Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:44 am, the temperature is 56 degrees.

It will be sunny and warm today with a high temperature around 80 degrees and a low chance for thunderstorms this afternoon. Tomorrow will be mostly sunny with a high in the low 80’s and a higher chance for afternoon thunderstorms.

Little River is flowing at 98.1 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.67 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 189 cfs. The water temperature is 58.6 degrees this morning.

Streams in the Smokies are flowing low. However, some anglers were reporting good fishing this weekend. If you go today, do everything possible to avoid being seen by the trout. Dress to blend with the forest and stay low if possible. Trout are taking dry flies, wet flies and nymphs. I talked to a customer yesterday who did well using a Yellow Stimulator dry fly. It is a good idea to drop a nymph off your dry fly. Try a small bead head nymph or a Green Weenie. Hit the broken water in runs and plunge pools.

Fishing for stocked trout in the low elevation rivers should still be good though the rivers are flowing lower than normal. Nymphs, squirmy worms, emergers and midge pupa are good fly choices.

Higher flows in the lowland rivers would be helpful but fishing for smallmouth bass, rock bass and panfish is good. Fish in the deeper pools or runs with streamers, nymphs, crayfish patterns, hellgrammite imitations, foam floating flies and poppers.

This is not an ideal lake fly fishing day due to the expected mostly sunny conditions. Winds will be calm. Fishing will be best early or late when the sun is low. When the sun is higher, look for shaded banks to fish. Cast streamers, swimming nymphs, foam floating flies or poppers to the banks or cover.

Tailwater anglers have many choices today. There will be long pauses in the generation with pulsing mixed in at spme dams. There will also be long periods of generation this afternoon at other dams. You can work with these schedules with careful planning. Check the TVA website from the links below to plan your tailwater fishing day.

Most of the Memorial Day visitors should be gone. Traffic in Townsend was fairly heavy this weekend and I heard the Park was crowded. Evidently, a lot of people were fishing in the Park. We were very busy at the shop this past weekend and yesterday.

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

Byron Begley
May 30, 2023
 
NOTICE: We are holding a Beginner Fly Tying Class all day on Saturday June 17th. As of yesterday we had one opening in the class. The cost for the day is $100, which includes the use of tools, materials and lunch. The class will be taught by Brian Courtney. Brian has been teaching our fly tying classes with Walter Babb for many years. This is a great opportunity for you to begin this incredible hobby. You will learn to tie 5 different trout patterns. This class will get you started. Call the shop at 865-448-9459 to book your spot in this class or find out if an opening is still available.

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