I was looking through my fly box recently and realized that I was out of (and hadn’t even fished) a Tellico Nymph in a very long time.  It used to be a favorite pattern of mine but for some reason I had gotten away from fishing it.  Most of us on the west coast haven’t heard of this fly as it was originated years ago in the Southeastern United States.  A well known fly back east, it does a great job at imitating a golden stonefly nymph.  And, you can be guaranteed that the fish in our local waters haven’t seen this fly before.  So, I tied up several a few up a nights ago and Mary Ann and I hit the Crooked River yesterday for a few hours of fishing.

We got the river about noon.  The recent snows were mostly gone and it was a nice overcast day with temperatures in the mid 40’s.  Small fish were already rising for BWOs on the surface.  Mary Ann picked up several fish on dries but I decided to stay with nymphs.  The Tellico Nymph didn’t disappointment me and I picked up a handful of decent fish drifting this fly towards the bottom through the deeper runs.  Since I’ve now “rediscovered” this great fly pattern, it will again be a standard in my fly box.  Here are a couple of shots from the day, as well as my fly recipe for the Tellico Nymph.

The Crooked River

A nice fall rainbow that took a Tellico Nymph.

The Tellico Nymph

The Tellico Nymph

Hook:  #8 to #12 – 1X Long (Daiichi 1560)

Lead:  15 turns of .015 Lead Wire Underbody

Thread:  Brown

Tail:  Grizzly Hackle Fibers

Body:  Yellow Floss

Rib:  2 Strands of Peacock Hearl with Fine Copper Wire Counter Wrapped

Back:  Turkey Tail Fibers

Hackle:  English Grouse