Dan, Matt, and I headed up to the beautiful Horsepasture River, home of the North Carolina state record rainbow trout, in mid November to explore the trout fishing opportunities. Note that the record trout was caught on a private stretch of the river. The narrated video below explains our results. Basically, we encountered just a few rainbow trout, but they tended to be larger than the average rainbow trout. The Horsepasture River, which flows through the Cashiers and Sapphire, NC area, through the backcountry over Rainbow Falls, and into Lake Jocassee is rugged and beautiful. The river features excellent pooling, thanks in large measure to its steep descent and large rocks. The backcountry of the river, including Rainbow Falls, Turtle Falls, and Stairstep Falls can be accessed via an exceleent footpath from a parking area in Gorges State Park. The water temperature varied slightly, from 44 - 46 deg F, throughout the day. The fishing overall was so-so, with a couple of large rainbows taking a whack at our offerings. The scenery, however, is absolutely spectacular. Also, note that there is a good population of smallmouth bass in the river, which can be caught during the warmer months. Here is the other Horsepasture River fishing trip we took in February 2009. One final note: I actually had spotty cell phone coverage at the base of Rainbow Falls, in the middle of nowhere.