Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:39 am, the temperature is 60 degrees.

Sun and clouds will be mixed today. The high temperature will be in the low 80’s. There is a low chance for thunderstorms this afternoon.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny with a high in the middle 80’s and a chance for thunderstorms.

Little River is flowing at 64.3 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.49 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 153 cfs. The water temperature is 63.7 degrees this morning.

Some streams in the mountains are flowing lower than normal. Others are flowing close to normal. Right now, Tellico River is flowing slightly higher than median flow for this date but it is receding.

For the most part, you will encounter low to fairly low flows in the Smokies. It is essential to your success to stay hidden from the trout. Fish the choppy water where the trout are hiding. Dry flies or nymphs will work for you. I would use a dry and dropper rig. Try a Yellow Sally Stonefly imitation, a Yellow Stimulator or a foam beetle for your dry fly. Small weighted nymphs or Green Weenies are good dropper choices. You might try trailing your dry fly with an ant pattern.

Some stocked trout rivers are flowing low. Fishing for stocked trout in some rivers will be better than others. Try small nymphs with light tippet.

Fish the deeper pools in the lowland rivers for smallmouth bass, rock bass and panfish. Foam floating flies and poppers should provide you with some top water action. If not, try streamers or crayfish patterns.

This will be a nice lake fishing day. Winds are predicted to be calm. It will be sunny at times. I would go early or late when the sun is low. When the sun is high, find shaded banks to fish. Try easing your boat into narrow coves that are shaded. If you can’t get out of the sun, fish deeper with weighted streamers or swimming nymphs. Foam floating flies or poppers are good choices when the sun is low or when fishing in shaded areas.

There are generation schedules you can work with on most tailwaters today. At some dams they will start generating for long periods beginning later this morning or this afternoon. Click through the TVA website to pick a suitable generation schedule for a day or at least a partial day fishing on a tailwater. Plan to be at the right spot at the right time whether you are boating or wading. You have more options if you are boating.

I can tell that the fly tying business has slowed for the Summer in the eastern states. Our suppliers are giving us great service because they are getting less or smaller orders. Fly tying material and tool orders are being processed and shipped quickly. Some orders I placed Monday will arrive today. Others should arrive tomorrow.

However, our fly tying department is very busy, way up from last year in June. I do the ordering and receiving for the department. I replenish from our largest suppliers weekly. We are stocked very well right now. New customers are finding us. I love it.

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

Byron Begley
June 15, 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