Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:48 am, the temperature is 56 degrees.

It will be sunny today with a high temperature in the upper 70’s, dropping to the middle 50’s tonight. Tomorrow will be sunny and cooler with a high in the middle 70’s and a low in the lower 50’s. Sunday will be sunny with a high in the middle 70’s.

Little River is flowing at 67.6 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.46 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 79 cfs. The water temperature is 64 degrees this morning.

Most streams in the mountains are flowing near normal. Normal in September is low. Due to the low water conditions, trout will be hiding in broken or choppy water. Make short casts in plunge pools, pockets, deeper runs or eddies. Dress to blend with the forest to help avoid being seen by the trout.

Trout are taking dry flies and nymphs. I would start with a dry and dropper rig. My dry fly would be a Yellow Stimulator or black foam beetle. My dropper would be an unweighted Green Weenie. At some point I might add a small split shot to the tippet connector between the Green Weenie and the dry fly. You may or may not need to do that. Try the unweighted Green Weenie first.

Fishing for stocked trout is improving in the low elevation rivers as water temperatures are cooler now.

Fishing for smallmouth bass, rock bass and panfish is fair to good in the lowland rivers. Most of these rivers are flowing low. Fish in the deeper pools and runs with streamers, crayfish imitations, foam floating flies or poppers.

Lake fishing will be best early or late when the sun is low. Cast to the dimly lit banks or cover with weighted streamers or swimming nymphs. Allow your flies to sink deep and retrieve slowly to keep them deep.

I see several generation schedules at area dams you can work with today for wade fishing on a tailwater. If you are boating, there are more options. Check the TVA website from the links below to plan your day of fishing on a tailwater.

Yesterday, a customer asked me where I get Little River’s water temperature. Water temperature, flows and median flow are available on the USGS Site for Little River in Townsend from the link below.

It was not always that way. In the old days of writing this report, I actually drove to the USGS gauge site every day. The site is located just inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park below the “Y”. There, I read the gauge visually and take the water temperature with a hand-held digital thermometer. I had a chart back then to convert feet to cfs, though it was not a very accurate way to do it.

Many USGS gauge sites do not have water temperature as an option. Little River, Cataloochee Creek and Oconaluftee River do have temperature probes.

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

Byron Begley
September 22, 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