Trout

Cherokee Fly Fishing Contest HURRY

It is not too late to catch your biggest trout of the season at Qualla Country Trout Tournament held in Cherokee, N. C. The Eastern Band of the Cherokees are having their tournament on September 5 through September 7, 2014. The tournament is open to anyone who has the $11.00 entry and the only one restriction and that is the exclusion of the 2.2 miles of catch-and-release waters. That leaves the remaining 28 miles of privately stocked freestone streams open for your conquest. By the way, this is the largest privately owned and stocked waters east of the Mississippi.

Brown Trout State Record Caught on Chattahoochee

Chad Doughty of Winder was below the Buford Dam on the Hooch and had just started to fish from his kayak when he hooked th monster. Since he had a Rooster Tail with a six pound line on a small spinning reel, he had a major fight on his hands. In fact, he had to get out of the kayak and run down his prize for some 45 minutes before he land it.

NC Reduced Trout Stocking

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has reduced trout-stocking rates by 50 percent into public waters through August 2014 due to excessive predation by great blue herons at the Bobby N. Setzer State Fish Hatchery in Pisgah National Forest.

Maryland Trout Stocking Begins

In Ferbrary, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources will start releasing Rainbow and Brown Trout in streams and lakes across the entire State. As the stocking continues through the summer a total of 335,000 trout will be released.

Fly Fishing with Sculpins

In cold water streams, sculpins are bottom feeding fish that are difficult to see. There are about 300 species of them, the largest of which grow to about two feet long. Most of them are found in shallow sea waters and others, such as the miller’s-thumb (Cottus gobio), inhabit freshwater. Among the freshwater sculpins, the Cottus genus is by far the most common and is found in the majority of the trout streams in the USA. They generally are a mottled brown in color and grow to about four inches long.

Restoring Paiute Trout on the Silver King Creek

The Silver King Creek is in the Eastern Sierra's Carson-Iceberg Wilderness of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and it is a tributary of the East Carson River of the Lahontan Desert Basin. The Paiute Trout is a very rare species that is native to the Silver King Creek. They are distinguished by a lack of spots and by a purplish iridescent color that is very distinctive. But, they have been all but become extinct as a result of the competition from the rainbow and the golden trout.

NC Raised Fishing License Fees

The state legislature recently raised the fishing license fee by a cool 25%. For the the Annual Sportsman License fee went from $40 to $50 and the Annual Fishing License went from $15 to $20, a whopping 33%! In addition, the license issuing fee paid to the agents is $2.00 but now that will no longer be contained in the fee but will be paid by the fisherman in addition to the license fee! To seeall the changes to the fees, go to NCWildlife.

Water Temperature and Trout

Now in the peak of summer it is time once again to do the trout a favor and discuss water temperature and how it relates to trout and specifically trout fishing. Remember, not the air temperature but the water temperature is what we are discussing. It is a well known fact that water temperature has a big impact on trout’s metabolism. The higher the temperature above their comfort zone the more they are stressed.

Water Temperature and Common Sense

Angles often ask "At what water temperature should they stop fishing for trout?" Provided reasonable care is taken, there is nothing wrong with catching trout with a fly when the water temperatures get up to or into the low seventies, however, it may not be easy. When water temperatures reach the low seventies, the trout almost cease feeding. The problem is not with the water temperature as much as it is with the low oxygen levels associated with the warm water.

Chattahoochee River Fly Fishing Heats UP

We are excited about the new spring season on the Chattahoochee River with a better prevelence of stone, may and caddis flies throughout the tailwater despite the recent high flows from Buford Dam for the May recharge of Lake Eufalia or better know as Walter F. George .