Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:40 am, the temperature is 61 degrees.

Today will be sunny with a high temperature in the middle 80’s with a low tonight in the low to middle 60’s. There is no chance for rain today.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny with high temperatures creeping up to about 90 degrees. There is a slight chance for afternoon showers.

We can expect highs in the low 90’s Friday and Saturday with a chance for showers and thunderstorms. Sunday will be warm with showers likely.

Little River is flowing at 283 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.25 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 114 cfs. The water temperature is 62.6 degrees this morning.

Most streams in the mountains are flowing higher than normal for this date, but they have receded. What we have now are Spring-like flows. Trout are actively feeding. Nymphs or dry flies will work. You might consider a dry and dropper rig. I have been suggesting that customers use a Yellow Sally Stonefly imitation for their dry fly, with a Green Weenie dropper.

Fishing for stocked trout in the low elevations will be good today. Weighted nymphs or streamers are good fly choices.

Fishing for smallmouth bass and other species in the lowland rivers is good. Wading may be limited in some rivers due to the higher than normal flows. I would hit the shaded areas with foam floating flies or poppers. Streamers and crayfish patterns are also good fly choices. I would go early or late.

This will be a fair to good lake fishing day. Fishing will be best early or late when the sun is low. Winds are predicted to be calm. My preference would be to launch at daybreak and hit the banks with foam floating flies or poppers. When the sun rises higher, seek out shaded banks to fish. At some point, you may want to switch to streamers or swimming nymphs fished deep.

Visit the TVA website to see what to expect at your favorite tailwater. You do have a lot of options today with some exceptions.

The long term weather forecast is encouraging. It will be hot this weekend but much cooler next week with highs in the low to middle 80’s and a good chance for scattered thunderstorms each day. Cooler temperatures are expected through July 12th. Fishing in the free flowing rivers should remain good for a while.

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

Byron Begley
June 28, 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