Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:37 am, the temperature is 67 degrees.

Light rain has been falling all night. “Showers and thunderstorms will continue today and into tonight. The strongest thunderstorms may contain locally heavy rainfall and gusty winds. Localized flooding is possible”, according to the National Weather Service. The high temperature today will be in the middle 70’s.

Showers will continue tomorrow, tomorrow night, Friday and early Friday night. Highs will be in the 70’s. Saturday will be mostly sunny and warmer with a high in the low 80’s and a chance for afternoon thunderstorms.

Little River is flowing at 114 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.74 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 129 cfs. The water temperature is 65.1 degrees this morning.

Little Pigeon River just peaked at 512 cfs, compared to median flow of 254 cfs.

Oconaluftee River is flowing at 979 cfs, compared to median flow of 323 cfs. The river is currently rising.

Tellico River is flowing at 373 cfs which compares to median flow for this date of 132 cfs.

Cataloochee Creek is flowing at 222 cfs, compared to median flow of 74 cfs.

The West Prong of the Little Pigeon River in Gatlinburg is flowing at 64.6 cfs, compared to median flow of 25 cfs. The river is rising.

Davidson River is flowing at 1,130 cfs, compared to median flow of 86 cfs.

Most streams in the mountains are flowing higher than normal for this date. Rain will continue to fall over the next few days. If you go fishing today, pick a river or stream that is flowing closer to median flow. Watch out for quickly rising water this week. If you see that happening, get out of the stream or river. I would plan on using weighted nymphs or tandem nymph rigs.

Fishing for stocked trout may be fair to good in some low elevation rivers. Or, you may find high and possibly stained water at times. Weighted nymphs will probably work best.

The lowland rivers are flowing higher than normal. Some may be stained at times this week. Fishing for smallmouth bass and warmwater species may be fair and possibly good. That depends on the water conditions when and where you are fishing. Try streamers or crayfish patterns.

It will be overcast today, which usually makes for a good lake fishing day. If you go, you are going to be wet all day. You might get caught in a strong thunderstorm. I would fish close to the ramp using streamers or swimming nymphs. You might try foam floating flies or poppers.

There are generation schedules you can work with at some dams today, if you are planning to fish on a tailwater. Check the TVA website to see what your options are.

We have been hoping for rain and we got it. This will be very beneficial for fishing in the near future. The long term weather forecast through July 5th indicates a good chance for scattered thunderstorms most days.

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

Byron Begley
June 21, 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