Fly Fishing the mountain streams of Western North Carolina is always a rewarding experience. From the freestone rivers that have been flowing for millions of years to the small high-elevation creeks that yield breathtaking scenery, the experience is always different and always challenging.
In Western North Carolina, we are very fortunate to have beautiful mountains and high-elevation freestone streams so close to Asheville. With the Appalachian Mountains being some of the oldest in the world, our rivers and streams share that same character as they flow towards our main river, the French Broad River. The Davidson River, North Mills River, and many other small tributaries combine south of Asheville to create the French Broad. These streams are known for their great trout fisheries and the French Broad is well known for its smallmouth bass population. Even with these prominent streams garnering most of the attention, we have many other areas worth mention.
Western North Carolina has over 4,000 miles of public trout water according to the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission. If you fished eight hours for every day of every month, you would have to fish for nearly two years to see each mile of public trout water North Carolina has to offer. Many are intimidated by the amount of wilderness we have in Western North Carolina. Because of the variety of different rivers worth fishing, our fly fishing guide service serves as a great tool to not only learn more about the sport of fly fishing, but to learn more about the many locations that will help test your knowledge.
Learn more about the rivers in Western North Carolina by selecting them from the Our Waters section.
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Western North Carolina Fly Fishing Stream ReportRain, rain, and more rain. The water levels have been great with the consistent rainfall and the trout and bugs are happy and healthy. With Delayed Harvest streams reverting to Hatchery Supported regulations on June 6, most anglers will prefer to fish Wild Trout streams or the South Holston and Watauga tailwaters in East Tennesee. Warmer conditions and longer days mean the river's are alive with insect activity including light cahill mayflies, yellow sally stoneflies, midges, and the first signs of terrestrials. Consider fishing small dark mayfly nymphs or larger stonfly nymphs to catch fish below the surface and light cahill dries or yellow sally dries on teh surface. Check out the stream specific reports for fly recommendations.