Fishing Report

Hiwassee River
Fishing continues to be great on the Hi. TVA continues the pulsing schedule and lots of wading opportunities are available. If you play the pulse right you can fish up and down the river and never see the high water.
Did a wade trip yesterday and lots of fish rising to #18 BWO's early while we still had cloud cover. After the sun came out #16 EHC seemed to be their preference. We also caught a few on a #16 Prince nymph when the fish quit rising. Lots of smaller browns stocked up around the powerhouse which makes for good dry fly fishing. Water temp. was 57 at the powerhouse.

Tellico River
Better size fish being stocked on Tellico this year. At least it appears that way to me. Water levels have been good along with the clarity and temps. We've been fishing a lot more on the upper river this year for some reason. I don't know why, but I just seem to gravitate up that way on every Tellico trip. I think it's due to the fact that we've been able to catch wild fish all day long up there. In fact, I know that's the reason! Nothing like high stickin' nymphs in little plunge pools for wild trout. Gotta love it! If you get bored with that, tie on a dry fly and you'll still catch fish. Choice of dry fly doesn't seem to matter as long as you can get a good drag free presentation with it.
As bad as I hate to admit it, I have not done a run on the lower river this year.....yet! I usually canoe the lower section and fly fish for smallmouth and other bass. I really enjoy my time down there. I think I'll make a run down there soon. I've thought about offering guided trips down there, but not many people like to fish out of canoes these days. They also usually want to bring a buddy with them to fish. Not a problem in a drift boat, but a canoe is a different story.

Our spring time weather continues to amaze. We've had some rain lately and more coming tonight. That's a good thing. It keeps our water levels up in the freestone streams and helps to bring the lakes up to summer pool. The sooner the lakes get up the sooner they start running water on the tailwaters. Yep, spring rains are a good thing.  

Pulsing Schedule

TVA has been running a pulsing schedule for the last couple of weeks. They are bringing the lakes up to summer pool and still have the one generator down for maintenance. What does this mean for me, you ask? It means great water levels for wading! This is the best time of year for a wade fisherman to get out and fish the Hi.
The recreational release schedule runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Once we get our recreational flow started, which is 1 generator from 10AM-11AM and 2 generators from 11AM-7PM, the wading opportunities are limited. They give us this flow so we can book drift boat trips and the rafting companies can rent rafts. It's the only time of year that we have a somewhat guaranteed water release schedule. As much of a guarantee as we can get anyway.
The moral of the story is this: Get out and enjoy the great fishing that the Hi is giving up this year. Perfect water levels for wading, rising fish, bugs and gorgeous weather. See ya out there!