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Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 6:53 am, the temperature outside is 69 degrees.

Today will be hot again, reaching almost 90 degrees. There is a chance for showers and thunderstorms later this afternoon. Tomorrow will be sunny and some cooler with no rain predicted. Rain chances will increase beginning Tuesday and last through next weekend.

Little River is flowing at 124 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.67 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 108 cfs. The water temperature is 70.2 degrees this morning.

All streams in the Park that have USGS gauges are flowing at or slightly above normal for this date.

The streams are warm in the low elevations. The water temperature at the Little River Townsend gauge reached 73 degrees yesterday. It is 70 degrees now. You should drive or hike upstream, to a mid to high elevation altitude, where the water is cooler. Look for water temperatures in the 60’s at midday.

Stream flows are normal. Normal this time of the year is fairly low. Do everything you can, not to be seen by the trout. Wear muted clothing. Stay low and hide. Don’t let your fly line hit the water where you are expecting to catch a trout. Let them see your fly and your tippet, not your fly line. Get a good drift. If your fly is dragging slower or faster than the current it is in, you probably won’t catch a fish. If you do all of the above, you will catch fish.

It will be sunny today. Fish the shaded areas of the streams.

I would use terrestrials or Yellow Sally Stonefly imitations. Green Weenies are working very well, either used as a dropper off your dry fly, or fished alone and weighted.

Lowland river fishing for smallmouth bass and rock bass is fair. Fish the shaded areas of the rivers. Or, go early or late when the sun is off the water.

Lake fishing with flies is good if you go early or late when the sun is off the water. The lakes are going to be crowded.

Some trout tailwater flows are more angler friendly now. Others are not. Check the TVA website from the links below to plan your day.

The traffic lights have been removed from the curves heading to Townsend from Maryville. Townsend is quicker to get to now. There will be some road work being done tomorrow through Wednesday so you can expect delays. That work should be finished by the 4th of July.

Rob Worthing from Lexington, Kentucky taught our first Tenkara class yesterday. He had ten students. The class went well. Rob is a very knowledgeable fly fisherman and not just Tenkara angling. He and his partners in Utah are developing a new website called Tactical Nymphing.org.  You can visit the website by CLICKING HERE. The photo is Rob, holding a big rainbow caught on a #16 Perdigon fly.

I read every page. I learned much about nymphing from the site and by talking to Rob early yesterday morning before the class began. I saw some of his tactical flies. I am tying tactical flies right now, every evening and early in the mornings. I bought material to start tying Perdigon flies yesterday.

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

Byron Begley
June 30, 2019

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com