Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. The temperature this morning at 5:09 am is 26 degrees.

It will be bitter cold today, with a high temperature in the upper 20’s, falling to around 18 degrees tonight. It will be breezy today. This is not a good day to go fishing. I doubt if anyone around here will.

It will be somewhat warmer tomorrow but the arctic air will continue to dominate our conditions for several days. Expect highs in the 30’s and 40’s over the next week with lows dropping to the teens, 20’s and 30’s.

Little River is flowing at 1.87 feet, or 161 cubic feet per second (cfs). Median flow for this date is 288 cfs.

Most streams in the Smokies are flowing lower than normal and the water is cold. Fishing in the mountains is slow.

The US Drought Monitor indicates we are in a “Severe Drought”. The monitor will be updated today and hopefully there will be some improvement. We got a pretty good rain on January 11th.

The long term weather forecast does not indicate improved fishing conditions over the next 10 days. The water will remain cold and the trout will be lethargic in the free flowing streams and rivers. Your best bet is to fish on one of the tailwaters where the water will be warmer at times.

If you tie flies, that may be a more suitable activity until we get some warmer weather.

Our large fly tying department is extremely busy. I am adding new materials every week. Yesterday I displayed two new dubbings in 12 colors each. They are both Wapsi SLF dubbings, standard and Whitlock. Today I will put out 12 colors of Hareline’s Bruiser Blend dubbing.

If fact, the whole shop is busy, which is rare this time of the year. I don’t know what is going on. I keep an eye on the number of transactions which somewhat indicates how many people are visiting the shop and compare those to last year. That number is way up too. I don’t know what it is but I hope it keeps going. The surge may be weather related.

We are having big turnouts at our Free Saturday and Sunday Fly Tying Demonstrations. Last weekend, Walter Babb tied on Saturday and David Knapp demonstrated on Sunday. As expected, both drew big crowds. We will continue the free demonstrations through February. CLICK HERE to see the schedule. All you have to do is show up and enjoy your day.

We have some fly tying classes scheduled so CLICK HERE to see those dates. Call the shop to reserve your spot.

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

Byron Begley
January 15, 2026

WALTER BABB BAMBOO RODS FOR SALE - Buy directly from Walter. CLICK HERE for more information.

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com