Welcome to the Fishing Report.  May comes to an end today ushering in Summer.  Ron told me the other day that he saw the tube mini-bus going down the highway pulling its trailer of yellow annoyance.  Memorial Day is the defacto start to tubing season in Townsend.  Thankfully they don't float the best sections of river. 

Rainfall this Spring has been above normal.  The best part of that is how it has come.  Instead of a few really big rains causing flooding and damage it has been more consistent.  We are currently about 5 inches above normal and 8 inches more rain than last year.  That is a good thing.  In the past several years June has become a dry month without a lot of rainfall.  Last year we had a dry May which meant we were behind going into June.  That could have caused some major drought conditions down the line but thankfully rains came and prevented it.

Rain forecasts this time of year can be deceiving when it comes to fishing in the Smokies.  The other week it poured in Knoxville and Maryville and even rained in Townsend.  Anglers were deciding not to fish because they perceived the streams would be too high.  In reality it hadn't rained in the headwaters of the Little River watershed and the Little River and Middle Prongs were both still at a good fishable level.  At that same time though, the West Prong on the Little Pigeon and Oconoluftee Rivers were high because rain fell at the top of the mountain near Newfound Gap.

If you aren't familiar with the USGS Streamflow Gauge website it can be one of your best resources when making a decision of where to fish.  Scrolling down on this Report you will see link to the gauges for some of the watersheds in the Smokies and also Tellico River.  On these pages you can find water flow and also water temperature.  These are automatically updated pages so there is a short delay as date is collected and processed.  Another thing to keep in mind when looking at the line graph for water flows is that the area where the data is displayed is a set size meaning that the graph parameters change depending on the data in order to be able to display in the size allowed.  What could look like a huge jump in water flow could be a minor blip compared to another larger rain event.  The sites are something to play with and learn from.  They are a fantastic resource.

Water levels in the Smokies are back to normal and looking great today.  This morning the Little River is flowing at 2.39 feet or 340 c.f.s.  The daily normal is 177 c.f.s.  The streams are flowing clear.

Water temperatures are 56.8F.  Cool nights have been keeping the temps low which keeps the trout happy.  The most important thing when it comes to water temperatures is consistency.  Trout don't like change and big swings up or down throws them off their feed.

Despite some high water this last week anglers have been doing well.  They had to change tactics to catch anything when the water was really high be the ones who were willing to try some different techniques caught trout under challenging conditions.  Water levels are good now so we are back to normal fishing.

The Yellow Sally hatch is going strong.  It is most abundant in the evening during the last several hours before dark.  Yellow Stimulators, Chubby Chernobyls, Doculators, Neversink Caddis etc in sizes #14-#16 are excellent choices.  Yellow bodied mayflies like Smoky Mountain Candy and sulphur patterns can also be very good.  

Fishing a dropper fly is very effective this time of year.  A Pheasant Tail or Tellico nymph is good but it is hard to beat the Green Weenie. A dry/dropper set up is a bit more complicated to cast but it can double your chances of catching.  Use a less heavy nymph as your dropper so as not to drag your dry fly under.  If you want to dredge the bottom, a double nymph rig is another way to go.  A big heavy nymph to get everything down and a smaller one to give the trout a choice.

We always get a lot of calls about fishing Abrams Creek.  Abrams is one of the most written about streams in the Smokies and therefore a destination of visiting anglers.  It fishes well, very well sometimes.  Things to keep in mind is that it is unfortunately located in Cades Cove.  At certain times the one way road and lines of cars is going to significantly increase your time needed to be able to get to and fish Abrams.  If you have a dinner date to get home to I would chose a different fishing location.  Also, Wednesday is bicycle day in Cades Cove.  The road is closed all day to allow the bicyclists to ride the Cove without worrying about car traffic.  

June begins tomorrow.  It is hard to conceive that half of the year is already gone.  But alas great fishing is ahead of us.  Long days and cool creeks await us in the lush green hills of the Smokies.  

Stop in to see us on your way to the stream.  We are at the Shop every day.  If you aren't sure about what the conditions are like, give us a call.

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

Daniel Drake
May 31, 2024

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Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com