Fall Fly Fishing Invasion in North Carolina
The fall fly fishing invasion in North Carolina really began in mid-September. Over the last few weeks, I've been fortunate to work with more visitors from Europe and Oceania than ever before this fall. Many think of Western Carolina as the "stock trout" bashing that goes on from the first of October through the first of June. What they don't know is that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has over 2,900 miles of wild trout water—a number just released by the fisheries biologist. In addition to this are thousands of miles of Nantahala National Forest streams. Epic choices based out of Bryson City!
During the last few weeks, I've been very fortunate to work with folks from Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, England, and Scotland, in addition to anglers from America. Puzzling, to say the least, with all of these international trips—but I'm thankful to have met some incredible people. Fly fishing creates an avenue for forming new friendships in great surroundings. Fall is such a wonderful time to be in North Carolina, and it also provides me the opportunity to learn new things from other cultures.
Kids and Trout Fishing
Conditions here differ greatly before the delayed harvest streams open back up in early October compared to the wild trout waters in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. September provides better fishing in the park, with dry flies being effective on most trips. I landed better quality fish on small dries throughout most of the month.
Those September days required much better line control overall for greater catch ratios—very technical conditions, to say the least! The lack of rain created some of the lowest water levels ever for many of our streams. Very long leaders with small dries make it much easier to manage skinny water. I prefer these conditions to stocked fishing on the Delayed Harvest for trips because the challenges are much greater.
Delayed Harvest Programs
The Delayed Harvest program provides one of the best studies of fish behavior. I prefer to fish the same water for the first few weeks to observe these changes. The stocked fish bashing sessions typically begin with double streamers and continuous hookups back to back. Every angler tends to stay happy for the first few days because success comes easily to everyone. Once the chasing of patterns slows down, we begin to actually work the system for cracking the code!
The process of figuring out what to do next is more complex than ever before with catch and release applied. We train those same pods of fish to become increasingly selective to avoid being hooked! Anglers of days gone by would have never cracked the code for creating super fish when you think about it. They harvested fish for the table for the past 10,000 years in practically every example you want to study. It's a great thing to know that something you release may put a smile on the face of another angler!
What I'm pointing out is that these types of programs also create fish that adapt rapidly and become more selective in short order. The fish numbers prove this every year of the delayed harvest programs, with some of the largest number of days for trout landed. Opportunities await you for the fall fly fishing invasion in North Carolina!