Tellico and Citico Recap

Fishing, like life is full of ups and downs.  There are days you will remember for a life time and days you wish you had just stayed home and pulled the covers over your head.  I recently had a day at the Tellico River and Citico Creek that started out as a “should have slept in day”, but before the day was over it would prove to be a memory maker.  Since the Tellico and Citico have some stocked waters and I was playing the part of the guide, I decided to take my brother-in-law James down for some easy fishing.  We had just experienced a really nice morning on the Clinch the day before but this is now Sunday and the waters of the Clinch would be rolling on high by the time we were home from church.

We had lunch and headed down to Tellico Plains to purchase the required trout permit for our day of fishing.  Permit in hand we drove up the winding road to the Tellico River first and so began our fishing.  The heat was intense and the water levels were down.  These two things do not lend themselves well to a productive day of fly fishing.  Undeterred we worked our way down river to find an entry point and we began fishing.  The water was warm and there were little to no signs of trout feeding either above or below the water.  Bead heads, Tellico nymphs, and various dry flies were no match for these lethargic and finicky trout. We fished until James succumbed to the heat so we headed to the truck for some hydration and shade.  Since this trip was proving a very fruitless endeavor thus far we decided to use this time to drive to Citico Creek as we made our way home.  If James felt better we would stop and if not we would drive through and wave to the trout on our way home.

Let’s recap the day’s events. We drove an hour, paid an additional $5.50 for the trout permit, and caught nothing but a near sun stroke.  James was feeling somewhat better but he decided to be an observer for the rest of the day to document any catches I may make. The first trout documented lead me to believe this was a day that would have been better served reminiscing about the morning before on the Clinch when the fishing was good and the water was cold.  The fish was in fact a trout, but it has to be the smallest trout on record caught on a fly rod.  I don’t know how the little guy (or gal) was even able to fit the fly in its mouth.  There were one or two other 4”-5” trout caught but nothing to be excited about in stocked waters. 

I stopped at a few more beautiful seams of water before finally deciding we should call it a day.  The sun was hanging low by this point and the day had tested our resolve.  On the way out as we drove down into flat land and even warmer water the hopes of catching sizable trout on this day vanished like the sun as it began to set.  I told James I wanted to make one more stop at an area that I had caught red eyes in using my spinning rod last year.  This time I had my fly rod and no idea what to expect.  At this point I had abandoned my waders and I was amazed at the warmth of the water as I stepped in.  I’ve taken baths that didn’t have water this warm.  I cast a Tellico Nymph in the idea locations and drew no addition from a single fish.  As I made what I decided would be my last cast, I allowed the fly to drift through a large pool as I headed down stream and back to the truck.  What initially felt like a hung line soon sprang hope eternal within me as a saw the small mouth Bass streak in front of me.  The rod bent, the reel began to “zing” and the fight began.  This was the largest fish I’d had ever hooked with my fly rod and I wasn’t about to blow it by rushing him in and snapping the line.  James was there to capture the last few moments of the fight on video. 

I finally wore him down to the point that I could net him and just like that the day was worth the disappointments previously encountered. (At least from my standpoint….but hey, I caught the fish and I wasn’t the sick one so James may beg to differ) The net gain from this day was that I caught the smallest and largest fish I’ve ever caught.  Some days are pull your cover over your days and some days make memories you carry a lifetime.  This day taught me enjoy both.