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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:09 am, the temperature outside is 57.7 degrees.

Today will be very warm, eight to ten degrees warmer than yesterday throughout the foothills and in the mountains. Tonight’s temperature will be similar to last night. We have a chance for rain tonight, Tuesday, and a greater chance Tuesday night.

Don’t hold me to the rain predictions. I found conflicting reports. Colder air moves in tomorrow. It should remain cool through the end of October with highs in the 60’s and lows in the 30’s and 40’s, after tomorrow. That could change too, over the next two weeks.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PREDICTED HIGHS AND LOWS TODAY

Little River is flowing at 215 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.03 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 88 cfs. The water temperature is 60.3 degrees this morning.

All streams in the Smokies that have USGS gauges reporting, are flowing above median flow.

Fishing conditions are very good. Fishing was good this weekend and that should continue for several days. I think fishing will be much better than normal through the balance of October. I say that because, flows are good, there is rain in the forecast and water temperatures will not be too cold, at least in the mid to low elevations.

I was at the shop all day Saturday and yesterday, and I talked to many visiting and local customers. What I heard were good fishing reports. Many people I talked to are using nymphs. Some may be using dry flies, but I didn’t hear that this weekend.

That doesn’t mean dry flies won’t work. Maybe they will. Terrestrials are still available for food. Try a black foam beetle. Try a Yellow or Orange Stimulator.

I would use normal nymph patterns including, Tellico, Prince, Hare’s Ear, Green Weenie and others. Though you might not be seeing inchworms or sourwood worms, Green or Pink Weenies often work well during the Fall months. The Pink Weenie is particularly effective for brook trout. Squirmy worms are working too, in different colors.

The brook and brown trout are brightly colored for the Fall spawn. Everyone was talking about that.

There are many people visiting the Smokies right now. Traffic in Townsend was heavy this weekend. Heavy traffic in Townsend is not bad, you just have to wait sometimes before pulling out on the highway.

Fishermen reported many hikers in the backcountry this weekend. The weather was beautiful both days. It was overcast yesterday, which tells me, fishing was good.

I was driving over the Foothills Parkway in late September. As I entered the Parkway, I was stopped by a construction worker, to let some pavement removal equipment pass by. They are removing old pavement, which will be replaced when the missing link of the parkway is completed. I know the Missing Link is supposed to be opened by the end of this year. I asked the man who stopped me when they expect it to open. He told me, “the end of October”.

So, that may be coming soon if he was correct. We’ll see.

I have been up there. The new road will run from highway 321 in Walland, to Wears Valley road near Pigeon Forge. The views of this valley are incredible from there. Unless you have been up there, you have not seen anything like this. I spotted our shop from one of the bridges.

I am looking forward to seeing this part of the Foothills Parkway completed. This will be an attraction for our visitors to enjoy. The possible downside is, more people may bypass Townsend, on their way to Pigeon Forge. That could be an upside to some people here. Others in the tourism business may not be enthusiastic about it. Nobody knows what to expect but we will find out soon enough.

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

Byron Begley
October 15, 2018

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com