slight chance for showers. Tomorrow through Friday, we will enjoy clear skies, with almost no chance for rain.

Most roads in the Smoky Mountains are now open.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PREDICTED HIGHS AND LOWS TODAY

Little River is flowing at 496 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.67 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 70 cfs. The water temperature is 66.5 degrees this morning. The river is certainly fishable, but care should be taken when wading.

Little Pigeon River is flowing high, at 1,670 cfs, compared to 126 cfs median flow for this date. Yesterday, the river set a record high for that date. The river is rising this morning.

Oconaluftee River is rising, and the flow is currently 900 cfs, compared to median flow of 196 cfs. The gauge reading is 2.42 feet.

Most streams in the Park are flowing above normal today. The Little Pigeon watershed has received heavy rain during the past two days.

There is a chance you may find stained water is some streams this morning, especially in the Little Pigeon drainage.

Stream flows will recede over the next day or so, and fishing will be very good.

I would start with nymphs with extra weight. Good patterns to use are, Prince, Pheasant Tail, Tellico or Hare’s Ear. Nymphs with rubber legs are good choices. A Green Weenie or San Juan Worm might work well.

My dry fly choices would be, foam beetles, Parachute Adams, Yellow Neversink Caddis, Smoky Mountain Candy or a Yellow Stimulator. Rob’s Hellbender is another fly you could try.

TVA is still spilling at Cherokee Dam though the lake level is normal for mid-September. A lot of water is being flushed through Douglas Dam today, though the lake level is within TVA’s operating guide and lower than it was last year on this date. There will be generation at Norris Dam today, but nothing like the discharge planned for Cherokee or Douglas.

Lake levels on the Little Tennessee River are all below full pool.

TVA is still spilling at Four Loudoun Dam. The lakes should settle down this week and hopefully fishing will be good.

The long term weather forecast calls for much cooler temperatures late next week. It will feel like Fall, finally. Rain is predicted too, which should keep our stream flows above normal for a while.

Fall fishing in the Smokies will likely be very good to excellent this year. We’ll have to see what mid to late October weather looks like. I think fishing will be much better than normal, especially if the stream flows remain unusually high, like they have so far.

I found out yesterday, my old friend Charles Dukes of Nashville passed away. I missed his service because I didn’t know. If you lived in Nashville during the 80’s through recently, and you have been an avid fly angler dating back that long, you probably knew Charles. He was a great guy who I have stayed in contact with since moving here from Nashville 25 years ago. I will miss Charles. RIP buddy. You are missed by many.

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

Byron Begley
September 18, 2018

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com