Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:40 am, the temperature is 57 degrees.

It will be partly sunny today with a high temperature in the upper 70’s. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high around 80. There is a slight chance for thunderstorms beginning Thursday and lasting through the weekend.

Little River is flowing at 162 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.93 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 196 cfs. The water temperature is 60.6 degrees this morning.

Most streams in the mountains are now flowing below normal with some flowing right at normal for this date. Normal is fairly low compared to Spring flows. It is time to be more careful not to be seen by the trout. Dress to blend with the forest. Fish the broken water in runs, plunge pools and riffles. Trout are taking most reasonable aquatic insect imitations and terrestrial insect patterns. You might start using a Green Weenie as a dropper off your dry fly.

Trout are hungry and feeding. They are looking for food. Stealth and getting a good drift is more important than your fly choice. If you are not catching trout, consider downsizing your tippet.

Fishing for stocked trout is good in the low elevation rivers. Sub-surface flies will work best. Try small streamers, nymphs, squirmy worms, emergers and midge pupa.

Warmer water temperatures are increasing the smallmouth bass, rock bass and panfish activity in the lowland rivers. Streamers that mimic baitfish, crayfish patterns, nymphs, hellgrammite imitations, foam floating flies and poppers are good fly choices. Fish the shaded areas of the rivers if possible. I would go early or late.

This should be a good lake fishing day. Partial cloud cover will be beneficial. Winds will be calm, up to 5 miles per hour. Fishing will likely be best early or late depending on how much cloud cover we actually have today. Cast streamers, swimming nymphs, foam floating flies or poppers to the banks or cover. Watch for bluegill and shellcrackers on the shallow flats. Cast small top water flies or swimming nymphs to them.

Tailwater anglers have several options today. TVA and the Corps will be offering long pauses in the generation at many dams, with intermittent pulsing throughout the day. There are longer periods of generation planned at a few dams. Visit the TVA website from the links below to plan your tailwater fishing day.

Traffic has been thin in Townsend this week, which is usual before a holiday weekend. We will be busy this weekend. Townsend will be busy.

I had lunch with my old friend John yesterday at the Peaceful Side Social. John is one of the smartest and funniest people I have ever known. He worked for the franchise company in Minneapolis that got me started in business in 1973 as a franchisee. We began working together sometime during the middle to late1970’s. He and his wife moved to Lenoir City last year. It is great to finally have him living close to Townsend. We talk and get together often. He wanted to buy some fudge so we went to the Chocolate Bar. Our shop used to be in that same location. Being in the store brought back many fond memories. We moved the shop from there to our current location about 20 years ago.

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

Byron Begley
May 23, 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