Hunting & Fishing

Mountain Trout Fishing Adventures Made Just For You

Trout fishing adventures are made to order in North Carolina. Whether you like your trout with lemon and butter, or swimming away after slurping down a dry fly and a short tussle, a section of stream or river filled with trout is waiting just for you.

The Mountains offer miles of world-class trout fishing thanks to the NC Wildlife Resources Commission’s diverse management strategy. A seven-tiered classification system organizes more than 2,000 miles of public trout water. Each designation offers a different experience for anglers any time of the year.

About half of the water is managed for wild, self-sustaining trout populations. The other half annually welcomes 900,000 hatchery trout for you to catch. Brook and rainbow trout share about 80 percent of the stockings with browns making up the balance. The average stocker is between 10 and 11 inches in length, with a few more than 14 inches thrown in to put bigger smiles on anglers’ faces.

Waters are clearly marked with diamond-shaped signs designating each as Hatchery Supported, Wild Trout, Catch and Release/Artificial Lures Only, Catch and Release/Artificial Flies Only, Delayed Harvest, Wild Trout/Natural Bait or Special Regulation. Each classification brings its own regulations, so check NCwildlife.org for specifics, including how many hook points you can use, types of lures or live bait, seasons and creel limits.

Once you’ve decided how you want to fish, it’s time to pick where. The Nantahala and French Broad rivers may get all the headlines, but there are hundreds of other streams open to fishing from shore, wading and even drift boats. You can ask at local tackle shops where the trout are biting, or you can click through the Wildlife Commission’s interactive trout maps. Select the county you plan to fish and a map pops up detailing the streams there and their designations.

Spring offers prime trout fishing, says Jacob Rash, coldwater research coordinator for the Wildlife Commission. Warming temperatures make trout active while snow melt keeps stream levels up and fish from being spooked by approaching anglers. 

For numbers, the Hatchery Supported Trout Waters are the best choice. Open the first Saturday in April to the last day in February, these waters have no size limits or bait restrictions, only a daily creel limit.

Another option is the less-pressured Delayed Harvest Waters, which are open from Oct. 1 until the Friday before the first Saturday in June for catch-and-release fishing. From midnight the first Saturday in June until the end of September, anglers can take seven fish each day from these waters without bait or size restrictions.

Waters managed for wild trout also come into their own with warm spring temperatures. These waters are open year round, with some set aside just for fly fishing.

In streams where natural baits can be used, minnows, insects, worms – or even corn in streams where stockers swim – are good choices. Traditional patterns in dry, wet and nymph flies, along with terrestrial imitators of worms, crickets and ants, will keep your fly rod bent. Spinning rod anglers will find consistent action with small spoons, spinners and even minnow-imitating crankbaits.

In 2011, the commission is adding four new Delayed Harvest Trout Waters, one Hatchery Supported Trout Waters and one Catch and Release/Artificial Lures Only Trout Waters between Madison, Surry, Watauga and Wilkes counties. This will add about 7 miles of just the trout fishing you are looking for in North Carolina.

To view the Wildlife Commission’s maps of trout waters, visit NCwildlife.org/Fishing/Fish_Trout_Map.htm

By Peter Anderson

added: April 27, 2011

updated: April 29, 2011