Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains. The temperature this morning at 5:27 am is 52 degrees.

It is going to be cooler over the next few days, with high temperatures in the low to middle 70’s, falling to the 50’s and 60’s at night. Today’s high temperature will be 76 degrees with a low of 51 degrees.

Rain is out of the forecast until Sunday. Then, rain is predicted every day through May 29th.

This has been a wet year and May has been an especially wet month. Using numbers from the Knoxville Airport, rainfall this year has amounted to 23.30 inches, compared to normal of 22.04 inches.

Since May 1st, rainfall has totaled 6.06 inches, compared to normal of 2.87 inches at the airport.

Streams in the area are flowing fairly high. Little River is flowing at 521 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 2.70 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 193 cfs. The water temperature is 59.0 degrees.

Since no rain is predicted until Sunday, many streams will be fishable and safe to wade by the weekend or sooner. Little River, at 2.70 feet, is fairly close to what I would consider “On the high side of good”, which is 2.5 feet or lower. This is higher than most anglers prefer, but you can find safe places to wade and fish.

If you go today, try smaller streams. If you do choose to fish in a larger river, such as Little River, pick safe spots. Water levels will improve over the next 3 or 4 days.

Trout are taking dry flies and nymphs. A good dry fly selection should include Yellow Sally Stonefly imitations and Light Cahills or Sulphur patterns. Good nymph patterns include Hare’s Ear, Prince, Green Weenie or Bead Head Pheasant Tails. Try a dry and dropper rig.

Cicadas are still active at our house near Townsend and in other locations. In other places nearby, there were very few or none in this emergence. Anglers are reporting cicada action on some lakes and tailwaters, but we have not heard of any activity in the Park. If you have a Cicada fly pattern, give it a try. You never know!

Fishing is good for stocked trout in the lower elevation rivers though safe wading spots may be limited, depending on the river you are fishing.

Some lowland rivers are flowing high but they are receding. Safe wading spots may be limited for now. Fishing for smallmouth bass is good. Try streamers or top water flies. A large black Wooly Bugger is a good pick.

The trout tailwater guides I’ve talked to recently are reporting a very good fishing season with some unusually large trout being caught.

If you are fishing on a lake, watch for surface activity near the banks or cover. Cicadas may be on the water. You may get worn out by big carp and other species.

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

Byron Begley
May 22, 2024

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