Category: Fishing Reports

Anglers have been reeling in rainbows at Noland Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) where water levels have been ideal due to steady evening rains. This good fortune should remain throughout the weekend in all Western North Carolina (WNC) hatchery-supported streams.

Afternoon temperatures will warm up the lower-elevation waters, so start fishing early and bring along your Red and Yellow Wulffs, Purple Hazes, Olive Midges, and Black Stoneflies (#16). Pink Squirmy Worms have also been popular with the trout. Just for kicks, we tried poppers and landed some smallmouth bass! There’s nothing like fighting a bass on a fly rod!

There’s still time to register for the Tim Hill Memorial Trout Tournament in Cherokee scheduled for Saturday, July 9 to Sunday, July 10. The registration deadline is Friday, July 8 at 11:59 p.m. For $32 ($15 registration fee; $17 two-day permit), anglers will compete for $10,000 worth of tagged fish which can be redeemed for a range of monetary prizes. While in Cherokee, stop by Rivers Edge Outfitters at 61 Big Cove Road. They’ll have whatever gear you need.

Have wonderful weekends!

The Fourth of July Weekend is almost here which means free fishing in North Carolina on Independence Day! Residents and out-of-state visitors at any age can fish public waters from 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on July 4 without a license. Other regulations would still apply, specifically bait-and-tackle restrictions, along with daily-possession and length limits.

Although waters are low in Tennessee, fishing should be good in Western North Carolina (WNC) hatchery-supported streams where levels are higher and temps are cooler. But get your day started early while the water’s coolest. These days, trout are hitting Caddisflies, Yellow Sallies and Sulfurs. Anglers have had success with Mepps spinners and Rooster Tails, too.

There’s still time to register for the Tim Hill Memorial Trout Tournament in Cherokee scheduled for Saturday, July 9 to Sunday, July 10. For $32 ($15 registration fee; $17 two-day permit), anglers will compete for $10,000 worth of tagged fish which can be redeemed for a range of monetary prizes. And if you need fishing gear while you’re in Cherokee, stop by Rivers Edge Outfitters at 61 Big Cove Road. They’ll have everything you need!

Have wonderful holiday weekends!

The water’s a poppin’ with brookies and rainbows in Gatlinburg’s Road Prong, along with most of the other streams and rivers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Look no further than Raven Fork’s Trophy Waters for trout measuring more than eighteen inches!

This weekend, bring along your Yellow Sallies and Yellow Wulffs. That’s what the trout are striking in the Smokies. But get out there early. With daytime highs near the mid-eighties, the waters will be too warm to fish by lunchtime when river temps could reach sixty-five degrees—hot enough to stress out any trout on patrol.

Straight Fork and Cherokee’s Oconaluftee River (The Luftee) look especially promising. Yellow Sallies and dry-dropper rigs should tempt the brooks, browns and rainbows during the cooler hours of the day. Just note that a $10 tribal permit is required to fish in the Cherokee Reservation. If you venture into Raven Fork’s 2.2-mile Trophy Section, you’ll need an additional $25 catch-and-release permit.

Rise early, and enjoy the fishing while the water is coolest. And remember, when it comes to dry flies, yellow is the color for summer.

As always, FISH ON!!!

The tube hatch is coming on strong in Western North Carolina (WNC). We’re seeing lots of folks tubing down the Tuckasegee River (The Tuck) and Oconaluftee River (The Luftee), and with the heat we’ve been experiencing, who wouldn’t want to float down the river with an ice cold beverage? Deep Creek has some of the coldest water in Bryson City. There, you’ll find many campers, hikers, tubers, and anglers enjoying the outdoors. Sometimes, the fishing can be tricky, but don’t get discouraged if a tuber floats down your lane. The fish are pretty used to them and will still eat; with the right fly and a good drift, you should get some bites. The Tuck has still been fishing well, despite the high temps. Look for it to gradually slow as those fish that have not been harvested make their way to colder water. Higher elevation streams are producing good bug life, and our native brook trout always seem willing to smack a dry fly. This time of year, folks should be aware of the water temps. Be careful in warm water and don’t stress the trout out. Keep them wet and alive.

As always, FISH ON!!!!!

Over the past several days the southern Appalachian Mountains have experienced a series of storms moving northward from the Gulf of Mexico.  Heavy rains brought water levels up in most of the region.  The delayed harvest area on the Tuckasegee River in Bryson City, and the upper section in Sylva are high and muddy as are most of the waters in Western North Carolina. If you’d like to get out fishing this weekend, give us call to discuss smaller streams that will be fishable in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The larger waters will recede soon.

Meantime, grab your vise and materials and let’s tie up some bugs. It has been a great season for some girdle bugs on the Tuckasegee River. Other go to patterns have been the mop fly, eggs, and squirmy worms.  The wild fish have recently been looking to the surface for some dry fly takes that will have you reaching for your drying powder!!  Caddis, yellow sallies, purple haze, parachute Adam’s, and other mayfly patterns have been especially productive in the wild waters of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

What a week it has been for the Western North Carolina region! The snow we had last weekend never really had a chance to become “run-off.” Most of it simply evaporated in the sun. We did have another round yesterday morning here in Bryson City. Large, clumpy flakes and that beautiful gray sky that has the slightest blue hue. We are experiencing a normal January weather pattern for the Smoky Mountains.

It goes without saying, it has been cold for us and cold for the trout. The nice part, even though it has been cold, the Tuckasegee River has still been fishing well. Since it’s a tailwater, the water temps are milder, and the conditions more stable for trout.

Cold water doesn’t stop the big boys and girls from coming out to play. Big trout eat big streamers, so never leave home without a sinking poly leader, and a handful of streamer patterns. The old faithful, standard Delayed Harvest flies are always productive, too.

Inside the guides boxes-

Wet Flies-

#8-12- Pat’s Rubber Legs (coffee/black or coffee/tan)

#14-18- Pink, Orange, or Yellow Hot Spot Egg

#14-18- CDC Frenchie (Shrimp Pink)

#20-24- Top Secret Midge

#10-14 Tan Mop

#14-18- France Fly

#12-16- Squirmy Worm (red or pink)

#12-18- Hot Bead Flashback Pheasant Tail

#14-18- Sexy Walt’s Worm (tan or natural gray)

#20-24- Jujubee Midge (olive)

Streamers-

#8-10- Sculpzilla (white or black)

#4-8- Game Changer (white or black)

#4-10- Drunk & Disorderly (white or black)

#4-8- Dungeon (white or black)

If Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel opened up a theme park, he would model the rides based on our recent weather trends, and most of the rides would be roller coasters. Over the last 3 weeks, we’ve seen high’s ranging from the 30’s to the 70’s. It’s been bone dry to having near flood conditions. We’ve had calm days with zero wind and plenty of days that we wondered how the roof was still attached. For now, it looks like Winter has decided to stay for a while.

When the weather forecast is all over the place, the fishing can be tough. The fish don’t know whether to make margaritas or snowmen. This season has been different. I don’t remember when the fishing was this consistent in the midst of a change in seasons. Granted, much of our fishing has been on the Tuckasegee River tailwater, which usually provides for more stable conditions than many of the freestone streams in the area. However, even the freestones such as the Davidson have been on fire. We did have a couple of decent snow events that created some high-water conditions with runoff, primarily in the streams of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Though days when the water is high or muddy can be aggravating, we really need that extra water.

Regarding flies, we have been continuing to do well on the Tuck with the usuals that I’ll list below. We’re still seeing some small black Caddis around size 18-20, and Little Black Stones around size 16-18 hatching, but the surface action has slowed a lot compared to what it was before Christmas.

Dry Flies

#18-20- Peacock Caddis

#16-18- Goddard Caddis (Black)

#16-20- Griffith’s Gnat

Wet Flies-

#8-12- Pat’s Rubber Legs (coffee/black or coffee/tan)

#14-18- Pink, Orange, or Yellow Hot Spot Egg

#14-18- CDC Frenchie (Shrimp Pink)

#20-24- Top Secret Midge

#10-14 Tan Mop

#14-18- France Fly

#12-16- Squirmy Worm (red or pink)

#12-18- Hot Bead Flashback Pheasant Tail

#!14-18- Sexy Walt’s Worm (tan or natural gray)

#20-24- Jujubee Midge (olive)

Streamers-

#8-10- Sculpzilla (white or black)

#4-8- Game Changer (white or black)

#4-10- Drunk & Disorderly (white or black)

#4-8- Dungeon (white or black)

Thank you for being here with us,

Josh Whorton

We are finally seeing some long-awaited rain. The warm weather trend continues with record highs. We’re still catching plenty of fish on dry flies, along with everything else we’ve thrown. We have a deep plunge in temps late this weekend. We may even have some snow. With such a drastic change in weather, fishing conditions are going to drastically change. One of the really fun aspects of fishing in snow or flurries, is the dry fly action on Blue Winged Olive Mayflies. Olive colored Parachute Adams are very productive, and any midge pattern in the size 20-24 range are seeing plenty of action. Little Black Stoneflies have been hatching, too. We have had plenty of BWO hatches in the heat, but coming up soon we’ll be having the traditional Wintertime Southern Appalachian fishing conditions.

Clear water and cold weather call for long leaders and fine tippet for dry fly fishing. Having a size 18 BWO emerger on the surface tied to 6x tippet, and dropping a size 20-24 midge off of the dry with 7x tippet is very effective. It is finesse fishing at its finest, so you’ll need figure out how much pressure you can keep on the fish with that size tippet and the weight of your rod.

As Winter conditions evolve, I’ll keep you up to date on the trends and techniques that we’re utilizing to put fish in the net.

From the Katala Team, we wish the world a Happy New Year!!!

Thank you for being here with us.

Josh Whorton

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Rain finally arrived last weekend. Water levels increased, which is what we need, but the gain was short lived. It seems the water table is low, so all of the rain that fell simply soaked right in. The freestone streams are cool right now and the fish are happy. The lack of water in the streambeds has the fish concentrated into areas they think they can hide. It’s easy to figure out where they’ll be. But…. They can easily see you if you aren’t trying to be relatively stealthy. Wear drab, earthy colored jackets if you can, and move slowly when approaching the area you are casting into.

We’ve been having some wild temperature swings for quite a while. At my house recently, the temperature went from the mid-20’s at sunrise, to the upper 60’s in the afternoon. The long-range forecast has daytime temperatures becoming more seasonal by next week. It will be cooler, but it will be nice to not need to wear 5 layers of clothes. Bundle up, pack in some toe warmers, and enjoy the great fishing we’ve been having.

The dry fly action has slowed a bit in the Webster area of the Tuckasegee, but the double nymph rigs have been doing work as always. The Bryson City stretch is still seeing some surface action, and the trusty double nymph rigs are always productive here, as well. By the time the water makes it to Bryson City, is has had plenty of time to warmer a few degrees, so the bugs are still really active. Midges and Blue Winged Olives are still on the menu from last week. I did see a handful of Caddis Flies hatching today, so we’ll see if this picks up at all and report back with our findings.

Guide’s Choice

Dry Flies-

#18-20- Parachute Adams (natural or olive)

#18-20- Griffith’s Gnat

#14-18- Tan Elk Hair Caddis

#18- 20 Tan CDC Caddis

#16-18- Missing Link (olive)

Wet Flies/Nymphs-

#8-12- Pat’s Rubber Legs (coffee/black or coffee/tan)

#14-18- Pink, Orange, or Yellow Hot Spot Egg

#14-18- CDC Frenchie (Shrimp Pink)

#20-24- Top Secret Midge

#10-14 Tan Mop

#14-18- France Fly

#12-16- Squirmy Worm (red or pink)

#12-18- Hot Bead Flashback Pheasant Tail

#!14-18- Sexy Walt’s Worm (tan or natural gray)

#20-24- Jujubee Midge (olive)

Streamers-

#8-10- Sculpzilla (white or black)

#4-8- Game Changer (white or black)

#4-10- Drunk & Disorderly (white or black)

#4-8- Dungeon (white or black)

There are too many more to name. These flies will work.

Let’s go fishing! We have plenty of availability.

Thank you for being here with us.

Josh Whorton

The warm weather gravy train keeps on rollin’. Once again, we have another long-range forecast that shows nothing but mid-Fall like temps, with the warm afternoons and cool evenings. The fish are content and have been happily feasting on our flies. We have a little rain in the forecast, which will help, if it arrives. As you know, the forecast is worthless once you look past the 3-day mark.

I don’t know of any stocked or wild trout waters that aren’t fishing well. The big story these days is the amazing dry fly action we’ve been so thoroughly enjoying. Granted, the trout are crushing dries, but the “catch” is the size of the flies necessary to fool them. Midges and/or tiny Blue Winged Olive mayflies are what’s on the menu. These guys do not have the body mass that March Browns or Hendricksons carry around. The BWO’s may have a similar appearance to the big boys, but you practically need a microscope to identify them. Having an exact representation is not as important as having the right size. Having some flies that are olive or any shade of gray in size 18-22 will work just fine.

Good dry and emerger flies for this week are pretty much the same as last week.

Dry Flies-

#16-20 Olive Parachute Adams

#16-20 Thunderhead (if you can find them or tie them)

#16-22 Griffith’s Gnat

#18-20 Adult Blue Winged Olive

#18-20 Adams Irresistible

Emergers-

#20-24 Olive Jujubees

#20-24 Top Secret Midge (black, gray, red, or olive)

#18-22 RS2 (olive or gray)

#18-22 CDC Loop Wing Emerger (you see where the color scheme is going)

#20-24 Mercury Midge

Fishing these tiny flies will require some finesse, both in casting and the fight. Extra finesse during the fight. Break out your flimsiest noodle rod and hang on! Long leaders that terminate in 6x or 7x tippet is pretty much a requirement. Dropper lines should consist of the same, but going down to 8x, if you can manage it, is even better. With the lack of rain we’ve had, the water is gin clear and really low. You need your flies to perform as naturally as possible, and your leader needs to vanish when it’s in the water.

A few variables you can take advantage of-

• Drop an emerger or two off of your dry fly. Many times, the fish will hit the emerger, so your dry will also act as a strike indicator.
• Fish your Griffith’s Gnats as dry flies or hit them with some Henry’s Sinket and they’ll get clobbered subsurface, as well.
• Addendum to the last suggestion- if you fish a dry followed by two emergers- Keep the dry on the surface. Leave the first emerger untouched, as in, no floatant or anything. Use the Henry’s Sinket on the bottom one to have the entire emergent cycle complete. One on the surface, one just below, and one that rides about 6” deep.

These tips are exactly what we’re using right now on our guided trips and our personal fun fishing trips. I hope this helps you catch more trout on dries this winter. We’re always ready to take you out and show you in person, so book some time on the water with us and we’ll get you tuned in and turned on.

Thank you for being here with us.

Josh Whorton

The transitional period between Fall and Winter is always a roller coaster ride, especially for the fish and the ecosystems they reside in. One day the high will be in the low 40’s, and the day after will be 70. Temperature swings of 30-40 degrees between day and night are common. This week, the temps are hovering between the mid 60’s and the low 70’s during the daytime, which typically means red hot fishing in the afternoons.

Most of our freestone streams follow the trend of swinging temperatures, too, although not so drastically. The changes can pretty drastic to the fish. Many local anglers are excited to be able to sleep late since the cold evenings mean slower fishing. Below is a graph from the USGS that details the water temperatures over the last 7 days on the Oconaluftee River. It begins in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and flows through the Cherokee Reservation. The “Luftee” has a very dramatic change in elevation from its beginning in the small headwater streams to its terminus at Oconaluftee Lake.

Our tailwater rivers, such as the Tuckasegee and the Nantahala, have much more consistent water temps which leads to more consistent fishing over the bulk of the day. If you’re an early riser and want to spend an entire day on the water, then tailwater fishing is for you. If you’re hoping to target wild trout in the higher elevations, enjoy those evening libations, sleep late, eat that decadent breakfast, and plan on having good fishing around 11am.

Let’s get to the meat and potatoes of what bugs the fish are keying in on right now-

The fish are not as picky as one would think. Presentation is key over how well a fly is tied or a particular pattern. Often times, the size of your fly can make the difference between getting skunked and having an epic day. It’s always a good idea to have a few different sizes of mayflies, caddisflies, and stoneflies. Smaller flies tend to be what the trout desire throughout the winter.

Natural patterns such as Blue Winged Olive imitations in sizes 18-22, in both dries and nymphs are always a good bet. The fish will really key in on the emerging mayflies, so if you see the fish dimpling the surface and not fully nosing out of the surface, emergers are on the menu. I prefer to fish Parachute Adams to cover the emergers. If the weather is lousy, these bugs will be active, and the fish will become very active, too. Blue Wings love to hatch during flurries and snowy conditions.

Caddisflies will hatch on occasion, too. I really like a Peacock Caddis in sizes 16-20 for the dries, and LaFontaine’s Deep Sparkle Pupae in dark gray in sizes 18-22. These hatches are very sporadic and unpredictable, but it’s always good to be prepared.

Little Black Stonefly nymphs in sizes 14-18 are another staple. Patterns like the Black Copper John are super effective Stonefly nymph imitations. The Peacock Caddis is also good at mimicking the Little Black Stonefly dries.

Attractor patterns such as Rainbow Warriors, Frenchies, Eggs, Pat’s Rubber Legs, and Squirmy Worms have done well for us on the wild fish, and they’re absolutely essential for the stocked trout in the tailwaters. If the fish are not responding to the naturals, we’ll switch out to an attractor and we will often get a reaction strike. Gold bead heads can be a turnoff for wild trout, so if you can get some flies with beads other than gold, do so. Or grab some without beads at all. We carry all of these varieties of natural and attractor patterns on our guided trips, so we can cycle through them to find exactly what they’re interested in. It typically doesn’t take very long.

On my way home from my trip yesterday afternoon, I stopped off take a quick look at the Tuckasegee and saw some fish rising in a section of flat water. I couldn’t resist taking a few minutes to make some casts. The fish were all over the size 18 Parachute Adams I was throwing. I was able to put 8 in the net in less than 30 minutes. This was minutes before the sun fell below the horizon. I was the only person out there. It was magical.

The roller coaster weather will continue for a few more weeks, so join us for a trip and enjoy those warmer days while they last.

We have plenty of availability for both wade trips and float trips, and we would love to take you fishing, so grab a buddy and head this way!