Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:35 am, the temperature is 55 degrees.

Today will be mostly cloudy with a high temperature around 80 degrees. Winds will be calm and there is no chance for rain.

Tomorrow will be partly sunny with a high around 80 degrees, calm winds and no chance for rain.

Little River is flowing at 176 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.98 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 193 cfs. The water temperature is 60.4 degrees at the low elevation USGS gauge site near Townsend.

Most streams in the mountains are flowing very close to normal this morning. Water temperatures are within the trout’s preferred range at all elevations. Fishing conditions in the Smokies are good. Cloud cover predicted today is a great fishing condition no matter where you are fishing.

Trout are taking dry flies, wet flies and nymphs. Try a Yellow Sally Stonefly dry fly with a dropper. Or, fish the deeper runs and plunge pools using weighted nymphs or nymph rigs.

Fishing for stocked trout in the low elevation rivers will be good today thanks to normal flows and good water temperatures.

This should also be a very good day to fish for smallmouth bass, rock bass and panfish in the lowland rivers. Flows are good, water temperatures are ideal and it should be cloudy. Streamers, nymphs, crayfish patterns, hellgrammite imitations, foam floating flies and poppers should be in your fly box.

You could not ask for a better lake fishing day, if indeed it is overcast as predicted. Winds will be calm at 5 miles per hour. Cast to the banks and cover with weighted streamers, swimming nymphs, foam floating flies or poppers. Look for bluegill and shellcrackers on the flats in shallow water, especially in coves. Foam floating flies, poppers or swimming nymphs will get their attention.

There are some interesting and in some cases ideal flows scheduled at most dams in the region. At many dams you will find long periods of no generation with periodic pulsing scheduled. Check the TVA website from the links below to plan your tailwater fishing day.

Fishing is good and anglers are active. I was off yesterday but I checked the sales activity at the shop remotely from home. We were very busy.

Using data at the Knoxville Airport as a reference, we have had a fairly dry Spring. Rainfall has amounted to 10.35 inches since March 1st, compared to normal of 12.47 inches during the period. Last year was drier, with only 9.00 inches of rainfall since March 1st.

The US Drought Monitor indicates we are abnormally dry in some areas including Blount and Sevier County. The monitor was updated last Thursday. Townsend is in Blount County.

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

Byron Begley
May 22, 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