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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:09 am, the temperature outside is 55.9 degrees.

Light showers fell yesterday afternoon and last night. Rainfall amounts varied in Townsend, .41 inches to .66 inches at personal weather stations accessible on the internet. The Knoxville Airport has reported .36 inches fell there. The rain is about over for now.

Today will be warmer, in the low 70’s and mostly clear. Rain returns tomorrow night in the form of showers and possibly a thunderstorm. The chance for rain is 100%. More rain is expected Tuesday morning.

Little River is rising and flowing at 57.1 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.33 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 78 cfs. The water temperature is 56.7 degrees this morning.

Little Pigeon River is flowing at 115 cfs, which compares to median flow of 130 cfs.

Oconaluftee River was affected by heavier rain. The river is flowing high and it is somewhat stained. Flow is currently 1,440 cfs, or 3.04 feet, which is a record for this date. The prior record was set in 1967 at 1,060 cfs. The water temperature is 53.6 degrees at the Birdtown gauge.

Tellico River is rising. Flow at this point is 55.6 cfs, .70 feet, compared to median flow of 70 cfs.

Cataloochee Creek is receding. Flow is 140 cfs, 2.75 feet, which compares to median flow for this date of 41 cfs. The water temperature is 51.6 degrees this morning.

Rain has certainly improved fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains. Some streams continue to rise. Some are flowing very high and possibly stained. They should all peak at some point today. At this point, I don’t know how high they will become before receding. And, I can’t be sure which streams are stained, except Oconaluftee River. I can tell from the turbidity gauge that the water is clearing from being very stained last night.

I think Little River will peak soon and it should be clear later this morning. It may be flowing clear right now.

I would go and choose Little River if you are close to that watershed. Dry flies may work. Nymphs will certainly work. I could be wrong, but I think fishing will be good later this morning or this afternoon in many streams in the Smokies, especially in Little River and the tributaries.

Rain in parts of the Southeast has improved the drought situation. And more rain is predicted tomorrow night. One weather website predicts another ½ inch of rain here, tomorrow night and Tuesday morning.

Water temperatures are good in the low to mid elevation streams.

Some lowland rivers may be stained today but they could be clear later this afternoon. And, some may be clear now.

There are favorable generation schedules on some tailwaters today, especially if you are boating. And, there may be some wading opportunities for you. Check the TVA website from the links below to see if you can work with their generation schedules.

Fishing is improving in our region. Hopefully that improvement is extending to our north, east and south. The US drought monitor will show us the facts Thursday. I know one thing, Athens Georgia got plenty of rain yesterday. I watched the Cats play the Dogs on TV.

The 10-day weather forecast looks great here, with seasonable temperatures and frequent rainy days in our future.

I was worried about this “Flash Drought”. Is that a new phrase? I never heard that one before. We started with the wettest year on record and found ourselves in a drought in a flash. Rainfall at the Knoxville Airport is still 10.88 inches above normal for the year. Since September 1st, rainfall there is 3.75 inches below normal. Now, the drought is easing. I feel better.

I hope you are faring well where you live.

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

Byron Begley
October 20, 2019     

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com