Current Streamflow- 205cfs
Water temp- low 50s
Hatches:
Blue winged olives
Tan caddis
Black midges
Hot Flies:
Eggs 18-14
Pat's rubber legs 14-10
Mops 16-12
Blowtorch 16-14
Rainbow warrior 20-16
Jigged leeches and buggers 12-10
Griffith's gnat 18-16
Purple haze 18-16
A slow, drizzling rain over the past few days is just what the doctor ordered for our parched mountain streams. Consistent rain on Monday brought flows up and fishing so far this week has been fantastic.
Tellico Outfitter's prodigal son, @thebigview, and I fished the main river yesterday, and trout were feeding so heavily that it really didn't matter what flies we used, they were willing to eat just about everything. However, pink eggs were the top producer of the day, most likely due to bright colors being more visible to hungry trout in the higher streamflows and fall leaves filling the stream. Wild trout made up the bulk of what we caught yesterday, but we did find a few decent holdovers.
We have not yet seen a refresher on the initial Delayed Harvest stocking from the beginning of the month, but there are still some holdover fish to be found here and there. The bump in stream flow from the recent rains will allow stocked fish to disperse from the original stocking points that they had held closely to during low stream flows, so it's a good idea to cover as much water as possible since it's unlikely that you'll find fish concentrated in pools or runs until the river gets another stocking.
While we observed some solid blue winged olive and caddis hatches yesterday, we didn't find any fish feeding on the surface, and nymphs were the way to go with the extra flows. An overcast and drizzly day is often the trigger for a good blue winged olive hatch, so look for rising fish on both stocked and wild trout waters as flows drop and fish begin looking up hatching mayflies.
The weather report for the next 10 days looks great, with cooler temps, more rain today, and another chance of rain early next week