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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:36 am, the temperature outside is 42.4 degrees.
Rain totals so far during the past 24 hours are .46” in Townsend and .41 inches at the Knoxville Airport. More rain is predicted today, with a quarter of an inch to one half inch expected. The rain will change to snow showers after 5 pm in Townsend. Snow or ice is predicted later today in other areas around the Park.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PREDICTED HIGHS AND LOWS TODAY
| LOCATION |
HIGH |
LOW |
| TOWNSEND |
43 |
28 |
| GATLINBURG |
43 |
27 |
| ELKMONT |
42 |
24 |
| CADES COVE |
41 |
27 |
| NEWFOUND GAP |
41 |
21 |
| MOUNT LECONTE |
38 |
21 |
| CHEROKEE |
45 |
25 |
| SMOKEMONT |
41 |
23 |
| BRYSON CITY |
45 |
25 |
| MAGGIE VALLEY |
44 |
24 |
| COSBY |
44 |
28 |
Little River is flowing at 919 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 3.26 feet on the flow gauge. That is a record for this date. The river is rising right now. Median flow for this date is 143 cfs. The water temperature is 50.9 degrees this morning.
Little Pigeon River is flowing at 1,890 cfs or 3.6 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 186 cfs.
Oconaluftee River has set a flow record for this date at 1,660 cfs, repoted from the Birdtown gauge. Median flow is 246 cfs. The water is rising.
Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 428 cfs, compared to median flow of 51 cfs. This also sets a new record for the date. The creek is rising quickly.
US Hwy 441/Newfound Gap Road from Gatlinburg to Cherokee is open. Clingmans Dome Road is closed due to anticipated snow and ice. CLICK HERE to visit the Park’s Road Twitter page for closings, as they may change during the day.
Fishing conditions are not good today. The streams were already very high before this rain began during the night and those that have USGS gauges are rising now. We have to assume they all are. Little River has risen from 919 cfs to 1,020 cfs during the past hour.
If you go, it would be a good idea to stay in the low elevations, where roads are less likely to close this afternoon. Wading in swollen rivers is not recommended. Water temps are OK in the low elevations today. They will be colder tomorrow morning. Fishing will be slow until the water recedes and warms this weekend.
It will be sunny and warmer, during the days, this weekend, reaching around 60 degrees. There is little to no chance for rain Friday through Sunday. I don’t know when the water levels will recede enough to wade. I think they will recede slowly, because the ground is saturated. And, we don’t know how high the rivers will rise today. We will just have to wait and see what happens.
You could pick a low elevation smaller stream, stand at the bank, and high stick heavily weighted nymphs or streamers. Be careful not to fall in. The water is swift. You might catch some trout, and maybe a big brown trout. I would use heavy tippet because you won’t be mobile if you hook a big fish. I would use a 10 pound test tippet, 2X.
Don’t let your expectations be too high.
It is going to be nasty out there, with cold temperatures, wind and rain today. Dress well.
It looks like next week will be warmer and mostly dry. Thanksgiving week is pretty busy in Townsend and other towns near the Park. We have customers and friends who will be camping too. Our visitors should be treated with much nicer weather than we’ve had this week.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
November 15, 2018
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com
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