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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:44 am, the temperature is 61.3 degrees.

It will be mostly sunny today with a high temperature in the upper 80’s, falling to the low 60’s tonight. Tomorrow will be more of the same with a slight chance for thunderstorms. Expect a high in the upper 80’s Sunday, with a 30% chance for afternoon thunderstorms.

Little River is flowing at 149 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.80 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 125 cfs. The water temperature is 65.5 degrees this morning.

Streams in the Smokies are flowing near normal, some slightly higher and others a little lower. The water is warm in the low elevations. Fish the higher elevations where the water is cooler. Look for temperatures in the middle 60’s or cooler.

I would plan to fish at or above Elkmont on the East Prong of Little River, Lynn Camp Prong, Thunderhead Prong or the upper West Prong of Little River. Abrams Creek near the Abrams Falls Trailhead is a good choice. Springs entering the creek hold the water temperatures down. Or, drive to the higher elevations along 441 from Gatlinburg to Cherokee.

There are over 800 miles of trout streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Most are flowing in the middle to high elevations at some point.  

Dry flies and nymphs are catching trout. A Yellow Sally Stonefly dry is a good choice. Trout are looking for terrestrials too, so go prepared with beetle and ant patterns. Green Weenies are working well, which is usual in the Summer months.

Most lowland rivers are flowing at normal. Smallmouth bass, rock bass and panfish can be found in the deeper runs and pools. Fish the shaded areas with poppers or foam floating flies. If your favorite river is flowing through areas with little or no tree canopy, go early or late.

Tailwater trout and smallmouth bass fishing is good below some dams. Generation schedules are similar nearby, periods of low discharge in the mornings with longer periods in the afternoons. You can work with many of these schedules whether you are wade fishing or boating.

Lake fishing with flies is good, especially early or late when the sun is off the water. You may find good fishing on the surface with poppers or foam floating flies. Or, you may do best using streamers or swimming nymphs.

I search the web every morning using the words, “Fly Fishing News”, looking for articles of interest you may enjoy and learn from. The topic of the drought in the west is written about on most of the sites. One site linked me to CNN and an article about the drought in the west. You can read it by CLICKING HERE.

If you want to learn to tie flies, there are many good videos to watch online and learn from. Will told me once, he pretty much learned to tie by watching YouTube when he was a beginner. He is teaching fly tying at Trout Camp this week, at the Tremont Institute. Will is an excellent fly tyer. He writes much of the content you read on our online store in the fly tying category.  

Most fly tying classes were shut down last year, and YouTube or other video formats filled the void. If you are interested, search out the good sites. I like the videos that have more tying and less talking.

Paula told me a pack of coyotes were howling right outside our house at 3:30 am this morning. I didn’t hear a thing. We both get up at 4:30 am every morning and we don’t use an alarm clock. It’s a routine. I finish this report, shower and head to the shop by 7:15 to 7:30 every day. She prepares breakfast and lunch for me to take to work every morning.

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

Byron Begley
June 25, 2021

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com