Hike & Fish trip into the Citico Creek Wilderness. The first part of the hike (3/4 mile) was along the Citico Creek until I reached the confluence of North and South Fork Citico Creeks. At that point I hooked a left along North Fork Citico Creek and fished upstream for another 3/4 - 1 mile. Round trip was around 3.5 miles.
The trail was well groomed in most places, but a few fallen trees and creek crossings made me think twice about me whereabouts.
It was a cold and rainy winter day in the eastern Tennessee mountains, but worth it. Many wild Rainbow Trout were caught using tight-line nymphing techniques as well as woolley bugger cast and stripping action. Setup was a 7'3" Echo Carbon XL 2wt with 4X & 5X tippet.
0:42 Citico Creek Casting Practice
1:40 Citico Creek Crossing
2:52 North & South Fork Citico Creek Trailhead Markers
3:19 Bridge Over North & South Fork Citico Creek Confluence
4:25 Fishy Fish Hole with No Hungry Fish
5:30 Fishy Run
6:45 First Rainbow Trout of the Day (Tight-line Nymphing)
8:10 Rainbow Trout (biggest of the day)
9:25 Waterfall (Slo-mo)
9:57 NF Citico Creek Time Warp Zone
10:35 Rainbow Trout Strippin' on the Woolley Bugger Streamer
11:31 Underwater Video of Rainbow Release
11:56 Dark. Pouring Rain. Alone and Unafraid (and on the wrong trail)
12:57 Creek Level Higher than the Bridge (rained all day)