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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:40 am, the temperature is 69.8 degrees.

Today will be mostly sunny and hot with a high around 90 degrees. Wind will be calm from the northwest. It will be sunny and much cooler tomorrow, with the temperature reaching only the low 80’s falling to the 50’s at night. Wednesday and Thursday will be sunny and cooler.

Little River is flowing at 187 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.94 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 147 cfs.

Most if not all streams in the Smokies are flowing higher than normal. The water is warm in the lowest elevations and we’ll see those temperatures rise to near 70 degrees today. For that reason, you should fish in the middle to higher elevations where the water is cooler. Fishing will be better. Catching and releasing trout in 70 degree water is not good for the fish. They could die. Look for water temperatures in the middle 60’s or cooler during the hottest part of the day.

Water temperatures will improve after today.

Dry flies and nymphs are working. Yellow Sally Stonefly patterns are good choices for your dry flies. Small bead head nymphs and Green Weenies are good choices for your sub-surface patterns.

Lowland rivers are flowing above normal. Normal is fairly low in June. Fish the deeper pools and runs with poppers or foam floating flies. It will be mostly sunny today so go early or late. If the river you fish has tree canopy, fish the shaded areas during the day. We drove by lower Little River yesterday and there were a lot of people swimming on a hot Sunday.

I checked the generation schedules at a few dams nearby and found similar results. There will be short periods of pulsing early in the day. This afternoon, they will be generating for longer periods. That may not be the case at all dams so check the TVA website yourself to see what is expected on your favorite tailwater.

Lake fishing is especially good if you know where the cicadas are swarming. Game fish and especially carp are cruising the banks looking for these large insects on the water. Foam floating flies that mimic a cicada somewhat will catch fish right now.

Otherwise, go early or late when the sun is off the water. Cast poppers, foam floating flies, streamers or swimming nymphs to the banks. The wind will be calm today which is helpful.

Paula, I and many people attended the memorial service for John Thurman yesterday, at his church in beautiful Norris, Tennessee. The service was wonderful. We celebrated the life of a good man, one of the best. Though the church is not small, it was packed with people. John had a lot of friends and buddies.

Some of his closest friends spoke, including Rev. Dr. Ireland, Larry Beeman, Joe Congleton, Bruce Rowland, Ralph Jordan and John’s daughter Mary Thurman. Their words were heartwarming and uplifting. It was a very good day.

In John’s honor, the Trout Camp for kids has been re-named, John Thurman Smoky Mountain Trout Adventure Camp, being held at the Tremont Institute this week.

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

Byron Begley
June 14, 2021

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com