Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:49 am, the temperature is 22 degrees.
It will be sunny and warmer today with a high temperature in the low to middle 50’s, dropping to the low 30’s tonight. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high around 60 degrees and a low in the middle 30’s.
Rain will move in Friday night and continue through Saturday. The weekend will be warm with highs in the 60’s and lows in the 40’s.
Some roads in the Park are still closed due to snow and ice. Little River Road from Sugarlands to Townsend is closed. Laurel Creek Road from the “Y” to Cades Cove is closed. Newfound Gap Road and others are closed.
Temperatures are expected to be above freezing after 9 am this morning. You may encounter ice on some untreated roads early.
Little River is flowing at 136 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.78 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 312 cfs. The water temperature is 32.4 degrees this morning.
Most streams in the Smokies have receded to below median normal for this date. The streams are very cold, with water temperatures near 30 degrees or colder.
Trout are lethargic. Fishing in the Smokies will be slow today. Access to many streams is limited, due to closed roads. Some roads should open later today.
Fishing in the lowland rivers, including those that are stocked with trout will be slow until the water warms.
Fishing should improve gradually this week. Hopefully fishing will be better by the weekend. Ice and snow will be melting in the mountains, adding cold water to the streams. Sometimes we are fooled by thinking the streams will warm quicker.
TVA and the Corps of Engineers will be generating all day at most dams. I saw planned pauses at a couple of dams today. Check the schedule at Dale Hollow Dam. There may be others. Links to the expected generation schedules are available for you below.
The long term weather forecast is interesting. We will begin the new year with much warmer than normal temperatures.
Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.
Byron Begley
December 28, 2022
Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com
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