Nantahala River Fishing

This weekend, I finally got a chance to get out and do some much needed fishing. My friend Matt and I spent a rainy Saturday on Nantahala River in Macon County. We had originally planned to hike in to Snowbird creek, but the rain made us re-think and stay close to the truck.

Despite the rain, the fish were really biting. At this time of year, Nantahala is under delayed harvest rules - meaning only single-hook, artificial lures and all fish must be released. Because of the muddy water and overcast day, we each used a Rooster Tail spinner with a gold blade which worked really well.

The Nantahala is stocked with brook, rainbow and brown trout and we saw all three species yesterday. The river is also very popular because of its easy access and the number of fish. Fly-fishermen usually rule the area, but we saw lots of spinner fishermen yesterday because of the rain as well as a number of people fishing nymphs along the bottom.

Here are a few pictures from the day:

My first brook trout of the day. Matt had never caught one, but he eventually got his first brookie too!

A little rainbow.

View of the Nantahala during a break in the weather.

Pretty little feeder stream.

Biggest fish of the day - a brook about 9 or 10 inches long.