Current streamflow- 60cfs
Water temps- upper 40s-low 50s
Hatches:
Midges
Blue winged olives
Tan caddis
Hot flies:
Eggs 20-14
Mops 14
Rainbow warriors 20-16
Duracell 18-14
Jigged bugger 14-12
Bwo parachute 18-16
Griffith's gnat 18-16
Mini hopper 12
Recent rains earlier this week bumped flows on the Tellico a bit, but wasn't enough to keep the flows up for long. Until flows come up, we're in a holding pattern of smaller flies, light tippet, and careful presentations. Sight fishing is still the name of the game. Trout have continued to spread out through the entire Delayed Harvest area, hanging on to whatever cover is available, whether that be from current, deeper pools, rock outcrops, or overhanging limbs. Trout in low water are skittish and have the opportunity to scrutinize flies, tippet and presentation, so make your casts count, don't make a lot of false casts or blind casts. Wait until you either see fish or find some likely looking water that offers cover and security before making a cast. Fish smaller flies and lighter tippet, 6X is preferred.
We've had some cold overnight temps lately, so it's best to hit the river mid morning through mid afternoon when the sun has had time to warm the water and trigger hatches and feeding activity.
Brook trout have begun their spawning activity. We highly recommend letting them be for the next month or two until their job is done.
Looks like rain is in the forecast for most of next week so hopefully that will bring streamflows back up to normal soon.
STREAM REPORT 10.15.25
Current streamflow- 51cfs
Water temps- upper 40s-mid 50s
Hatches:
Blue-winged olives
Midges
Tan caddis
October caddis
Hot flies:
Mops 16-12
Eggs 18-14
Squirmies 16-12
Rainbow warriors 20-18
Perdigons 18-14
Jigged buggers 14-12
The Tellico River Delayed Harvest section continues to produce some quality fish, despite low stream flows. Water temps are great thanks to cooler daytime temps and low overnights. Stocked trout have continued to spread out from their initial stocking points from a couple of weeks ago, so covering longer stretches of water will help you find fish. Many trout have moved to fast flowing pocket water and faster flowing pools and runs. These areas provide overhead cover and security during low flows. A stealthy approach and careful presentation with light tippet is still the best method for skinny water and spooky trout.
Over the past two weeks, we have found some fantastic fish, but have yet to find 'the magic fly'. Carrying a variety of small nymphs such as rainbow warriors, perdigons and walt's worms as well as standard stocker favorites such as squirmies, mops and eggs and switching up flies often seems to be the best way to find the most fish. We haven't seen the same number of fish looking to the surface and keying in on midges as we did last year under similar conditions, but we suspect that more trout will begin to look up and take dry flies as air and water temps drop, encouraging more frequent midge hatches.
Wild trout streams are still fishing well despite low streamflows. Wild trout and native brookies will be spooky, so stealth is required for a successful day. Small parachute adams and Griffith's gnats are the best choice right now on the tributaries. Brook trout should begin their spawning season in the next week, so watch your step in sections of sand and gravel streambed and leave spawning fish to do their thing if looking for brook trout this fall.
STREAM REPORT 10.08.25
Current Streamflow- 65cfs, .67ft
Water Temps- upper 50s, low 60s
Hatches:
Blue winged olives
Midges
Tan caddis
October caddis
Hot flies:
Griffith's Gnat 16-18
Purple Haze 14-16
Orange Stimulator 14-16
Rainbow warrior 18-16
Quill perdigon 18-16
Zebra midge, black or olive 20-18
Tungsten eggs 18-14
Tan mops 16-12
Jigged leeches and buggers 12-10
Skinny water and big fish. It's a recipe for some challenging yet very exciting and rewarding fishing. Sight fishing is the name of the game until we get rain, but remember, if you can see the fish, the fish can see you. Wear muted colors to disguise your outline and blend with your surroundings. Approach pools and runs from downstream and keep a low profile. Keep false casts to a minimum and keep your presentation light. We recommend small dry flies and nymphs and light tippet. 6X is good, 7X is better.
Always take a careful look at the water you plan to fish, trout may be sitting in places you wouldn't expect when the water is low, and if you try to cherry pick the best looking spot in the run or pool you want to fish, chances are you'll spook more than you catch. But if you take your time and play your cards right, you may very well catch your biggest trout all year.
The wild trout streams present a similar situation. Be stealthy, downsize your flies, and make your casts count to make the most out of your day. We still have a solid week to chase colored up brook trout before they begin the fall spawn.
STREAM REPORT 10.03.25
Current streamflow- 66cfs
Stream temps- upper 50s/low 60s
And now the report you've all been waiting for. It's Delayed Harvest once again! We're a few days late on this report, DH started October 1st, but we wanted to make sure and confirm stocking ourselves before hyping up our DH crowd. While we didn't connect with any trophy fish while we scouted the river last night (photos are from previous DH seasons) we caught a great number of healthy rainbows and saw several big browns sprinkled throughout the DH section.
While we have better temps and streamflows for the start of DH than in year's past, water is still low and clear, and trout are still settling in and spooky. Use light tippet, we recommend 6X, and small flies. With the low flows, many trout will be looking up and feeding on midges and blue winged olives, so small dry flies like a size 16 Griffith's gnat or 18 parachute bwo will make for a fun day casting to rising fish. Small nymphs will find good numbers of fish, especially flashy nymphs like rainbow warriors and lightning bugs, as well as frenchies, blown torches and walt's worms in smaller sizes. The flows are a little low for streamers, but retrieving zonkers and wooly buggers at dawn or dusk may entice some of the big browns to eat.
Brook trout are still in pre-spawn stage, so now is still a good time to find some colored up brookies before spawn is in full swing. Elk hair caddis, parachutes and Griffith's gnats are all good choices.
STREAM REPORT 9.18.25
The first signs of Fall are beginning to show. Clear skies, cooler temps, and the stunning fire-orange of brook trout putting on their best colors for the upcoming spawn.
Fall is moving in fast in the highest elevations, and we're only a couple of weeks away from brook trout beginning their spawning season in the highest elevations streams. Lower elevation brook trout streams are still several weeks out, so now is a great time to pursue native brookies before spawning begins. Once brook trout are on redds, it's best to leave them alone until spawning wraps up in late fall and early winter, to ensure that the next generation has a strong start.
The Tellico River is fishing well, as long as you approach it in the right way. Since stocking ended in late July, numbers of stocked trout are at the lowest that they will be all year. The stocked fish that have made it this far have held over in the river for at least a month or two now, and have made the switch to natural food sources. While an attractor pattern such as an egg or mop may still take a few fish, we have found that more natural flies will fool more fish right now. Frenchies, rainbow warriors and olive perdigons have been the ticket for both wild and holdover trout. Dry flies, especially smaller, more natural dries in sizes 18-16 are producing some great surface action, especially in long flat sections of river.
Blue-winged olives, midges and small tan caddis are the dominant hatches now, and will continue to be the main hatches through the fall and winter.
STREAM REPORT 8.14.25
Current streamflow- 242cfs
Water temps- mid 60s
Hatches:
Yellow sallies
Golden stones
Tan caddis
Sulphurs
Hot flies:
Neversink caddis
Ants and Beetles
Bloody Mary nymph
Walt's worms
Quill perdigons
Rainbow warriors
The Tellico area received a decent amount of rain over the past two days, bumping flows from 90cfs to just over 450cfs. Flows are currently dropping and are sitting at 240cfs at the time of this report. That is a great streamflow for mid-August, and the bump in flows has spurred some good hatches with yellow sallies making up the bulk of hatching insects. Dry fly action should be fantastic on both the Tellico and tributaries this weekend.
Tomorrow (8/15) is the final day of the stocking season. After tomorrow, there will be no more daily river closures on Thursdays and Fridays, and the Tellico/Citico Daily permit will not be needed again until March 1st, 2026. Delayed Harvest and catch and release regulations begin October 1st. In the meantime, this is a great time to approach the upper Tellico River as you would any wild trout stream in the area, with a dry fly and dropper. Hit pocket water and fast runs, and you will find healthy numbers of wild bows and an occasional brown. As a bonus, you may find a few holdover stockers that made it through the summer.
The same tactic will produce many fish on the tributaries. This is also a great time to hike in and explore remote streams for brook trout, as the higher elevations will still have plenty of good cold water and happy trout.
STREAM REPORT 7.24.25
Current streamflow- 133cfs
Water temps- mid to upper 60s at Green Cove
It's been another hot week in East TN. With consistent highs in the 90s and lows in the 70s, lower elevations of the Tellico River, North River, Bald River and Citico Creek have all hit the upper threshold for what is considered safe to catch and release trout without risk of them going belly up. Stream temps have been reaching the upper 60s as high as Green Cove and the Tellico Hatchery, so we highly recommend sticking to higher elevations and limiting your time on the water to morning and evenings and avoiding midday if you plan to catch and release and want to ensure the trout that you release.
It's always a good idea to practice proper handling of trout that you plan to release any time of the year, but it is especially important when water temps are high. Fight fish quickly, keep them in the water as much aa possible, wet your hands if you do need to handle them, and keep air exposure to a minimum, 10 seconds or less. Most importantly, avoid fishing in water temps higher than 68°F. We highly recommend carrying a stream thermometer and taking temps before you begin fishing. If temps are above 68°, move to higher elevations until you find cooler temps.
Provided that you follow the above guidelines, there is still plenty of great fishing to be had on higher elevation streams. The dry fly bite is great right now on wild trout streams as well as brook trout streams, and there are still plenty of good stocked and wild fish to be found on the upper Tellico. Warmwater species such as bass and carp provide a great alternative to target through yhe heat of summer.
We've got another hot week ahead but it looks like things may cool down as we roll into August.
STREAM REPORT 7.02.25
Current Streamflow- 420cfs
Water temps- low to upper 60s, depending on elevation
Hatches:
Yellow sallies
Golden Stoneflies
Salmonflies
Tan caddis
Suplhurs
Ants
Beetles
Flies:
Neversink caddis
Elk hair caddis
Klinkhammer
Foam beetles
Green weenie
Blowtorch
Quill perdigon
Pat's rubber legs
Jigged buggers and leeches
After what has to be the rainiest June that we can remember, we are back to the summer heat we've come to expect going into July. Some pretty spectacular afternoon thunderstorms have kept flows on our trout streams higher than usual going into the summer months. This is a good thing, as extra flows help to protect trout streams from getting too hot, since daytime temps have been solidly in the 90s for the past couple of weeks. We are seeing a continuation of hot temps into next week, with air temps in the upper 80s and 90s and overnight lows in the low 70s. There is a slight chance of afternoon thundershowers rolling through in the afternoon, but these will be largely hit or miss. Keep in mind that it can rain almost anytime in the mountains as small fronts can roll through and 'hang up' once they hit higher elevations.
Temps are still within the safe range for catch and release from the North River confluence upstream to the state line. Tributaries are in fine shape as well. You may want to focus your time on the water in the mornings or evenings and take a break during the hottest part of the day when water temps will be at their highest to ensure that you're not putting undue stress on that trout that you plan to release.
Higher elevation brook trout streams are in stellar shape right now. With added flows, these little natives have been feeding heavily and will pounce on nearly any properly presented fly, so it's a great time to get up into some more remote streams to get on that dry fly action.
Nymphs or dry/dropper rigs are still the best bet for Tellico and Citico.