Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:32 am, the temperature is 63 degrees.

It will be sunny and pleasant today with a high temperature in the lower to middle 80’s. There is a slight chance for showers and thunderstorms tonight with a low in the upper 60’s.

Tomorrow is going to be cool and wet. The high temperature is predicted to be in the middle to upper 70’s. There is a 90% chance for showers and thunderstorms. A half to three quarters of an inch of rain is possible. Rain and thunderstorms are likely tomorrow night.

Showers and thunderstorms are likely Friday with a high temperature around 80 degrees.

Little River is flowing at 107 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.66 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 120 cfs. The water temperature is 69.1 degrees this morning.

Most of the mountain streams are flowing at or below normal this morning. We will see that change over the next few days. Fishing for trout is good in the middle to higher elevations, where the water is cooler.

A dry and dropper rig is a good choice. Your dry fly could be a terrestrial or other aquatic insect pattern. Good dropper choices are Green Weenie or other small bead head nymphs. More important than fly choice is staying hidden from the trout, not spooking them with your cast and getting a good drift. Trout will be hiding in the choppy broken water.

Fishing for smallmouth bass or warmwater species in the lowland rivers should be fair to good today. Fish in the deeper pools and runs using streamers, crayfish patterns, foam floating flies or poppers.

I have never done well fishing with fly tackle when the sun is high on a lake. We may get some cloud cover later today which would be helpful. You might have to deal with a scattered thunderstorm this afternoon. When the sun is low or obscured by clouds, I would hit the banks and cover with foam floating flies or poppers. If that isn’t working switch to weighted streamers or swimming nymphs.

If fishing on a tailwater is what you have on your mind today, you have some choices. Check the generation schedules on the TVA website from the links below to plan your day.

I’m looking forward to cooler temperatures and some rain over the next few days. I just checked the weather forecast on another website and saw the potential for heavy rain tomorrow and tomorrow night. We could use some rain but not that much!

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

Byron Begley
August 2, 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