Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:40 am, the temperature is 55 degrees.

Today will be partly sunny with a high temperature in the upper 70’s. We have a chance for showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high around 80 degrees and a slight chance for showers in the afternoon.

Rain is likely Saturday and Saturday night with cooler temperatures. The high temperature will be in the low to middle 70’s Saturday.

Little River is flowing at 329 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.40 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 212 cfs. The water temperature is 59.0 degrees and falling.

Streams in the mountains were flowing high yesterday with some being too high to safely wade. Most have receded to reasonable fishing levels now with some flowing near normal.

If you go fishing in the Smokies today, you will find good fishing conditions. Water temperatures are perfect in the low to middle elevations, however, the temperatures are falling this morning. Weighted nymphs, nymph rigs, wet flies and dry flies are good choices. You may want to start with nymphs early.

Fishing for stocked trout in the low elevation rivers will be good today though you may find wading will be limited in some due to higher than normal flows. Sub-surface flies will likely work best. Try nymphs, squirmy worms, midge pupa, emergers and small streamers.

Fishing for smallmouth bass in the lowland rivers will be good today. You may find higher than normal flows and limited wading. Nymphs and streamers may work best for you. As the rivers warm later, try foam floating flies or poppers.

Today will be a good lake fishing day. Winds are predicted to be light. It will be partly cloudy at times. There is a chance for rain and possibly thunderstorms this afternoon. I would go early, launching at daybreak. Cast weighted streamers, swimming nymphs, foam floating flies or poppers to the banks and cover.

There are pauses in the generation scheduled at many dams today with intermittent pulsing mixed in. There are longer periods of generation planned at a few dams, more than we have seen lately. Tailwater anglers can find good fishable flows today by checking the TVA website from the links below.

I read a very informative article this morning on the Troutbitten website titled “Slipping Contact – Tight Line and Euro Nymphing”. The article was written by Domenick Swentosky. There is no doubt, more fly anglers are improving their catch rates by using weighted nymphs with a tight line as Euro Nymphing becomes more popular. You can read the article by CLICKING HERE.

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

Byron Begley
May 18, 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