[Snipe Hunter]

I will be coming up from Florida in two weeks and was wondering if I could get some information for fishing around Sylva. I have fished a stretch of the Tuckaseegee several times, mostly between Hwy 107 and Dillsboro. The other times I have been up there have been earlier or later in the year, never in the middle of summer. Are there places you would recommend to a visiting angler? I will be fishing with my wife. I will wet wade and fish with both fly and spinning tackle. I need shoreline access for my wife, who will fish only with spinning tackle. I appreciate any help you can provide.

 

[lostnwilderness]

Cherokee is best bet this time of year up that way for what you are looking for as far as Trout goes. Little TN for smallies...

 

[Snipe Hunter]

Thank you for the reply. I will fish for smallmouth or trout, whichever is best right now. We usually stay on Lake Glenville and that is where I have caught most of my smallmouth before. This time we are staying right on the Tuckaseegee. I have also caught a few smallmouth in the tailwaters of the dam at Dillsboro but I think that has changed since I was last there several years ago. Stocked trout would be better than fishing remote areas for wild fish, especially for my wife. We aren't interested in catching anything to keep so catch & release/delayed harvest fishing is fine. Are they not stocking the Tuckaseegee? I was interested in fishing new areas of it going back toward Western Carolina University but I don't want to do that if it won't be productive.

 

[Crummy]

There are DH waters on the Tuck and Nantahala which is 30-40 min away from Sylva. Link to map.

http://ncpaws.org/wrcmapbook/FishingAreas.aspx

I've fished both but it has been many years ago.

 

[Snipe Hunter]

Thank you Crummy. I looked at the link and also a chart with stocking dates. It shows that the rivers are stocked from March-May and again in October and November. The only times I have fished for trout on either the Nantahala or Tuckaseegee was during the time when it was being stocked.

Does the water get too warm for trout during the summer? Do the rivers get fished out during the summer months?



I thought that as long as I was asking all these questions I would at least share a few pictures from the last couple of weeks down here.

 

[rgarbar]

IMHO those spotted sea trout and redfish are better fighters and better table fare than anything you can expect to catch up here. Both sections of the Nantahala river(delayed harvest and hatchery supported) hold some decent trout all year long.

 

[Crummy]

Does the water get too warm for trout during the summer?

Lol! Pick the hottest day in August and that water is still numbing cold.

The last stocking should have been during the 4th Holiday. Most of those waters hold fish as rgarbar mentioned.

At Nantahala I prefer the upper DH section(above the powerhouse). It's smaller water and more like I'm used to fishing. Access in most areas is easy walking except the last upper section. Very steep and rocky but some pretty good size, deep holes.

 

[Snipe Hunter]

Rgarbar, I eat speckled trout and redfish year around along with the occasional flounder. When I get an invitation to go offshore I get to supplement the fish diet with grouper and snapper. Of the fish pictured above only the first trout was kept. We can only keep redfish between 18"-27". The one I am holding under the water would have been in the slot but the others pictured would have to be released even if I had been meat fishing that day. By the way, that top trout had just eaten a mullet that was every bit of 10" long. The spook I caught him on must have seemed like a snack compared to that.

Crummy, cold springs around here run 72 degrees year around. I brag to my hunting and fishing buddies that I wet waded the Nantahala in shorts and a fleece pullover for eight hours in October on a trip back in 2003. The morning air temperature was in the mid to upper forties and I believe the water temperature was 56-58 degrees. After a couple of minutes my feet were numb so the tricky part was walking (and sliding) when I couldn't feel anything. I bought some felt soled boots for this trip that I am hoping will make traction better than the rubber soled wading boots that I've worn on previous trips. We are staying just off Hwy 107 on the road where there used to be an ice cream shop. I think it was a major stocking spot and very accessible which I need for my wife.

 

[Crummy]

Interesting fact of the day:

From North Carolina Sportsman Magazine;

"The Nantahala River produced the state-record brown trout in 1998; it weighed 24 pound, 10 ounces. Robert Dyer of Sylva caught the fish with a Rapala — but not in public fishing waters. It was in the powerhouse section, which is off-limits to public fishing. Dyer was able to fish that section because he was an employee of Nantahala Power and Light Co., which operated the power plant at that time. The big brown had been feeding on chum created by the powerhouse turbines."

End quote.

I had heard this story immediately after that fish was caught. My Dad is a retired Duke Power Lineman. That's right, the fish was caught on private Power Co. land. It was caught in the gated off discharge area of the powerhouse.(just above where they launch all the rafts) I've stared at this area many times and often fish just below the discharge in hopes of catching something 1/2 that size.

 

[rgarbar]

Do you say grouper? Now that's fine table fare. I too live in Florida but summer in NC. I go crazy trying to keep up with all those slot sizes, closed seasons and special permits. Seems everything I catch in FL is either too big, too small or out of season . Have a great vacation.

 

[lostnwilderness]

You suck. That is all...

 

[gambusia]

You could also try fishing Wolf Creek Lake at the dam.

That lake supports rainbow trout, rock bass and largemouth bass year around.