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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:51 am, the temperature is 38.1 degrees.

Today will be mostly sunny with a high temperature in the middle 50’s, falling to the middle 30’s tonight. Tomorrow and Sunday will continue to be sunny with highs in the upper 50’s to 60 degrees and lows in the middle 30’s.

Little River is flowing at 139 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.79 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 141 cfs. The water temperature is 49.8 degrees and falling this morning.

Most streams in the mountains are flowing fairly low but still at about normal. Water temperatures are chilly and falling.

Fishing will be best in the low elevations where the water is warmer. You may want to wait until later to go fishing, after the streams begin to warm. The water will be very clear. Stealth is essential to your success. Dress to blend with the forest. Fish the broken water where the trout will be hiding from predators. Weighted nymph rigs will likely work best.

Lowland rivers are chilly this morning. Smallmouth bass may be inactive. Trout, where they are stocked can be caught on nymphs, streamers and egg patterns.

TVA and the Corps of Engineers will be generating at every dam I checked this morning. I didn’t see any good wade fishing options to start the day. There are breaks in the generation at some dams later this morning or this afternoon. Visit the TVA website from the links below to see what your options are. You will have more if you are boating.

I would go early or late to a lake today. Winds are predicted to be calm. You might catch fish on streamers, fished deep and slow.

We have been anticipating cooler Fall temperatures and now we have it. Late Fall fishing can be very good or slow, depending on water temperatures. I have found, when water temperatures fall into the 40’s, fishing for all species will be slower until the water warms with some exceptions.

This is a good time of year to be fishing for trout with nymphs. At times, trout may be taking dry flies, if they encounter a hatch. Blue wing olive dries and emergers should be in your Fall and Winter fly boxes.

Brown trout are active in the late Fall and you may see them out in the open, spawning. If you see them actually spawning, on a redd, it is a sight to behold. They are fun to watch. I would avoid casting to a spawning female trout on a redd. That just doesn’t feel right to me. She holds the gifts for our future.
Try to catch and release her after she is finished, or cast to the males. To me, they are fair game. Brown trout will be active even when the water is colder, during and after the spawning season. They can be caught when the water is cold.

We should also be careful not to step on redds when wading in the late Fall.  

This is a great time of the year to be out on a stream, seeing all of this going on. This is a wonderful time of the year to be fly fishing because we know Winter is coming.

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

Byron Begley
November 5, 2021   

WALTER BABB MADE BAMBOO FLY RODS FOR SALE – CLICK HERE

Walter is selling a selection of over 50 bamboo fly rods. All but one was made by him. The other one was custom made for Walter by Walton Powell. Read the description of each rod on the list and contact him if you are interested in buying one or more than one. Even if you are not interested in a purchase, this web page is very interesting to read. Walter has made over 285 bamboo rods over the past 20-years. You will be working directly with Walter on a purchase and you can test cast the rods before you buy one at his home. Or, call him and he will ship a rod to you. His contact information is on the web page he and I created.

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com