Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:43 am, the temperature is 35 degrees.

It will be mostly cloudy today with a slight chance for rain this afternoon. The high temperature will be in the low 40’s dropping to the upper 20’s tonight. We have a low chance for rain and snow showers tonight. There is a slight chance for rain or snow showers tomorrow with a high in the low 40’s.

Little River is flowing at 173 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.90 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 314 cfs. The water temperature is 44.6 degrees and falling.

Streams in the mountains are flowing lower than normal but at good fishing levels. The water is chilly, even in the low elevations. The streams probably won’t warm much today. Fish in the low elevations where the water is warmer. Nymphs or weighted nymph rigs will likely work best.

Fishing for stocked trout in the low elevation rivers will be fair and maybe better. Try nymphs, midge pupa, egg patterns, Squirmy Worms and other sub-surface flies.

There are generation schedules you can work with at a few dams today. Check out South Holston, Dale Hollow, Norris and Center Hill dams. There are other interesting generation schedules you should check out. Maybe your schedule will work with theirs and you can get in some tailwater fishing time today.

I don’t think many people are fishing right now but we are very busy at the shop. There are still plenty of out of town visitors staying in Townsend and it appears many local people are also burning some end of the year vacation time. We are always glad to see plenty of people in the shop. After this coming weekend, we will be slow for a couple of months. We will resume holding our Free Fly Tying Demonstrations on the weekends.

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

Byron Begley
December 29, 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