Tuckasegee River fishing report
The Tuckasegee River in North Carolina is fishing incredible right now. Recent stockings last week in Bryson City have set this river on fire! The section in Dillsboro also got stocked the first of the month. Warmer weather have bugs hatching and trout looking up! We have been getting good dry fly action almost everyday from mid morning until late afternoon. We’re seeing March Browns, Quill Gordons, Blue Quills, Caddis, and Blue Winged Olives this week. We also have saw sporadic hatches of our Spring time favorite, Yellow Sallies!! Of course Stonefly nymphs are producing big numbers fished deep under indicators. Swinging wet flies through the back of runs have also been highly productive. Streamer action this week has been killer. Fishing patterns such as Sparkle Minnows, Kreelex, Game Changers and Flashdancers have all been producing. Its a great time out on the Tuckasegee. If you have been holding off on booking that guided trip, you’ll want to get these on our calendar soon. This action on the ‘Tuck” will come to an end around the first of June.
Great Smoky Mountains Fishing
The Great Smoky Mountains have started fishing good this week. Warmer overnight temps have definitely woke the trout up inside the park. Dry fly action has been a blast so far. We’ve been seeing good hatches of little Yellow Sallies, Caddis, Hendrickson, Quill Gordons, March Browns and Blue Winged Olives. Lower elevation streams such as the Little River, Oconaluftee River, Hazel Creek, Greenbrier and Deep Creek have all been fishing good. Higher elevation brook trout streams have been good too mid morning until late afternoon.
Cherokee Fishing Report
The Cherokee Tribal streams are fishing really well. The tribal fish hatchery stocks the general water twice each week. We have seen lots of angling pressure on the general water from meat fishermen, which is typically the case this time of year. The fly fishing only section has seen a fair amount of angling pressure, but the bite has remained good. We’re seeing lots of good hatches from mid morning until late afternoon. Yellow Sallies, Quill Gordons, March Browns, Blue Winged Olives and Brown Stones have been bringing trout to the surface. Subsurface we have been hitting them on loads of stonefly nymphs, pheasant tails, Walts worms, green caddis pupae, and just about any jigged euro nymph you can think of with some flash. Fish haven’t been so picky as of late but they are leader shy and are wary of your presence. So be stealthy in your approach and use a fluorocarbon tippet in at least 6x. Streamers have been really productive this past week. Higher water levels with some turbidity made for some incredible streamer action. Big nasty articulated patterns fished on sink tips put several toads in the net. Currently water levels have dropped back to normal. The Oconaluftee River is running around 600cfs and is clear as a bell.
The forecast this weeks is pretty amazing. Summer like highs this week will top out around 82 on Thursday in Bryson City, and 80 in Gatlinburg. That should really get things stirring in the higher elevation streams for sure. A 45 percent chance of rain on Friday. A decent day on Saturday with highs reaching the upper 60’s. Not a bad week at all with some great weather for fishing.