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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 42.6 degrees.

Today and tomorrow will be sunny and cool, with highs in the 60’s and lows in the 30’s to 40 degrees in the Smoky Mountains. It feels like Fall and it is finally starting to look like Fall. Trees are turning on the mountains slopes.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PREDICTED HIGHS AND LOWS TODAY

Little River is flowing at 159 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.84 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 77 cfs. The water temperature is 50.9 degrees this morning.

Most if not all streams in the Smokies are flowing above normal. Normal is low. What we have now is great.

Low to mid elevation stream temperatures are within the trout’s preferred range. The high elevation streams may be colder. It is hard to say. Lately, the higher elevation air temperatures are not much cooler than they are in the valleys. If you look at tonight’s temperature forecast above, you will see there is little variation through the different elevation locations, except for Mount Leconte.

Fishing conditions are very good. I think you will find the trout to be more active later in the day after the water warms some.

I also think nymphs will work best. Dry flies may work, if the trout are looking up. The fish are certainly going to be feeding, trying to eat all the food they can find before Winter, when the water chills and food is scarce.

Good nymph patterns include anything that resembles a mayfly, caddis or stonefly. There may be some terrestrials left crawling or flying around, but I have not seen many. I would stick with tied and true patterns, like a Tellico, Pheasant Tail, Prince or Hare’s Ear. If I decided to try dry flies, my choice would be a Stimulator, size #14 or #16, yellow or orange. An Elk Hair Caddis may work. I think orange would be my first choice.

Brown and brook trout are colored for the spawn. This is a beautiful time of the year to fish in the Appalachians. The spawning trout and the turning trees share similar hues. You will probably catch some leaves today, with more to come in the near future. We expect that in late October.

The lowland rivers are in good shape. You should find fair fishing for smallmouth bass. Little River has been stocked through town. An Olive Wooly Bugger is a good choice for catching them in the Fall. They are definitely looking for food.

I don’t have much time to fish during the late Fall. Our websites have to be updated with new fly fishing gear. This is my busy time of the year. Days off are scarce. I do most of my work on the sites at home.

I plan to take our boat to the dealer in Morristown next week to have some service work done on the motor. I want it ready to go next Spring. I do most the engine maintenance myself but there are some things I leave to the pros. One is, changing the water pump impeller. That should be done every two years. I may have the carb rebuilt and possibly replace the fuel pump.

I think I tend to over-maintain that engine. Engine work is fairly inexpensive. Being stuck on a lake without power is something I try to avoid. I bought this boat and motor new 10 years ago. That motor failed only one time, due to some bad gas I bought. David Ezell was with me. The trolling motor got us back to the ramp, thankfully. We motored along about two miles, very slowly and quietly.

Fly Tyers Weekend starts Saturday. It’s Free both days. It is held in a huge tent behind our store. You can read more by clicking on the FTW banner below. I can’t wait.

Dave Carson, Daniel and Anthony Hipps organize and run the event. All I have to do is show up, just like you.

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

Byron Begley
October 23, 2013

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com