Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:44 am, the temperature is 54 degrees.

Today will be sunny and very warm with a high temperature in the upper 80’s.

Tomorrow will be a little cooler, in the low to middle 80’s. Isolated thunderstorms are possible in the morning, with cloudy skies and thunderstorms likely in the afternoon. We may get a tenth to a quarter of an inch of rain with higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. I hope so.

Little River is flowing low at 76.3 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.56 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 163 cfs. The water temperature is 64.0 degrees this morning.

Streams in the mountains are flowing low. Water temperatures will be warm in the low elevations. For instance, the water temperature yesterday reached 70 degrees at the USGS gauge site on Oconaluftee River. Little River at the Townsend gauge climbed to 68 degrees yesterday.

It will be hot again today, so you should fish in the higher elevations where the water will be cooler. Look for water temperatures in the middle 60’s or cooler.

Fish the broken and choppy water in runs, pockets and plunge pools where the trout will be hiding. Stay hidden from the trout by wearing colors that blend with the forest. Dry flies and nymphs will work.

Fishing for stocked trout in the low elevation rivers is probably fair or maybe better. Some of these rivers will be warm today. Also, expect to see people swimming and tubing. Go early when the water is cooler and there are less people cooling off in the water. Small nymphs will probably work best.

If you are planning to fish in the lowland rivers for smallmouth bass, rock bass or panfish, you are going to find low water conditions today. Fish in the deeper pools using nymphs, streamers, foam floating flies or poppers. Crayfish patterns are a good option too. Fish the shaded areas if they are available. I would go early or late.

The lakes will be crowded with recreation boaters. Go early or late to avoid the boat traffic and take advantage of low light conditions. Cast streamers, swimming nymphs, foam floating flies and poppers to the banks and cover when the sun is low. Find shaded areas to fish when the sun is high and you might want to switch to deeper water fly patterns. I would be ready with some dragonfly nymph patterns (swimming nymphs). Cast them to likely areas and allow them to sink deep, while retrieving slowly. These flies work well for large bluegill and shellcrackers but you might catch just about anything, including catfish, bass, carp and yellow perch.

TVA and the Corps will be pausing the generation for long periods with pulsing at some dams. They will be generating for long periods beginning later this morning or this afternoon at other dams.

If you are planning to fish on a tailwater today, which would be a good idea, check the predicted flows on the TVA website from the links below. You can work with many of these schedules and have a good tailwater fishing day.

The store is stocked well. We are busy. The fly tying department is stocked better than I have seen in a long time. I keep a running list of out of stock items and update it several times during the day. As of last night, we were out of 55 items out of a total of around 3,000. Just a few weeks ago, that number was over 150. Our suppliers are doing a much better job filling the orders I submit.

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

Byron Begley
June 3, 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