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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 5:00 am, the temperature is 61.9 degrees.

Cooler dry air has moved into the Smokies. The high temperature today will be in the low 80’s, dropping to the upper 50’s tonight. This cooling trend will last through Thursday. No rain is predicted during the period. It will be hot again Friday.

Little River is flowing at 162 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.85 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 153 cfs. The water temperature is 66.5 degrees this morning.

Most streams in the Smokies are flowing slightly higher than normal. Water temperatures are warm in the lowest elevations. Fish in the middle to higher elevations where the water is cooler.

Dry flies and nymphs are working. Yellow Sally Stonefly dries are good choices. A #16 Yellow Stimulator would be mine. Light Cahill and Elk Hair Caddis dry flies are also a good bet. Use small bead head nymphs or Green Weenies as a dropper or fished alone. I would add weight to the Green Weenie if fished alone.

Lowland rivers are flowing at about normal, which is fairly low. It will be sunny today, so go early or late when the sun is off the water. Or, fish shaded areas in rivers that have tree canopy. Poppers and foam floating flies should work well. If not, try streamers.

There are wade fishing tailwater options this morning below some tributary dams. There will be generation activity at many dams this afternoon. Visit the TVA website from the links below to see what your options are and plan accordingly.

Lake fishing is good. Bass and panfish are taking poppers, foam floating flies, streamers and swimming nymphs. All species, especially carp, are cruising and looking for cicadas. This is a good time to drive around in your boat and listen for cicadas. It will be sunny today so I would go early or late. It could be a little breezy at times today and tomorrow.

The cooler temperatures are a welcome change. The streams will be cooler and you will be more comfortable. The chance for rain will increase by the weekend and next week.

Will and I are adding more fly tying tools and materials to the online store. This is taking a long time because there are so many items in that department. Almost everything has to be photographed. Will is writing the text and adding the products while I am doing the photography. And, we have to order and receive orders every week. Fly tying is a time consuming department in any fly shop. But, it brings in customers from long distances to shop.

The fly tying business has slowed for the Spring and Summer which is normal. Last year was abnormal. The fly tying business surged during the warm months due to Covid. That unexpected surge caused supply chain issues from our suppliers.

Order fulfillment from our suppliers is finally improving. They seem to be getting caught up. Also, turnaround times at their facilities has improved as well. One of our suppliers is shipping about three days after receiving our orders. Earlier this year, the turnaround time was 10 days from the same supplier. There are still some items that have been unavailable for months.

Zip lock bags have been in short supply this year in the US. Imagine how many zip lock bags they use.

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

Byron Begley
June 15, 2021

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com