If you do not see today’s Fishing Report, please refresh your browser to empty your cache.

Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:46 am, the temperature is 54.1 degrees.

It will be sunny and pleasant today with a high temperature in the middle 80’s. Tomorrow will be sunny and hot, with temps rising to the low 90’s. We have a low chance for rain Saturday and a greater chance Sunday and through the middle of next week.

Little River is flowing at 127 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.71 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 157 cfs. The water temperature is 64.6 degrees this morning at the low elevation USGS gauge site near Townsend.

Most streams in the mountains are flowing at or slightly below normal.

Trout are taking dry flies and nymphs. You dry fly selection should definitely include Yellow Sally Stonefly imitations. A Green Weenie or small bead head nymph will work for your sub-surface fishing.

As water levels fall, stealth is especially important. Dress to blend with the forest. Fish the choppy water where trout are hiding.

Lowland rivers are flowing near normal which is fairly low in June. Go early or late when the sun is off the water or fish shaded areas in these rivers. Smallmouth bass and other species will take poppers or foam floating flies, fished in the deeper runs and pools. If you are fishing areas where cicadas are swarming, use poppers or foam floating flies that are large and black.

If you plan to wade fish a tailwater today, you will probably want to go early. If you are boating, there are more options later when TVA and the Corps will be generating. Of course that depends on which tailwater you intend to fish. The schedules vary. Check the TVA website to see what your options are.

Lake fishing is good but you should go early or late to find shaded banks. If cicadas active, you may do well fishing all day. It is a good idea to stop your motor and listen. If you hear them, drive or paddle to that area. Just about all species are cruising the banks looking for these large insects.

Use poppers, foam floating flies, streamers or swimming nymphs. If you are targeting fish feeding on cicadas, use large black poppers or foam floating flies.

I saw one weather forecast this morning that indicates the Knoxville area may get one to three inches of rain over the next seven days.

I checked the US Drought Monitor this morning and found the website has not been reporting since June 10th due to technical difficulties. Hopefully that will be resolved soon. We have no drought conditions in the southeast US. It is bad out west. Hopefully that will change soon too.

I talked to a customer from Maryland in the fly tying department yesterday who was specifically looking for Mop Fly Yarn which we do not stock. I asked what colors he likes and made note of it. Then, I added several colors to our ordering system so they will be automatically stocked during the next order cycle. I told the customer he can check our online store in a couple of weeks and find what he is looking for. I’ve never tied or used a Mop Fly but I know they are deadly for trout, bass and panfish. Later, I re-organized a spot on one of the walls in the department to add the new yarn.

It is a good idea to listen to your customers.

I also added several more colors of foam cylinders in five sizes each, to be used to make your own poppers. We have a new category on our online store called “Popper Making Store”. You can see it by CLICKING HERE. That category will be expanded over the next few weeks. Making your own poppers is a lot of fun, they are durable and they work.

CLICK HERE to see an old tutorial I wrote years ago called “Making Poppers The Easy Way”. That page is read by a lot of people.  

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

Byron Begley
June 17, 2021

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com