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 6:36 am, the temperature outside is 71 degrees.

Today and tomorrow will be hot with a 30% chance for afternoon thunderstorms. That chance becomes greater, 60%, tomorrow afternoon and Thursday.

Little River is flowing at 139 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.73 feet on the flow gauge. Median flow for this date is 131 cfs. The water temperature is 72.1 degrees this morning.

Most streams in the Park are flowing at or slightly above normal. Little Pigeon River is flowing slightly below normal.

Normal is great, but normal flows in July are low. Count on the trout being spooky and hiding in riffles, plunge pools, deep runs or near structure.

Stealth is the name of the game. Hiding from the trout is the tactic of the day. Dress to blend with the forest. Stay low, don’t wade unless you have to and hide behind boulders when possible. If you do that, you will catch more trout.

The streams are warm in the lower elevations. Fish the higher elevations where the water is cooler. In the Little River drainage, I would hike above Elkmont, way above the Cascade on Lynn Camp Prong, or deep into the backcountry on the West Prong. Thunderhead Prong is a good choice too. There are many higher elevation streams in the Park to choose from. Look for water temperatures in the 60’s.

Basically, what you want to do is hide in cool water.

Dry flies and nymphs will work. A combination of both will too. A lot of anglers and guides are dropping Green Weenies off foam beetles. That is where I would start. There are many other options. Yellow dry flies are good. Try a Yellow Neversink Caddis or Yellow Stimulator.

The lowland rivers are flowing low, which is sometimes usual in July. Flows vary up and down due to the scattered July thunderstorms. I would go early or late and use poppers or foam top water flies. If the sun is overhead, find shade.

It is the same on the lakes. Fish early or late or both. Poppers will work when the sun is off the water. Go deeper later, with heavily weighted Wooly Buggers and Rubber Legged Dragons. Dragons are meant to catch large bluegill and they do. But, they also work for smallmouth and largemouth bass. Trout eat them too. Everything eats them. I’ve been tying a lot of Dragons lately, on competition jig hooks with tungsten beads for weight. I’ve tied them in many colors, but my favorites are chartreuse and rust.

There are some interesting tailwater fishing opportunities today. Check the flow before you go, from the links below. Standing waist deep in a cold tailwater sounds good today.  

We better get used to 90 degree days. I looked at the 15 day forecast and there are only a few predicted to be below 90. Most of those are 89.

I’ve been getting here earlier. I’m usually on my way here at daybreak. I am blaming that on the heat. When I get here, I write the fishing report. Then, I blow off the parking lot. Next, I water the flowers. I want to get that done before the sun is shining on the lot and burning me up.

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

Byron Begley
July 9, 2019

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com