Current streamflow- 105cfs
Water temps- uppers 40s to low 50s
Current hatches:
Midges
Blue-winged olives
Winter black stoneflies
Hot flies:
Perdigons- olive/quill/orange 18-14
Rainbow warrior 18-14
Frenchies 18-12
Cdc Soft tackle nymphs (quill, Blowtorch, etc) 16-12
Walt's worms 18-12
Jigged buggers 12-10
Bwo dries 18-16
Griffith's gnats 18-16
Chubby Chernobyl 14-10
The Tellico and its tributaries received a fair amount of rain over the past couple of days. While not enough to get stream levels up to median flows for this time of year, this was a nice shot in the arm. A little extra flow has helped clear out a lot of the leaf litter and tanning water. Colder overnight temps the next few days will likely have fish moving from pocket water to deeper runs and pools and water temps drop, and trout metabolism slows down.
Early mornings will likely find trout sluggish and waiting to warm up from the cold overnight temps. Late-morning to mid-afternoon is when trout will be most active. Focus on nymphing deeper runs and pools and find sunny spots on the river where insect life will be most active, and as a result, so will the trout.
The Tellico River has received a decent amount of stocking over the past week, and there are plenty of quality fish and some true trophies out there. You may find good fish downstream of Green Cove, but we'd recommend focusing the majority of your time from Green Cove upstream to the state line.
Fishing in wild trout streams will begin to slow down as these small streams experience more extreme temp drops overnight than the main river and trout become more dormant during these temp drops. If you want to hit the small streams, plan on doing so mid day when temps are highest, and you might run into a midge or bwo hatch, which will spur trout into feeding.