North Carolina Trout Waters

Since I've been spending a lot of time in North Carolina, I haven't been able to provide the up to date reports on the fishing in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge like many of you are accustomed to reading.

As of last week, a couple of my readers said that the redfish on the Indian River  side of the road were biting quite well on cut ladyfish, live mullet and mud minnows.   Some nice slot size black drum are still being caught  by bank fishermen using shrimp along the middle to southern part of Peacocks Pocket road in the shallows.

I finally broke down and got an out of state freshwater fishing license for North Carolina so I could sample the mountain streams in the area.

Yesterday, I picked up an ultralight spinning rod at "Wally's World" along with an assortment of  Panther Martin and Mepp's spinners, a Little Cleo, and some other micro spoons to use on the native trout up here.  This morning I headed towards Franklin, N.C. to find some spots to fish.

The rules up here are confusing as hell, especially if you don't know the area.  The mountain trout streams are supposedly marked with different colored signs that designate how they can be fished.

• Catch and release waters for fly fishing only and are marked with red and gold signs.

• Catch and release for artificial baits with a single hook are marked with purple and gold signs.

• Delayed harvest trout waters are marked with black and white signs.

• Hatchery supported waters marked with green and white signs have a 7 fish creel limit with no size limit on the trout.

• Wild trout waters have a 7" minimum size limit, a creel limit of 4 fish per day, and can be fished only with artificial baits with one hook.  

• Wild trout/natural bait waters can be fished with single hooks and anything but live minnows.  These are marked with brown and gold signs.

• Special regulation waters are marked with red and white signs.

etc.

To play safe I fished only with several spinners and a couple of spoons with single hooks in the streams along Franklin Road.

I quickly learned that you need to be in shape to fish the wild trout streams.  There are limited areas to park along the narrow road and you need to climb down to the water through dense forest.

I considered fly fishing but unless you wade the streams, a fly rod in the areas I fished was out of the question.  The pristine waters are crystal clear and overgrown with vegetation making casting impossible in most areas.

I managed to lose a couple of small brook trout in the first area I fished.  The single #6 hook on my Lil Cleo spoon didn't do the job and when I finally lost the lure on a submerged tree root, I plodded back up the hill to find another spot.

The second area I fished was just before Franklin N.C. in the Little Tennessee river.  This area provided more casting area and was easier to get to logistically.

I missed a nice rainbow trout of around 14" at the bank and finally managed to land the fish below, which was at a little over 12", on a gold Panther Martin spinner.

 
The  same gold spinner managed to attract a couple of small bluegill and the little runt below.  I think it is some type of chub.

Anyway, after hooking another trout on the same spinner, I slipped down the bank as I was trying to land the fish and managed to break the reel on the ultralight fishing rod I had in my back pocket.

Fortunately, the combo wasn't expensive but after losing that fish I decided to call it a day and head back up the mountain to Highlands, N.C. and dinner.

Can't wait to get back home and catch some gator sea trout.

Till next time, Tight Lines.