Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:48 am, the temperature is 61 degrees.

It will be sunny today with a high temperature in the low to middle 80’s.

Tomorrow will be cooler with a high in the upper 70’s. It will be partly cloudy in the morning with increasing clouds and periods of rain later in the day.

Little River is flowing at 67.6 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.51 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 164 cfs. The lowest recorded flow on this date was 54.0 cfs in 1988. The water temperature is 66.0 degrees this morning.

Most streams in the mountains are flowing below normal and low. Some streams rose briefly yesterday due to late afternoon scattered thunderstorms.

If you go fishing in the Smokies today, you will encounter low water. The low elevation streams will become warm today. Fish in the higher elevations where the water is cooler. Trout will be hiding in the broken choppy water, in plunge pools and runs. Staying hidden from the trout is essential to your success. Dress to blend with the forest and stay low if you can. Trout are taking dry flies and nymphs. Downsize your tippet to 6X.

Fishing for stocked trout in the low elevation rivers is fair. Trout will be concentrated in the deeper pools and runs. The rivers are flowing low and some may be warm. Small nymphs will likely work best.

Many lowland rivers are flowing low. Fishing for smallmouth bass, rock bass and panfish is good. These fish are enjoying the warmer water conditions. Fish shaded areas in deeper pools using streamers, crayfish patterns, foam floating flies or poppers. I would go early or late.

Fishing on the lakes will be best early or late today when the sun is low. I would launch at daybreak and hit the banks or cover with streamers, swimming nymphs, foam floating flies or poppers. If given the choice, I would choose fishing the lakes tomorrow when there will be more cloud cover.

Visit the TVA website from the links below to see what tailwater options you have today. The generation schedules vary. There will be long periods of no generation except pulsing at some dams. At other dams, long periods of generation will occur this afternoon. With careful planning, tailwater anglers can work with many of these generation schedules.

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

Byron Begley
June 6, 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