Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:45 am, the temperature is 50 degrees.

It will be sunny and cooler today with a high temperature in the middle to upper 70’s. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high in the low 80’s and a low chance for afternoon thunderstorms.

Little River is flowing at 139 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.84 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 186 cfs. The water temperature is 59.7 degrees this morning.

Some streams in the mountains are flowing lower than normal while a few are flowing right at normal. Water temperatures are within the trout’s preferred range at all elevations.

Trout are taking dry flies, nymphs and wet flies. A good dry fly to use now is a Yellow Sally Stonefly imitation.

As the streams recede to lower water conditions, stealth is very important to your success. Stay hidden from the trout and you will catch more. Dress to blend with the forest.

Fish in the broken water in runs, plunge pools and riffles.

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

Fishing for smallmouth bass, rock bass and panfish is good in the lowland rivers. The rivers have warmed and the fish are actively feeding. I would tend to start with top offerings such as foam floating flies or poppers. If that is not working, switch to streamers or nymphs. Crayfish and hellgrammite imitations are also good flies to use in these rivers. It will be sunny today so you will likely do best fishing the shaded areas if they are available in the river you are fishing. Or, go early or late when the sun is low.

With lots of sunshine predicted today, fishing on the lakes will be best early or late. It may be a little breezy later today. Find shaded areas to fish when the sun is high. Streamers, swimming nymphs, foam floating flies and poppers are all good choices.

There are long breaks in the generation scheduled with some periods of pulsing at most dams in the area today. You will not have a problem finding a tailwater to fish. Visit the TVA website from the links below to plan your day.

Visitors will be heading to the Smokies for the Memorial Day Weekend. It will be cool, with highs in the 70’s and lows in the low 50’s. We do have a low chance for showers and thunderstorms each day through the holiday weekend. It should be overcast at times. If I were planning to travel to the mountains to fish, I would be pleased.

I am pleased with the stock levels in the fly tying department. We have not been stocked this well in a long time, due to the great fulfillment we are getting from our suppliers now. I’ve been busy ordering and receiving materials and tools. The suppliers are picking and shipping quicker than normal so I can order more often. Now is a good time to be stocking up on fly tying materials.

The entire store is stocked well and we have been busy. We will be open every day through the Memorial Day weekend.

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

Byron Begley
May 24, 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