North Carolina is blessed with a wide variety of fishing waters. During the autimn of the year many of us turn our attention to the eastern section of the state to fish the great fall migrations of saltwater fish. However there may be some good fishing in the other direction that you may not even know all that much about. Most people think of trout fishing as a springtime activity. While the spring is a nice time to be in the woods and along a beautiful trout stream, fall has a lot to offer as well. Among these is good trout action on the Delayed Harvest waters of Western North Carolina. Beginning October 1 many of the streams and ponds begin to receive renewed trout plantings from the state wildlife commission. These fish will provide good fishing throughout the winter. The fishing can be quite easy at first, but as the winter wears on they will get progressively more difficult to fool. And just before the new stockings begin again in March, the browns that made it through the winter will be as tricky as any wild trout you might meet.
The state stocks all three species of trout in the Delayed Harvest waters. At first you will swear that there are only brook trout. For the first few months of the fall season, October through December, brook trout will comprise 99% of the fish you catch and see. These fish are notoriously easy to fool. You can stand up with them looking right at you and still catch them. This is a good way to get introduced to flyfishing and still have some success.
Stocked rainbows are known for their propensity to hang out in groups. You will see them on the bottom of the stream fighting for position. What you should look for is the one at the most upstream point of all the others. That will be the boss. It will generally be a fish over 14 inches as well. Try to fool that fish before any of the others because it will spook otherwise and then not be able to get caught at all.
The brown trout is generally held in higher
esteem than the other two. This is mainly due to the fact that it is more
difficult to hook. They will not be very easy to spot either. Brookies will
be in very obvious places. Rainbows will be chasing each other around. Browns
will be in their spots and taking only anything they know to be food. The
brookies and rainbows may investigate and put all kinds of things in their
mouths. Not the browns. By February, if you catch a brown
troutover 14 inches in the Delayed Harvest waters you have accomplished
something worth talking about.
The best places to find the fish change as the season progresses. In October
and on into early December they will be in all the usual places. The most
cooperative fish will be in riffles leading down into the pools. You will
not be able to see those fish very well so you will have to take my word
on it. Fish will also be in the slicks at the tail of pools and in the pocket
water as well. As it gets colder the fish will begin to concentrate in the
deeper water areas. The deepest pools will hold the majority of the fish
during the winter and into early March. If you really want to catch the
best browns in these pools during the dead of winter you need to fish right
at the very topmost section of the deepest pools. The biggest browns will
be right where the riffle begins to spread out.
I am a yfisherman by nature and also by trade. I feel the best way to pursue trout in a stream environment is with a flyrod. It has also been my observation that flyfisherman enjoy the most success in the fall and winter. This is due to the natural food in the water at the time. There is not a preponderance of worms and grubs around in the fall as those forms of life are either beginning to go dormant or have matured into adult bugs. The best flies to use in the fall are those which imitate terrestrial insects. A beetle or an ant pattern work great. Jessie Allen of Duke University and NC Anglers Flyshop in Durham has great success using brightly colored streamer flies cast upstream and stripped fast. He feels this gets the spawning instinct going in the fish and they strike out of anger. Jessie also likes to use a size 16 Hares Ear nymph on these early fall fish. As the winter goes on the terrestrials and mayfly nymphs disappear or go dormant and midges become top priority. I like a Brassie or a Bead Head Brassie tied on a size 20 hook. Small gray midge nymphs ribbed with copper wire also work very well. Fish these beneath a very small yarn strike indicator. In the afternoons there will often be hatches and winter trout can often be caught on dry flies. I like Griffith's Gnat in size 20 - 24; diminishing in size as it gets colder. A secret fly that I use when all else fails is the Globug. Some may say that it is not really a fly at all, but it works. Tied on size 12 hooks in chartreuse and orange they can get a strike when nothing else will.
So this fall when you are driving to the coast remember the good fishing you may be passing up. I am not saying that you should not go there. I have been known to fling a fly at afalse albacore or two (or three) myself. But sometimes a slower pace and some beautifully colored fall foliage combined with catching some gorgeous trout can be all you need.
Delayed Harvest Trout Waters
The following trout waters, excluding
tributaries except as noted, may be fished only with artificial lures with
one single hook, no natural bait may be possessed and no fish may be harvested
or possessed while fishing these waters between October 1 and one-half hour
after sunset on June 5. These waters are closed to fishing between one-half
after sunset on June 5 and 6:00 am on June 6. At 6:00 am on June 6 these
waters open to fishing under Hatchery Supported regulations-no bait restrictions,
no minimum limit and 7 trout per day creel limit.
These waters are marked with black and white signs.
Season (Part 1) From
Oct. 1 to June
Daily Creel Limit No Fish May be Harvested or Possessed
Minimum Size Limit See Creel Limit
Lure Restrictions Artificial lures having one single hook only
Season (Part 2) From June to September 30
Daily Creel Limit 7
Minimum Size Limit None
Lure Restrictions None
Ashe County
Trout Lake
Burke County
Jacob's Fork Creek (Shinny Creek to South Mountains State Park Boundary)
Cherokee County
Tellico River (Fain Ford to Tennessee state line, excluding tributaries)
Haywood County
Richland Creek (Russ Avenue bridge to U.S. 19A-23 bridge)
Henderson County
North Fork Mills River (game land portion below Hendersonville watershed
dam)
Jackson County
Tuckasegee River (NC 107 bridge at Love Field to NC 116 bridge at Webster)
Macon County
Nantahala River (Whiteoak Creek to NP&L powerhouse discharge canal)
Surry County
Ararat River (S.R. 1727 downstream to Business US 52 bridge)
Watauga County
Watauga River (S.R. 1559 bridge at Foscoe downstream to NC 105 bridge)
Wilkes County
East Prong Roaring River (mouth of Bullhead Creek downstream to Stone Mountain
State Park boundary line)
Stone Mountain Creek (from falls at Alleghany County line to confluence
with East Fork Reddies River and Bullhead Creek)