Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:41 am, the temperature is 65 degrees.

Today will be mostly sunny with a high temperature in the low to middle 80’s. Tomorrow will be mostly sunny with a high in the middle 80’s.

Thursday through Saturday will be much warmer, with highs in the low 90’s and a chance for thunderstorms each day.

Little River is flowing at 474 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.63 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 124 cfs. Yesterday, the river rose to 1,660 cfs and peaked at 9:15 am. The water temperature is 64 degrees this morning.

I write this fishing report at home early in the mornings. Yesterday morning, at 4:32 am, Little River was flowing at 279 cfs and rising. A thunderstorm moved through Townsend at about 3:00 am, dropping a half inch of rain. The ground was saturated from rain that fell the day before. Some areas got more rain. Newfound Gap reported 1.11 inches yesterday morning. Cades Cove got .84 inches. Heavy rain fell in a short period of time.

Later yesterday morning, Little River was flowing at 1,660 cfs at 9:15 am. Little Pigeon River at the Sevierville Gauge reported 6,680 cfs at 10:45 am. Oconaluftee River peaked at 3,740 cfs at 8:45 am. A rock slide closed Newfound Gap early yesterday morning. Most streams in the Smokies were blown out with some setting high flow records for the date.

The rivers have receded. Many are still flowing high. The heavy rain missed the Tellico River watershed. All streams and rivers in the Smokies are flowing higher than median flow for this date.

If you go fishing in the Smokies today, refer to the USGS gauge sites first. You may find some fishable water but be careful wading. Stand in safe water casting weighted nymphs or streamers.

Most lowland rivers are flowing much higher than normal. Wading will be limited in many of the rivers.

This may be a fair to good lake fishing day. It may be a little breezy at times. Overcast conditions are not predicted, so fishing will be best early or late when the sun is low. When the sun is high, try to find shaded banks to fish. Foam floating flies and poppers may produce for you in the dimly lit areas. Cast them to the banks or cover. When the sun is higher, switch to weighted streamers or swimming nymphs and let them sink deep.

There are some generation schedules tailwater anglers can work with today. Visit the TVA website from the links below to see what tailwater fishing options you have and plan accordingly.

June has been a wet month. Using the Knoxville Airport as a reference, rainfall this month stands at 5.69 inches. Normal for the period is 3.58 inches.

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

Byron Begley
June 27, 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