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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:35 am, the temperature outside is 66.7 degrees.

Warmer air is moving into our area. The chance for thunderstorms has diminished and that trend will continue through the weekend. Expect high temperatures through the balance of the week to be in the upper 80’s to low 90’s. The chance for rain will be 20% to 30% during the period. It will be partly sunny today and mostly sunny tomorrow and through the weekend.

Little River is flowing at 199 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.95 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 151 cfs. The water temperature is 66.0 degrees at the low elevation USGS gauge site near Townsend, just inside the Park.

Fly fishing for trout is good in the Smoky Mountains. Flows are perfect today in many streams, though higher than normal for this time of the year.

Water temperatures are warm, and they will warm further through the weekend. It is best for the health of caught and released trout, and fishing will be better for you, in the mid to high elevations. The water will be cooler.

Due to abundant sunshine expected through Sunday, and the fact that the larger rivers will be crowded with swimmers and tubers, I would fish smaller streams in the backcountry. Those streams will be somewhat shaded, and you will encounter less people. Many of those streams are found in mid to high elevations, so the water will be cooler.

Dry flies and sub-surface flies will work for you. Try any Yellow Sally Stonefly pattern. Foam beetles will produce. Green or Pink Weenies are a good choice. A Squirmy Worm is a good pattern to use. Other reasonable fly patterns will work too.

Stealth and getting a good drift are more important to success than the fly you choose.

I would go fishing early or late.

Fly fishing on our local tailwaters for trout and smallmouth bass is improving. TVA is releasing less water at the dams, now. Whether you plan to boat or wade these rivers, check the TVA website for generation schedules, then make a decision on where and when to go.

The lakes are fishing well. This bright sunshine is not what I would call great for fly fishing in the lakes. Go early or late. The lakes will be crowded with recreation boaters this weekend.

A local guide, caught what would be a new state record Musky on Watts Bar Lake. (The lake was quoted in an article but another website lists the lake as Melton Hill) His name is Steven Paul. The record is unofficial because he released the fish after weighing and measuring it. The musky was 55 inches long and weighed 52 pounds.

Steven knows he caught the new Tennessee record and beat the prior record, because he caught that fish last year. That fish could not be revived. So, he went through the process of having it certified by TWRA. The record fish weighed 44 pounds. You can visit Steven's guiding website by CLICKING HERE.

This is an interesting story and you can read it on the Daily Times website by CLICKING HERE.

The video below was produced by Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, describing our State’s musky fishery and the musky fly fishing tournament held in our state. I know several of the people in this video. It is well done.



Don’t forget about the new Joe Brooks documentary you can watch this weekend. There is more information below.

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

Byron Begley
June 14, 2018  

Dates and times in our area, given by the producer. These may not be correct where you live. Look the schedules up online yourself to be sure when they are shown.

World Fishing Network
Friday June 15th 10 pm (EST)
Saturday June 16th 4 pm (EST)
Sunday June 17th 10 am (EST)

Outdoor Channel
Saturday June 16th 7:30 pm (EST)

Sportsman Channel
Friday June 15th 8 pm (EST)

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com