Tommy and I headed up to the Thompson River in NC last weekend to do some exploratory trout fishing. Transylvania County NC is known for its waterfalls, and the Thompson did not disappoint. Finding this part of the Thompson is very difficult, which allowed us to have the entire stream (and the trout) to ourselves. We observed numerous waterfalls, a wild turkey, grouse, and a mild hatch (we caught one of the mayflies on the video), and completed our trip with a greasy cheeseburger on the way home. As usual, Tommy outfished me (which means it will be quite some time before I take him again), but we had a great day fishing.
Location: Thompson River, NC in Transylvania County NC.
Weather: Clear, highs in mid 80's
Bait/Tackle: #14 dry flies, sinking lures
Fishers: Tommy, Steve
Fish Caught: Tommy - 5 (4 brown trout 8-12" and a nice, 17" rainbow trout, shown in the video), Uncle Steve - 3 browns 8-10"
Video Note: Unfortunately, in our excitement, we did not handle the large rainbow trout shown in this video properly. The correct way to land this trout would be to get down in the water (rather than hoisting the trout out of the water onto a rock), and wet your hands before handling the fish. Notice the fish did revive and swim away on its own, but it may have been severly wounded in the process.