Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:41 am, the temperature is 51 degrees.

Today will be breezy again, with winds out of the west at 15 to 20 miles per hour, gusting as high as 30 miles per hour. The high temperature today will be in the low 60’s, dropping to around 40 tonight. No rain is predicted except maybe a few sprinkles tonight.

It will be sunny tomorrow with a high in the low to middle 60’s and a low in the upper 30’s.

Little River is flowing at 167 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.95 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 252 cfs. The water temperature is 52.2 degrees this morning. Yesterday, the water temperature topped out at about 54 degrees at 2:45 pm.

Most streams in the Smokies are flowing below normal. Water temperatures are chilly in the higher elevations. Though the temperatures in the low elevations are within the trout’s preferred range, they are falling this morning.

Fishing will be best later today when the water is warmer. Fish in the lower elevations where the water is warmer and trout should be actively feeding. Trout will take nymphs for sure. They may be taking emergers, wet flies and dry flies later today.

Fishing for stocked trout in the low elevations should be good today. Most rivers are flowing low, but at good fishable levels. Sub-surface flies will likely work best. Try weighted nymphs or nymph rigs, wet flies, emergers, squirmy worms, midge pupa or small streamers.

Fishing for smallmouth bass in the lowland rivers will improve later today. It may be partly cloudy later which is a good condition. Streamers and nymphs will probably work better than top water flies.

Like yesterday, lake fishing anglers will have to deal with wind today. Personally, I would not go. If you do, hit the rocky banks with weighted streamers. Retrieve slow so the fly will sink deeper as it approaches your boat.

During the warmer months I like to use dragon fly nymphs in the lakes to catch just about anything. I refer to them as swimming nymphs in this report. Big bluegill and shellcrackers will take them. I’ve caught a lot of smallmouth and largemouth bass on these flies. I cast them to the banks and cover and retrieve slow with some jerky motions thrown in.

I found a new (to me) lake or pond dragonfly imitation on the Fly Fisherman website this morning. The article is written by Charlie Craven, titled How to Tie Smitherman’s “Draggin” Nymph Fly. I’m going to tie this one. You can read the article with step by step instructions by CLICKING HERE.

TVA and the Corps of Engineers are attempting to raise the lake levels. We have not had much rain lately. So, they are generating less. There will be long pauses in the generation with intermittent pulsing at most dams today offering tailwater anglers many choices. Visit the TVA website from the links below to plan your tailwater fishing day.

Our neighbors, who live about 500 feet from our house have told us about a large bear that takes naps on the ground behind their home. Late yesterday, Paula and I watched a big bear walk out of the forest. We recognized the bear. We have seen him several times this year.

The bear stopped about 40 feet from our back door and sniffed the air near the posts that hold our bird feeders. We are not feeding the birds now so the bear soon lost interest. He walked a few feet toward one end or our house and sat down. Then, he laid down, curled up into a ball and appeared to fall asleep. He laid there at least 30 minutes. Then, he stood up, yawned, stretched, and disappeared into the forest.

I would hate to walk out at night to my truck for some reason, and stumble onto this big animal asleep in the driveway. This bear weighs about 2 to 3 times as much as I do. Paula was driving the Gator to her garden one day this year and the bear or one the size of this one walked out of the forest in front of her, about 25 feet away. She turned the Gator around and headed back to our house and waited a while before returning to the garden.

Those animals are out there day and night, where we live.

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

Byron Begley
May 2, 2023

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Parking Tags are now required to park your vehicle inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park for more than 15 minutes. Tags may be purchased at Visitors Centers, including the center in Townsend. Or, they may be purchased online. You can buy a daily, weekly or annual tag. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com