Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:42 am, the temperature is 23 degrees.

It will be partly sunny today with a high temperature in the middle to upper 50’s and a low tonight in the low 30’s. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high around 60 degrees and a low in the middle 30’s. Warmer temperatures will continue Saturday and Sunday. Rain will move in Monday and continue through at least next Wednesday.

Little River is flowing at 127 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.72 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 217 cfs. The water temperature is 36.7 degrees this morning.

Streams in the mountains are all flowing lower than normal. Water temperatures are below the trout’s preferred range. Fishing for most wild trout is slow in the Smokies. Post spawn brown trout are an exception. The streams should be warming over the next few days. But lately, the cold nights are not allowing that to happen. The days and nights will be warmer beginning today and warming further this weekend.

If you go fishing in the mountains, you will encounter fairly low and very clear water. Dress to blend with the forest and do everything possible to avoid being seen by the trout. Use finer tippet sizes than you normally would. Weighted nymph rigs will work best for you.

Fishing in the stocked streams will continue to improve. Anglers are catching stocked trout now. Nymphs, egg patterns, Squirmy Worms and other sub-surface flies are good choices.

If you check the TVA website from the links below to plan a tailwater fishing day, you will notice pauses in the generation at many dams will occur this afternoon. Maybe you can work with some of those schedules. Tailwater trout fishing is a good option right now.

Out of town visitors are arriving in Townsend for the holidays and that activity will increase as we get closer to Christmas. Customers are buying gift cards either online or in the shop. That will increase over the next few days as well. The last resort will be having us email a gift certificate to you. That is a great solution for last minute shoppers. You can do that online.

We will be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I will not be writing a Fishing Report either day. We will be back on December 26th then close again on New Years Day.

After the New Year holiday, we will resume our Free Fly Tying Demonstrations on Saturdays and Sundays through the Winter.

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

Byron Begley
December 21, 2023

Join us on most weekends during the Winter for our Free Fly Tying Demonstrations. We will not be holding them on Christmas and New Year weekends.  You don’t need a reservation. Just show up. You can view our schedule by CLICKING HERE.

The Clinch River Chapter of Trout Unlimited is holding an intermediate fly tying class in Norris, Tennessee beginning Saturday January 13th and running for 8 Saturdays through March 2nd. This is an opportunity for you to improve your fly tying skills to a new high level. CLICK HERE FOR MOR INFORMATION.

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com