Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:41 am, the temperature is 66 degrees.

Rainfall yesterday amounted to .45 inches in Townsend.

It will be cloudy early today then gradually clearing later. The high temperature will be in the low 80’s. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high in the middle 80’s.

Little River is flowing at 202 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.02 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 129 cfs. The river is rising. The water temperature is 68.2 degrees this morning. Yesterday, the water temperature peaked at 70.5 degrees at 3:15 pm.

Some streams in the mountains are flowing right at normal for this date. Two streams that have USGS gauge sites are rising, including Cataloochee Creek and Little River. Right now, Little River is flowing at a good Spring-like level. Tellico River was flowing high yesterday but it is receding quickly.

Water temperatures are warm in the lowest elevations. Fish in the middle to higher elevations where the water is cooler. Trout are taking dry flies and nymphs. Try a dry and dropper rig, a dry fly fished alone, a weighted nymph or a tandem nymph rig. Terrestrial imitations are good choices.

Fishing for stocked trout is fair to good in some rivers. Nymphs or weighted nymph rigs are good fly choices.

Fishing for smallmouth bass, rock bass or warmwater species is good in the lowland rivers. Most of these rivers are flowing near normal though there may be higher water in some rivers. Streamers, crayfish patterns, foam floating flies and poppers are all good fly choices under these conditions.

This may be a good lake fishing day. If it is overcast early today as predicted, that is a huge benefit. Winds will be calm. I would go early, launching the boat at daybreak. Cast to the banks or cover with streamers, swimming nymphs, foam floating flies or poppers. When the sun pops out, find shaded areas to fish or use flies that can be retrieved deep.

There are some generation schedules at some area dams you can work with whether you are wading or boating on a tailwater. Check the TVA website from the links below to see the schedules to plan your tailwater fishing day.

We have had a wet Summer so far. Using the Knoxville Airport as a reference, rainfall since June 1st has amounted to 8.18 inches, which compares to normal of 5.84 inches. We will have a couple of dry days, then scattered thunderstorms should resume daily beginning Thursday and lasting through at least July 18th.

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

Byron Begley
July 10, 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