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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:41 am, the temperature outside is 31.3 degrees.

Today, tomorrow and Sunday will be sunny and much warmer. No rain is predicted through the weekend. High temperatures in Townsend will reach the low 50’s today, and the upper 50’s Saturday and Sunday. This is going to be a beautiful weekend.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PREDICTED HIGHS AND LOWS TODAY

Streams in the Smokies are flowing very high today but they are now receding. Though we are halfway through the month of November, the rainfall numbers are huge. November’s rainfall so far at the Knoxville Airport is reported to be 4.83 inches compared to normal of 1.79”. For the year so far, rainfall at the Airport is reported to be 52.75 inches, compared to normal of 41.14 inches, a 11.61 inch surplus. This has been a wet year and a very wet month.

Little River is flowing at 1,210 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 3.63 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 138 cfs. The water temperature is 47.8 degrees this morning.

Little Pigeon River at the Sevierville gauge is flowing at 2,680 cfs, or 4.13 feet on the gauge. That is a record for this date, set in 1927 at 2,270 cfs.

Oconaluftee River at Birdtown is flowing at 1,150 cfs compared to median flow of 245 cfs.

Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 402 cfs, compared to median flow of 50 cfs.

US Highway 441, from Gatlinburg to Cherokee is closed due to snow and ice. The road will hopefully open later this morning as temperatures rise to the expected high of 47 degrees at Newfound Gap. You can visit the Park’s Road Twitter Page by CLICKING HERE. There, you can find out when the road is open.

These strong currents make wading in many streams dangerous. Don’t take chances. Stay near the bank and high stick heavily weighted nymphs. Find smaller streams that have receded quicker. Anthony Creek at the Cades Cove Picnic Area can be a good choice when we have high water events like this one. I would probably drive along the Middle Prong of Little River and find spots that are more angler friendly. Stay close to the bank, fish a while, then move on.

We are all wondering what the stream conditions will be like tomorrow and Sunday. They will certainly be better. The water will recede some and the temperatures will rise through the weekend. How low they go, is not something I am willing to predict. The ground is saturated. The streams will recede slowly.

If you plan to fish Little River, look for a gauge reading of 2.5 feet. At that level, fishing and wading in the river is considered to be on the high side of good. Right now, the gauge level is over one foot above that number.  A foot of water is a huge difference.

The Little River Townsend gauge site is wide. The same amount of water is flowing at other areas that are narrow, resulting in higher and more forceful current. The Townsend gauge is a reference, that does not necessarily represent the higher flows upstream in the mountains, where the river is constricted.

If you are in town for the weekend, you might want to drive over the newly opened missing link of the Foothills Parkway. The road has been open since last Saturday. Visitors enjoyed beautiful views for two days. Since then, the mountains and the road have been obscured by dense fog and clouds. Today and this weekend will be different. The weather is going to be perfect. This 16-mile stretch may be visited by many tourists and locals. Expect slow traffic at times. Allow more time for your trip.

From what I have seen, and read, some trees in the lower elevations are still somewhat colorful, much later than normal.

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

Byron Begley
November 16, 2018

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com