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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:53 am, the temperature outside is 68 degrees.

It is very foggy this morning. The mountains are obscured. It will burn off soon and this is going to be a beautiful day.

Scattered thunderstorms dropped rain around the area yesterday. The Knoxville Airport reported .40 inches. We got almost an inch in Townsend, .90 inches to be exact, near our house.

Today will be partly cloudy early then sunny this afternoon with a high temperature in the low 80’s. We may see thunderstorms tomorrow. The chance is 60% to 80%, depending on who you believe. There is another chance for scattered thunderstorms Sunday.

This is going to be a nice day to go fishing. Go if you can.

Little River is flowing at 162 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.82 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 131 cfs. The water temperature is 67.8 degrees this morning.

Little Pigeon River is flowing at 451 cfs, 2.05 feet, compared to median flow of 258 cfs.

Oconaluftee River is flowing at 464 cfs, 1.83 feet, and that compares to median flow of 323 cfs for the date.

Tellico River is flowing at 207 cfs, 1.36 feet, compared to median flow of 129 cfs.

Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 79.3 cfs, 2.46 feet, compared to median flow of 74 cfs.

Flows are great, especially for late June. Water temperatures are a little warm in the lowest elevations. I would fish in the mid to upper elevations where the water is cooler. Try the upper Middle Prong (Gravel Road), West Prong or East Prong of Little River above Metcalf Bottoms to Elkmont and above. Lynn Camp Prong is a good choice. So is Thunderhead Prong. Try Abrams Creek if you can tolerate the Cades Cove traffic.

There are many choices today in the Great Smoky Mountains.

I would use a black foam beetle for my dry with a Green Weenie dropper. And, I might use a Yellow Stimulator, Yellow Neversink Caddis, Smoky Mountain Candy or Rob’s Hellbender for a dry. Nymphs choices could include Pink Weenie, Pheasant Tail, Tellico, Hare’s Ear or Prince, and of course the Green Weenie.

Poppers are the way to go on the lakes and lowland rivers. I’m a huge BoogleBug fan. Go early or late or fish the shaded areas of the lake or stream. If poppers do not work, try nymphs or streamers.

I would not be on a lake today without Rubber Legged Dragons. In fact, I going to start tying a new batch for Paula and I to use. I’m going to tie mine on Hanak competition jig hooks that are barbless with a tungsten bead and lead wire for weight.

And, I’m going to try tying some on Trout Magnet jig head hooks, with the barbs pinched down. My favorite colors are chartreuse and rust for bluegill and shellcrackers. You can find the Trout Magnet jig heads in the shop’s spinning department in 5 packs or 25 packs. I’m tying mine on black jig heads. These Dragons work for trout too.

I’ve caught about everything you can think of in freshwater on Dragons, including channel catfish. I don’t try to catch catfish but sometimes I do. Those fish destroy your flies!

Paula and I were fishing from our boat on Dale Hollow Lake a few years ago. I was casting a Puglisi Threadfin Shad on an 8-weight fly rod and hooked a monster. I thought I might have a world record smallmouth bass. It turned out to be a 12-pound flathead catfish. I could see it swimming deep under the boat on our depth finder, during the fight.

Good generation or sluicing schedules are hard to find around here today. TVA is sluicing at Norris. They are generating at Cherokee Dam and Douglas day and night. Center Hill Dam’s schedule looks good. The water is churning at Wolf Creek Dam in Kentucky around the clock.

If you have been waiting for a beautiful day, without the threat of rain and thunder, today is your day.

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

Byron Begley
June 21, 2019

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com