Wilson Creek, NC

[troutguy 0]

Going to Wilson Creek, NC tomorrow. Have heard that the fish are really hitting well. I so need to go fishing. It has been a couple of months. The weather is supposed to be 75 to 80 degrees and some rain.

 

Anyone on the board ever fish NC? Where is your favorite place in NC and why?

[Steeldrifter 0]

It's been a few (about 10 years) but I have fished NC before. I fished mainly the Davidson River and loved it. Crystal clear small to medium sized stream up in the mountains. I based in Ashville which had a nice little fly shop there at the time. Would love to get back there sometime again.

 

Steve

[blakejd 0]

I haven't fished Wilson Creek but I typically fish several days in NC a year. Steve said it. The Davidson is awesome. The fly shop is Davidson River Outfitters and you can't miss it if your headed to the river. The Mills river is also right in the area and fishes well as well and countless small streams if that gets your jollies off.

[Flyweaver 0]

Friend Has cabin on Wilson, looking foward to a trip in May,only bad thing its a 12 hour drive.

[kentuckytroutbum 0]

Steve is right on about the Davidson.Love the E. TN & W. NC trout waters. If you got the time, stop off at the South Holston River near Johnson City, TN. According to the the Little River Outfitters forum it is fishing well right now, and there is little generation from the dam right now even with all of the rain that they have had lately.

[troutguy 0]

Wilson Creek started crazy. The way in is a narrow dirt road above the gorge. The road was bolcked with police cars and fire trucks for about an hour. A guy was driving a car high and or drunk. He hit something somewhere and drove until his tires went flat. There were packets of Pseudoephedrine all over the woods. Do you think Meth? He said two guys beat him up and ran away. Well a crowd of would be fishermen wandered around watching this until the police took him and his damaged car away.

 

Now for the fishing.

 

The Wilson fished really well. Fished a deep run with a chamios tailed scupin and lost two big fish. My fault, I went from small dries to heavily weighted size 2 streamer and had the fish break off. I should have changed leaders and tippets, and of course after the first time I lost one I tried it again to lose a second one. Caught some 14 to 16 inch Rainbows and Brooks on Thunder Creek Black Dace. The fish were real choosy in the less deep pools. I had several caught on siz 20 BWO dries. A BIG thunder storm came in and ruined the fishing.

 

Great day!

[troutguy 0]

I love the North Mills too. It is probably my favorite fishing spot in the Asheville area.

 

The Davidson is really good to. I love the challenges of the hatchery area. I live in South Carolina and always have a NC license because of the trout fishing.

 

I actually like to hike into cantrell Creek for some great Brook Trout.

 

I need to go up to Cherokee and fish the trophy water. I have fished the regular Cherokee area and it is always fun. For those that aren't familar, the Cherokees have a casino and tourist area. You must buy a $10 a day license to fish. No NC license needed. The river is really nice, urban and rural runs. It runs right though town so your wife can shop and you can fish at the same time. I fished it one day when there were tubbers going down the river and a good hatch. Normally this leads to a fly fisherman melt down. Not there. The fish were not bothered by the tubbers. There are so many fish. They stock every day. They say the fish are aclamated to natural food before stocking.

 

The trophy area has something like 90% of the fish are over 20 inches. It costs more to fish there.

 

I don't gamble and have only been in the casino for about 30 minutes to look around. Great weekend away with the wife. You can fish and they don't care. Gorgeous area!

[Steeldrifter 0]

The Davidson is really good to. I love the challenges of the hatchery area.

 

That was actually my favorite area when I fished it years ago. The pools there are so clear you could see fish refuse your nymph even 4ft below the surface. We hit it right before dusk one evening at the hatchery area when there was a huge hatch of brightly colored yellow flies, that was a real sight, looked like it was snowing yellow

[Bucket 0]

I'm heading to Wilson Creek next weekend.

 

 

Fished the Shinny Creek and Jacobs Fork River at South Mountain State Park today, that is my "regular spot", no luck on the 'Wild' Shinny, caught some nice DH fish in the Jacobs Fork.

[blakejd 0]

Troutguy what part of SC. I grew up in Aiken and so alway to up to the NC and East TN area when I visit. I've been wondering lately about trying more SC mountain fishing and even fishing the Broad in Columbia for the striper spawn. Any chance you're familiar with either. Glad you had a good trip. I will have to check out Wilson Creek next time I'm in town.

[troutguy 0]

Just below Charlotte. I have never fished th Broad. I have caught Stripers in the Saluda at Saluda Shoals Park. The trout fishing there is good from a kayak. It is an experience to have an 18 or 20 Inch Stripers hit on a five weight while trout fishing. The tackle store on Lake Murray road sells 6 to 8 inch rainbows for bait. I have fished over near Wallawalla for trout but my knowledge of SC mountain fishing is not vast.

[ThreeJsDad 0]

So far this year my son and I have fished the Ararat, Mitchell, the Watuga and Stone Mountain in NC. The Ararat and the Mitchell are out two favorites so far. They are less than 2hrs and they have been fishing really well with Olives.

 

Paul

[troutguy 0]

Where is Ararat? Not familiar with that one. Where at Stone Mountain do you fish?

[ThreeJsDad 0]

The Ararat is in Mt Airy NC and just got restored by TU. It run right through town. Here are the GPS coordinates for the parking lot 36,30.150- 80,36.090. From the parking lot head up stream to the beginning of the DH. The parking lot is at the town park.

 

Stone Mt is a waste of time !!! The poachers pound that creek into submission.

 

Of the DH's we have fished the nicest is the Mitchell. it can be tough enough to fish it like a spring creek but overall it fishes very well with light gear, fine tippets and small flies.

 

We do plan to spend some more time on the Ararat. It is really nice water that should have some nice hatches. We did not check the nymph populations when we were there but we need to do that.

 

Josh and I would be happy to show you some of our favorite spots here in NC if you want to plan a trip.

 

Paul

[blakejd 0]

ThreeJsdad, That would be great. I'm not planning another trip out for a while but I will look you up when I do. I really love the fishing the the NC TN area.