NOVEMBER UPDATE - HUGE NEWS!!! We have an update from NC Wildlife on the state of the hatcheries and stocking for the Delayed Harvest program. Check out our vid on this: ruclips.net/video/NI3nGfEePPE/видео.html
I fished a Watauga County stream on Monday that I've fished for 40 + years, mainly just out of curiosity, just to see how the creek had changed and how trout population was affected. Long story short, plenty of trout,eager to eat a fly. N.C. mountain trout are strong and resilient, just like the mountain folk.
Bryson City, Cherokee, and Maggie Valley are all open and fishing trips are still being run. They are asking for visitors to help the tourism industry there. Avoid the really bad areas but far west NC is open. Thanks for the updates man!
We had major flooding here in northern NH during June 2024. I found places that were formerly great are now terrible, but some places with huge pools that were created it made some of the best fly fishing ever. It'll take time for you to figure out your area, but the fish will find new places to thrive. I wish you well.
I think what people don’t understand is that trout-specifically wild trout-are genetically programmed to survive flood stage flows. Rivers have flooded since the beginning of time, and trout understand how to find soft spots/eddies/current breaks even in extreme flows. Personally, I would be more worried about spawning areas being impacted, but that is another discussion.
when the gov't did the huge release on the colorado through the grand canyon, they set up cameras to observe the fish. the fish literally stayed in their holes more or less. the flow at the bottom of the raging flood remained fairly calm in the nooks and crannies.
@@dawntreader7079but down the Broad river into Chimney Rock, the river isn’t 70’ within where it once was. Clearly the fish can’t stay in holes if there’s no water.
Nice update, bugs making it through are more of an issue than trout making it through. Donations needed now are warm clothes, sleeping bags, blankets....We've already had four nights below freezing.
Caught a young of the year smallmouth in the French Broad at Ledges Whitewater Park today 10/19. Bank was a wreck. Some new deep pools had formed with small runs connecting them to make some really complex habitats. It looked like some of the silt had washed away in the river. The water was pretty clear. The river gauge data on the French Broad shows that at least from a data perspective from Turbidity, Conductance, Dissolved Oxygen that the river is about or nearly better than it was before the hurricane. We haven't received rain since the Hurricane so will be interesting to see what runoff from the rivers look like now. Honestly the short term effects on all the new exposed rock in the stream beds and banks creates tons of aquatic invertebrate habitat. The Pigeon river which went through an event like this 3 years ago was recovering well and has had great trout fishing for the 3 years after.
UPDATE: The Pisgah Ranger district of the Pisgah NF will open on Friday 10/18. This encompasses the N. Mills and Davidson River and many of their tributaries. The Appalachian and Grandfather districts of Pisgah remains closed for now, but I will do another update comment when they open.
I fished the weekend after Helene hit. I was helping build some of the 105 back two days after it hit. I caught 5 browns in less then half a mile up a stream. That’s a lot for me brand new to fly fishing. Love your stuff by the way
I’m in the Brevard area. You nailed your entire assessment. Bravo. That said, I haven’t been on the water in a while, but everything you said is very accurate. This is an opportunity for those of us who chase DH fish (myself included) to take things up a notch or two and learn the ways of the wilds.
Thanks for doing this video update. I have had these questions in my mind but I felt awkward reaching out and asking because of the great people of WNC and everything that they have gone through and are still facing. Happy fishing!
Reporting in from Old Fort! The Nantahala is gorgeous, and fishing great, as usual. Pigeon River near Burnett Siding - fishing great. Also checked on the Catawba. It's a lot better upriver from Greenlee Park. There's still a ton of mud/silt getting washed in, right in the middle of that park (which was basically destroyed). Haven't been able to check on Curtis Creek. Looks like there was heavy damage up that way. Glad to hear about the Mills!
Definitely helpful. I fished the Davidson today and yesterday after seeing this. I’m new to fly fishing, but the river seemed fairly void of fish. I caught one brown adjacent to the campground but other than that, I had a couple bites and only saw two other fish after fishing most of the weekend. They might not have been washed down to the Atlantic, but they’re definitely not upstream near the hatchery. In other news, the hatchery looked okay. I’m not sure how the fish faired, but I saw very little damage on that property 🤞Hoping they can put some trout in the water soon. 🤞🤞🤞
Just finished moving into our new place during the past week . . . Great presentation! Rambling???? No - good job. It's a tough call as to when commercial "tourist" activity is appropriate. I think you nailed it.
I've been visiting and fishing Ashe County for 60 years. I was up there helping people dig out and distributing food and water. Helton Creek is unrecognizable in parts, and will certainly have a different path to the New River "forever". Many other streams are similarly affected. But I saw plenty of areas that looked extremely fishable. Echoing your comments about being a tourist, go for it. Just understand that things will be different. There won't be as many stocked fish, but you'll be standing in a trout stream, enjoying the fall colors, and bringing some business to the region.
thanks for the info brother! were heading up to the Thompson river above jocassee next week for a three day trip to see if our browns are up there still! so many people have been asking questions. not alot of info unless your on the ground. ill report back what we find in two weeks
That's cool man. The Thompson was always my favorite local river. I would hike in the late 80s and through the 90s and camp for 3 or 4 nights up near big falls. I would never see any one else in there. It was so remote back in those days. It was a paradise. There was a healthy population of wild browns. I haven't been back there in many years. The guy in the local fly shop told me recently there is actually a trail now following the river upstream from foothills trail. That's crazy there was no trail beside the river back in those days. I would love to hear about the trip you are planning. I need to head up there at some point myself. Hope you have a good trip. Hope you catch some of those wild browns!
I would have to imagine the insect population took it harder than the fish themselves. The hatches will probably be all screwed up next couple of years. Hope everyone can rebuild their lives. Good luck from Maine. 🤜🤙
Another talking point would be to explore other North Carolina fisheries in the downtime while the recover recovery efforts continue. Tons of big bull reds swimming in the inlets and just offshore easy to access even from the beach. It would be great to keep as much money in North Carolina as possible.
Having witnessed flooding on our favorite mountain river in WV., though not the devastating flood you endured from Helene, by no means. We went from incredible insect populations to a very sparse population. It took over ten years to witness most of the insect species return. I hope that the tiny tributaries still have good populations of aquatic insects to help re-establish the larger harder impacted waterways. Prayers sent from this fly angler to your wonderful waters, shops, guides, and good people of the hard hit areas. God bless.
I think something that a lot of people aren’t considering is the opportunity that this flood may have given native fish to take back over these streams and rivers that have been stocked with invasive rainbows and browns for years
You went right by a place me and my dad used to go trout fishing all the time that is devastated. The lower green river in Saluda is a fun place to fish
I know a lot of time and effort was put into reworking sections of the river around the Setzer hatchery after the last flood, hopefully it didn't all wash away.
Really appreciate this video and the info on those three rivers. Those are probably my main spots in addition to the West Fork of the Pigeon. I know I'll be going after more native and wild trout in higher streams in the coming year (was already planning that with the Setzer improvements). But like you said, I'm also hopeful this will give us all a chance to go out and explore some new places, find some new holes, improve our techniques, and hopefully practice more catch and release overall.
You made a video a few years ago at the grass beds smallmouth fishing around my home here in Bailey settlement. The river has absolutely destroyed everything in its path here I caught a 3lb smallmouth a week before the flood after the flood I seen so many dead smallmouth and fish and it broke my heart because the fishing was probly the best it was around here and I hope there are still a thriving population of smallmouth in the toe and nolachucky here at the house
This is not a trout thing but here in Knoxville We have had a mud pit. It has been about 4 weeks and the TN River at knoxville it is not fishable. I don't think I am going to get to fish for bass before the water gets very cold. It will not clear for another 4 weeks.
Any updates on the NC delayed harvest stockings? Last I saw it had been delayed indefinitely. Fires Creek had not been stocked two weeks ago. Thanks for the updates
Thanks for the video. This is on my to do list today. I can’t figure out why my Tacoma isn’t running correctly. Idles fine but when I accelerate it dies. I replaced plugs, coil packs and fuel injectors. I have added fuel additives. I’m just throwing money at it now hoping this fixes it. Thank you for the video
Check your fuel filter(s). Open enough for idling but collapses when you step on the gas. I had this happen on an old Chevy truck that would run a mile or two and then stall out for ten or fifteen minutes. Went into a NAPA store and explained the problem. I had two filters, one near the carburetor and one under the drivers door side panel. After replacing them it ran fine.
The fish know what to do. As soon as the rivers and streams start to rise, they swim upstream and find a place to get out of the main current. When the waters subside, they gradually return to places where they can survive. They have been doing this for tens of thousands of years years. We'll need to leave them alone for a while, but they'll make it.
Agreed. Cane river and others in Yancy and Mitchell country look very different than the three shown here. Time will tell what the impact on the trout habitat will be.
I'd be careful with wanting to eat any of the fish out of these rivers for a while. In the first few weeks after the storm, all the raw sewage was flowing into the rivers with all the pipe bursts.
So as a gold prospector is it ok to talk about the gold that is exposed due to the movement from the flooding now as well... been wondering. I'm in WNC and this was our first Hurricane Experience fyi
Thank you for that update. Here's an idea for TU clubs outside of the affected area: Someone buy a guided trip gift certificate from an outfitter up there and use it as an auction fundraiser at a club meeting. Use the proceeds to buy another certificate from another guide and auction it off. I wouldn't be able to go to an area farther away, but I sure could buy a certificate for a trip online and donate it to a TU club for someone else to use. It could bring business to several guides off of one initial purchase.
Thank you so much for the update ! I drive in from S.C. over Caesars Head and then take East Fork Rd. to the river. Was East Fork Rd. washed out from Rosman to East Fork Church ?
Hey my friend, I was in Rosman on Tuesday. My friend at Headwaters told me not to fish East Fork right now. He redirected me to a smaller stream in the area where I caught a few rainbows. Nantahala and Pisgah are back open, so there's plenty of places to check out nearby.
@@NathanDominey Thanks Nathan, yea, I was worried that East Fork Rd. below the falls to Rosman may have been washed out , in places ! Over the years I've seen the East Fork silt in, from the farming , up stream.
I went out the 1 to the7 of October I plan a trip two months in advance to go visit my aunt and fish in Murphy after seeing the hurricane come through I took a lot less gear, only went out with one rod ultralight, spinning, set up hit up the Hiawassee river had a fun time got about 10 bass and two bluegill only fished one day did the tourist thing up there
I spent the 2 weeks after the storm along the Cane and Toe Rivers with the National Guard. They are a mess and should be avoided for now but I did see fish. Edit: thank you for the info. I guess I only saw the worst parts. I assumed the rest of the mountains looked the way Yancey County does.
A flood of this magnatude, will take many years to recover, it's really up to the state of NC to make this fish recovery come back! Because in Tennessee the 100 year 1990 flooding that hit copper Hill Tenn and then flooded all waterways down stream to chicamuaga lake washed all our top notch trout fishing away and Tennessee wildlife resources agency decided not to touch nothing and restore it is still the same today in 2024
None of the rivers you mention drain into the Atlantic. They all go to the Gulf of Mexico. Only rivers east of the continental divide drain into the Atlantic. Bug life has been wiped out. It's going to take a couple years to recover.
I like a black WD-40. It’s more a midge pattern but it just gets bites. Double nymph it with a pats rubber legs as your top fly with some weight between the two flies
“A one in a thousand year rain event” yeah sure interesting how south e fl had one of these freakish rain events in the middle of dry season just last year.
Great, great update! So the short version is that my favorite place to fish is ok. It's a creek that feeds Fontana Lake. Assuming that the Fontana Marina is still running their "ferry" I may try to get up there in the next couple of weeks. How are the roads from say Asheville to Bryson City? Passable? I talked to the guys at DRO in Brevard and they are open for business as you stated. The guy also said that access to the Davidson above their shop is still closed but their private water is open.
Hi everyone, I’ve been trying to get a status report on Wilson Creek as far as fly fishing for trout, especially delayed harvest. So far I have found no data at all on Wilson Creek. Hope someone out there has some info that you could share. Thanks.
I heard the road has work trucks on it for several days making travel difficult if not blocked. There's a WilsonCreekFacebookGroup that will have more information as it becomes available.
Pisgah natl forest pisgah district is supposed to reopen tomorrow 10/17/2024 but the grandfather district which wilsons creek is apart of is still closed for the time being. Most of the road from the harper creek falls bridge was destroyed. The section of road just below Betsys store was literally a boulder field until a few days after. It's in pretty bad shape at the moment I'd say it'll be a good while before it's repaired and reopened completely.
They’ve been tough to talk to about it. The guides communicate with them regularly and have been unable to get solid answers yet. All we know is the delayed harvest program and all stocking is suspended indefinitely
I’m from Yancey county and the south toe being my home water it took a pretty big hit along with the infrastructure of the whole county. Fishing along the south toe will be highly restricted and as someone who is currently rebuilding our roads the access will be even more restricted with roads and bridges completely gone. My biggest concern is our wild brook trout population as it has suffered from smaller floods in the past and just seamed it was starting to get a foot hold again. I also talk with game wardens who seemed to think all the stocked fish would come from Armstrong hatchery. Awesome video hope this help
First off, very sorry about your situation man we’re praying big time for everyone in Yancey and surrounding counties. We’ve seen a lot of stuff about how bad that particular area is and how the toe watershed got absolutely pounded. That’s interesting about Armstrong. We’ve seen some comments saying its stock was wiped out.
No but thought I saw something about gorges state park being closed. Not sure if that’s still the case but I would double check before you head out there
@@SlabDynasty I called up to devils for state park and they said that most of that are will be opening tomorrow ( the push from people wanting to hunt the public land across Jocassee helped) SCDNR doesn't want to loose out on any of the money from up there. She did say the Thompson river can be accessed from the NC side right now via the Thompson river falls trail. (however it's unsure if the trail has been effected) the Nantahala nation Forrest is almost fully reopened. Looking forward to chasing the bull browns on the move for spawn! Any recommendations on flys?
Green River got hit very hard. I don’t know current status, but I know the road was just about buried in silt and washed out in many places right after the storm. Took out 30+ houses in green river cove I believe.
And yes the cane river and toe river is devastated i have all kinds of videos and pictures of the rivers and I can send you all the footage I have of the toe, cane river, and the nolachucky
A lot of that debris is trout habitat as long as it isnt toxic. Harder to fish requiring different tactics sometimes that allow more trout to grow bigger.
Don't use hatcheries so much. Catch and release is the way to go and allow wild trout to make a come back. Hatchery fish are a very poor substitute to the real thing!
Are the waters in the whole area not contaminated? I've heard rumors of nuclear waste etc from damaged tanks in some of the waters. Possibly other chemicals. Are most people just mkt aware? There as to be a lot of ad stuff in the waters from the old houses and buildings, asbestos, ,lead, etc. ?? I'm hearing of people and cadaver dogs getting really sick in the areas
The French broad, pigeon, little Tennessee, and nolichucky are all great smallmouth fisheries. But those are all large watersheds that received a ton of the water and debris wash-down from the storm. Likely lots of debris, chemicals, and massive siltation and bank erosion. I would give those larger rivers some time or go help with cleanup on them before considering fishing them.
@SlabDynasty thanks! I can't wait for those rivers to rebound as I plan to spend the majority of my retirement fishing for smallies. I thoroughly enjoy your videos as I love seeing young down to earth guys like you get outside...basically getting shit done whether fishing or life in general. It gives me hope for the future. Anyway I hope to run into you guys one day. Love the channel, keep up the positivity as it shines through in all your videos!
i've seen rivers and creeks blown out and transformed in colorado for 30 years. the trout has been on this planet in the same form as now for almost 2 million years. they've managed every type catastrophe just fine. humans, in just 165,000 years, not so much.
I don't fish much but as far as the ecology, I'd imagine most trout were able to weather the storm and would be marginally affected, but I'd imagine that it would be months until they'd stock from any hatchery, local or otherwise. There are tons of toxins that have been released into the water and cleaning up debris in some of the larger rivers will take weeks. At that point they'll probably start thorough testing. Until that check points cleared, I can't imagine them wanting to add any fish since they can potentially spread the toxins up the food chain
I think that’s true for the rivers in the heavily affected areas, but I’d say there’s plenty of DH water west of Asheville that’s ready to be stocked if they acquired fish from somewhere
You'd be shocked what trout can survive. Rivers I fished in Minnesota flooded and I feared the worst, but the loss was minimal if anything. A good flood can wash out sediment and create habitat, as bad as the other other effects seem, it's still a natural process. Oh yeah and we had a hatchery burst once, and the river it was on fished really well after that 🤣. You guys didn't lose everything, and in the coming months and years, those rivers are going to kick out big fish because only the strongest survived and there's more habitat per fish. Again, it's a natural process, and it's not all negative as far as the fishing goes. Keep that rod bent. 🕉️
Send off some water samples to private labs and get back to us bud! You cannot begin to imagine the amount of pollution that has been washed into our rivers and streams! From irradiated material from power plants to entire waste water treatment plants to dead bodies of animals and humans to god knows what kind of chemicals from pvc manufacturing plant etc. etc. etc. It would take an absolute fool to eat a fish out of ANY stream in western North Carolina anytime in the foreseeable future! So before you drive by a river take a Quick Look and tell the world that it’s ready to be fished, you really need to understand the massive level of various toxins heavy metals and bad bacteria these fish are living in right now. I totally understand that we need business back in wnc but no stream in the entire area is safe for any human to wade in much less eat the fish!
We’re very aware of the pollution in some of the rivers and wouldn’t encourage anyone to eat any fish out of any WNC rivers right now to be honest. We are 99% catch and release anglers anyways so it didn’t even occur to me to mention it, but it’s a great point thanks for bringing it up. The point of this video though is there’s plenty of water that was not as heavily affected or polluted and should absolutely fine for wading right now.
@SlabDynasty I love these waters here in Mitchell Co. But there is no telling how many thousands of gallons of fuel oil alone was spilled in the river system but it does not seem to be affecting the waterways. But as much water flowed, that's not to surprising
Yes they're blow out. Green river,pacolet river have 0 fish. . The whole river system is gone. O bugs,0 fish. Some rivers got lucky but for fact,these 2 rivers in Polk County are dead.
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NOVEMBER UPDATE - HUGE NEWS!!! We have an update from NC Wildlife on the state of the hatcheries and stocking for the Delayed Harvest program.
Check out our vid on this: ruclips.net/video/NI3nGfEePPE/видео.html
I fished a Watauga County stream on Monday that I've fished for 40 + years, mainly just out of curiosity, just to see how the creek had changed and how trout population was affected.
Long story short, plenty of trout,eager to eat a fly.
N.C. mountain trout are strong and resilient, just like the mountain folk.
That’s awesome to hear!
The S. Toe got absolutely clobbered. It'll be interesting to see if fish made it.
@@cbradquillen my friend went this week to the south toe and he caught around 15 that were all 12-14"
@@fisherman47ful i figured that those hiding in the bedrock would be fine. I was worried about those hiding under the chunk rock.
So great to hear. Thank you Sir!
Bryson City, Cherokee, and Maggie Valley are all open and fishing trips are still being run. They are asking for visitors to help the tourism industry there. Avoid the really bad areas but far west NC is open. Thanks for the updates man!
My wife just said she wanted to go to the mountains for this reason. Take the kids to see the leaves go fly fishing.
Plus Sylva
Sylva sucks go to Bryson or Cherokee
We had major flooding here in northern NH during June 2024. I found places that were formerly great are now terrible, but some places with huge pools that were created it made some of the best fly fishing ever. It'll take time for you to figure out your area, but the fish will find new places to thrive. I wish you well.
🏞 💯 👍
I think what people don’t understand is that trout-specifically wild trout-are genetically programmed to survive flood stage flows. Rivers have flooded since the beginning of time, and trout understand how to find soft spots/eddies/current breaks even in extreme flows. Personally, I would be more worried about spawning areas being impacted, but that is another discussion.
Good points thanks man
@@SlabDynasty absolutely my man. Sending prayers down your way from up here in Maine.
when the gov't did the huge release on the colorado through the grand canyon, they set up cameras to observe the fish. the fish literally stayed in their holes more or less. the flow at the bottom of the raging flood remained fairly calm in the nooks and crannies.
@@dawntreader7079but down the Broad river into Chimney Rock, the river isn’t 70’ within where it once was. Clearly the fish can’t stay in holes if there’s no water.
A wonderful and useful observation. Shuler Creek in Cherokee County had a protected hatchery. Nature is kind to us.
Nice update, bugs making it through are more of an issue than trout making it through.
Donations needed now are warm clothes, sleeping bags, blankets....We've already had four nights below freezing.
Great report…….and done with sympathy and grace. Thanks for posting this………..
Thanks for the feedback, we’re happy to do it!
Thank you for the positivity! It’s nice to get good news
Caught a young of the year smallmouth in the French Broad at Ledges Whitewater Park today 10/19. Bank was a wreck. Some new deep pools had formed with small runs connecting them to make some really complex habitats. It looked like some of the silt had washed away in the river. The water was pretty clear. The river gauge data on the French Broad shows that at least from a data perspective from Turbidity, Conductance, Dissolved Oxygen that the river is about or nearly better than it was before the hurricane. We haven't received rain since the Hurricane so will be interesting to see what runoff from the rivers look like now. Honestly the short term effects on all the new exposed rock in the stream beds and banks creates tons of aquatic invertebrate habitat. The Pigeon river which went through an event like this 3 years ago was recovering well and has had great trout fishing for the 3 years after.
UPDATE: The Pisgah Ranger district of the Pisgah NF will open on Friday 10/18. This encompasses the N. Mills and Davidson River and many of their tributaries. The Appalachian and Grandfather districts of Pisgah remains closed for now, but I will do another update comment when they open.
I fished the weekend after Helene hit. I was helping build some of the 105 back two days after it hit. I caught 5 browns in less then half a mile up a stream. That’s a lot for me brand new to fly fishing. Love your stuff by the way
Living in Cherokee I can say that the Oconaluftee and Tuckasegee are actually doing very well for trout and smallmouth. It’s different but still good.
I’m in the Brevard area. You nailed your entire assessment. Bravo.
That said, I haven’t been on the water in a while, but everything you said is very accurate.
This is an opportunity for those of us who chase DH fish (myself included) to take things up a notch or two and learn the ways of the wilds.
Thanks for doing this video update. I have had these questions in my mind but I felt awkward reaching out and asking because of the great people of WNC and everything that they have gone through and are still facing. Happy fishing!
Reporting in from Old Fort!
The Nantahala is gorgeous, and fishing great, as usual.
Pigeon River near Burnett Siding - fishing great.
Also checked on the Catawba. It's a lot better upriver from Greenlee Park. There's still a ton of mud/silt getting washed in, right in the middle of that park (which was basically destroyed).
Haven't been able to check on Curtis Creek. Looks like there was heavy damage up that way.
Glad to hear about the Mills!
good to hear this, prayers to you and all of N. C.
Thanks for your time, research and posting.....much appreciated.
This is exactly what I wanted to know. Great video man. Thank you.
No problem, glad it was helpful
Definitely helpful. I fished the Davidson today and yesterday after seeing this. I’m new to fly fishing, but the river seemed fairly void of fish. I caught one brown adjacent to the campground but other than that, I had a couple bites and only saw two other fish after fishing most of the weekend. They might not have been washed down to the Atlantic, but they’re definitely not upstream near the hatchery. In other news, the hatchery looked okay. I’m not sure how the fish faired, but I saw very little damage on that property 🤞Hoping they can put some trout in the water soon. 🤞🤞🤞
Just finished moving into our new place during the past week . . . Great presentation! Rambling???? No - good job. It's a tough call as to when commercial "tourist" activity is appropriate. I think you nailed it.
I've been visiting and fishing Ashe County for 60 years. I was up there helping people dig out and distributing food and water.
Helton Creek is unrecognizable in parts, and will certainly have a different path to the New River "forever". Many other streams are similarly affected.
But I saw plenty of areas that looked extremely fishable. Echoing your comments about being a tourist, go for it.
Just understand that things will be different. There won't be as many stocked fish, but you'll be standing in a trout stream, enjoying the fall colors, and bringing some business to the region.
thanks for the info brother! were heading up to the Thompson river above jocassee next week for a three day trip to see if our browns are up there still! so many people have been asking questions. not alot of info unless your on the ground. ill report back what we find in two weeks
Replied to your other comment, but if you’re able to go then definitely let us know how it goes
That's cool man. The Thompson was always my favorite local river. I would hike in the late 80s and through the 90s and camp for 3 or 4 nights up near big falls. I would never see any one else in there. It was so remote back in those days. It was a paradise. There was a healthy population of wild browns. I haven't been back there in many years. The guy in the local fly shop told me recently there is actually a trail now following the river upstream from foothills trail. That's crazy there was no trail beside the river back in those days. I would love to hear about the trip you are planning. I need to head up there at some point myself. Hope you have a good trip. Hope you catch some of those wild browns!
Thanks for the detailed update!
Fished a stream in Ashe county 2 days ago and caught 6 nice browns smallest 10 or 12 in. And then 2 small Speckled trout
I would have to imagine the insect population took it harder than the fish themselves. The hatches will probably be all screwed up next couple of years. Hope everyone can rebuild their lives. Good luck from Maine. 🤜🤙
Life always finds a way. Thanks man
The hatches are massive right now. I've been seeing pictures of sides of houses covered by insect hatches. All that water
I see that new CCH hat! The guys at hunter banks are the best.
Thank you for this video man.
Thanks for the info. Need to book a trip ASAP to help support the fly shops/guides
Another talking point would be to explore other North Carolina fisheries in the downtime while the recover recovery efforts continue. Tons of big bull reds swimming in the inlets and just offshore easy to access even from the beach. It would be great to keep as much money in North Carolina as possible.
Great info, thank you for posting this!
Having witnessed flooding on our favorite mountain river in WV., though not the devastating flood you endured from Helene, by no means. We went from incredible insect populations to a very sparse population. It took over ten years to witness most of the insect species return. I hope that the tiny tributaries still have good populations of aquatic insects to help re-establish the larger harder impacted waterways. Prayers sent from this fly angler to your wonderful waters, shops, guides, and good people of the hard hit areas. God bless.
I fished N mills today and pulled some wild rainbows. I saw some bigger ones but be sure to wear your invisibility gear cause the water is clear.
I think something that a lot of people aren’t considering is the opportunity that this flood may have given native fish to take back over these streams and rivers that have been stocked with invasive rainbows and browns for years
You went right by a place me and my dad used to go trout fishing all the time that is devastated. The lower green river in Saluda is a fun place to fish
I know a lot of time and effort was put into reworking sections of the river around the Setzer hatchery after the last flood, hopefully it didn't all wash away.
Really appreciate this video and the info on those three rivers. Those are probably my main spots in addition to the West Fork of the Pigeon. I know I'll be going after more native and wild trout in higher streams in the coming year (was already planning that with the Setzer improvements). But like you said, I'm also hopeful this will give us all a chance to go out and explore some new places, find some new holes, improve our techniques, and hopefully practice more catch and release overall.
Absolutely man, we're hoping everyone can adopt that mindset and keep the trout fishing industry alive and well in WNC for the next little while
North Mills, Davidson and the east Fork didn't get the amount of rain the BR Escarpment did. Fortunately...
You made a video a few years ago at the grass beds smallmouth fishing around my home here in Bailey settlement. The river has absolutely destroyed everything in its path here I caught a 3lb smallmouth a week before the flood after the flood I seen so many dead smallmouth and fish and it broke my heart because the fishing was probly the best it was around here and I hope there are still a thriving population of smallmouth in the toe and nolachucky here at the house
Get over into the Nantahala, it’s fishing really good.
Very respectful, and yes, tourism dollars is a way to give back. The fish will be there.
Maggie valley fly shop is open and running trips and getting on some good fish
Thanks, good to hear
This is not a trout thing but here in Knoxville We have had a mud pit. It has been about 4 weeks and the TN River at knoxville it is not fishable. I don't think I am going to get to fish for bass before the water gets very cold. It will not clear for another 4 weeks.
Really appreciate this video
I live at the headwaters of the East fork of the Pigeon river. almost all of the caddis and mayfly larva and nymphs are gone. no food for the trout.
Any updates on the NC delayed harvest stockings? Last I saw it had been delayed indefinitely. Fires Creek had not been stocked two weeks ago. Thanks for the updates
Thanks for the video. This is on my to do list today. I can’t figure out why my Tacoma isn’t running correctly. Idles fine but when I accelerate it dies. I replaced plugs, coil packs and fuel injectors. I have added fuel additives. I’m just throwing money at it now hoping this fixes it. Thank you for the video
Check your fuel filter(s). Open enough for idling but collapses when you step on the gas. I had this happen on an old Chevy truck that would run a mile or two and then stall out for ten or fifteen minutes. Went into a NAPA store and explained the problem. I had two filters, one near the carburetor and one under the drivers door side panel. After replacing them it ran fine.
Hell yes slab boys. I literally just had that thought. Where did the fish go when it floods that bad? Nice video guys
Damn. My favourite places to fish were the hatchery raceways. Always caught lots of fish there when I'd sneak in around 2:00 am.
The fish know what to do. As soon as the rivers and streams start to rise, they swim upstream and find a place to get out of the main current. When the waters subside, they gradually return to places where they can survive. They have been doing this for tens of thousands of years years. We'll need to leave them alone for a while, but they'll make it.
I was up at Wilson Creek Sunday and saw trout in a few places.
Cane river. It’s a barren boulder field now. Trees removed from banks. I worry about fish loss and future water temperatures.
Agreed. Cane river and others in Yancy and Mitchell country look very different than the three shown here. Time will tell what the impact on the trout habitat will be.
I'd be careful with wanting to eat any of the fish out of these rivers for a while. In the first few weeks after the storm, all the raw sewage was flowing into the rivers with all the pipe bursts.
So as a gold prospector is it ok to talk about the gold that is exposed due to the movement from the flooding now as well... been wondering. I'm in WNC and this was our first Hurricane Experience fyi
Thank you for doing this vid!!
Thank you for that update. Here's an idea for TU clubs outside of the affected area: Someone buy a guided trip gift certificate from an outfitter up there and use it as an auction fundraiser at a club meeting. Use the proceeds to buy another certificate from another guide and auction it off. I wouldn't be able to go to an area farther away, but I sure could buy a certificate for a trip online and donate it to a TU club for someone else to use. It could bring business to several guides off of one initial purchase.
Thank you so much for the update ! I drive in from S.C. over Caesars Head and then take East Fork Rd. to the river. Was East Fork Rd. washed out from Rosman to East Fork Church ?
Hey my friend, I was in Rosman on Tuesday. My friend at Headwaters told me not to fish East Fork right now. He redirected me to a smaller stream in the area where I caught a few rainbows. Nantahala and Pisgah are back open, so there's plenty of places to check out nearby.
@@NathanDominey Thanks Nathan, yea, I was worried that East Fork Rd. below the falls to Rosman may have been washed out , in places ! Over the years I've seen the East Fork silt in, from the farming , up stream.
Helpful video
I live in Columbia on the congaree. Water has cleared up by now but fishing is slower than usual.
I went out the 1 to the7 of October I plan a trip two months in advance to go visit my aunt and fish in Murphy after seeing the hurricane come through I took a lot less gear, only went out with one rod ultralight, spinning, set up hit up the Hiawassee river had a fun time got about 10 bass and two bluegill only fished one day did the tourist thing up there
I'd like to know how Wilson's Creek is doing. I used to live in Lenoir and I went to Wilson's lots of times. I hope the people and the fish are okay.
its a completely different place now
@@GenX...MCMLXV I believe it. Sad
I spent the 2 weeks after the storm along the Cane and Toe Rivers with the National Guard. They are a mess and should be avoided for now but I did see fish.
Edit: thank you for the info. I guess I only saw the worst parts. I assumed the rest of the mountains looked the way Yancey County does.
Good to know thanks, been wondering how those rivers look. Seen some pretty bad images of the toe
Reems Creek in Weaverville appears to be all sand bottoms at my favorite spots. Is that a problem?
Thanks for the update.
No problem
A flood of this magnatude, will take many years to recover, it's really up to the state of NC to make this fish recovery come back! Because in Tennessee the 100 year 1990 flooding that hit copper Hill Tenn and then flooded all waterways down stream to chicamuaga lake washed all our top notch trout fishing away and Tennessee wildlife resources agency decided not to touch nothing and restore it is still the same today in 2024
Im not sure the Nanty and Tuck are getting stocked now.
We will be cleaning out the raceways for a hatchery in Haywood on Tuesday. We will rebuild, we aren't coming down this mountain. #828isgreat
None of the rivers you mention drain into the Atlantic. They all go to the Gulf of Mexico. Only rivers east of the continental divide drain into the Atlantic. Bug life has been wiped out. It's going to take a couple years to recover.
What would be the best nymph pattern to fish on the west pigeon in Haywood County tomorrow afternoon?
I like a black WD-40. It’s more a midge pattern but it just gets bites. Double nymph it with a pats rubber legs as your top fly with some weight between the two flies
“A one in a thousand year rain event” yeah sure interesting how south e fl had one of these freakish rain events in the middle of dry season just last year.
Great, great update! So the short version is that my favorite place to fish is ok. It's a creek that feeds Fontana Lake. Assuming that the Fontana Marina is still running their "ferry" I may try to get up there in the next couple of weeks. How are the roads from say Asheville to Bryson City? Passable? I talked to the guys at DRO in Brevard and they are open for business as you stated. The guy also said that access to the Davidson above their shop is still closed but their private water is open.
We did not head towards Bryson city from Asheville, but it should be fine, not seeing any major road closures out that way on the NCDOT map
Also, access to the Davidson above their shop should be open now since pisgah just opened up today
Hi everyone,
I’ve been trying to get a status report on Wilson Creek as far as fly fishing for trout, especially delayed harvest. So far I have found no data at all on Wilson Creek. Hope someone out there has some info that you could share. Thanks.
I heard the road has work trucks on it for several days making travel difficult if not blocked. There's a WilsonCreekFacebookGroup that will have more information as it becomes available.
We looked at heading that way before we planned our trip and road closures prevented it. That could change soon though
Pisgah natl forest pisgah district is supposed to reopen tomorrow 10/17/2024 but the grandfather district which wilsons creek is apart of is still closed for the time being. Most of the road from the harper creek falls bridge was destroyed. The section of road just below Betsys store was literally a boulder field until a few days after. It's in pretty bad shape at the moment I'd say it'll be a good while before it's repaired and reopened completely.
The Wilson is another place now
I would assume most fish would be washed downstream to next main lake?
Can you interview your local DNR to find out their assessments and plan?
They’ve been tough to talk to about it. The guides communicate with them regularly and have been unable to get solid answers yet. All we know is the delayed harvest program and all stocking is suspended indefinitely
I’m from Yancey county and the south toe being my home water it took a pretty big hit along with the infrastructure of the whole county. Fishing along the south toe will be highly restricted and as someone who is currently rebuilding our roads the access will be even more restricted with roads and bridges completely gone. My biggest concern is our wild brook trout population as it has suffered from smaller floods in the past and just seamed it was starting to get a foot hold again. I also talk with game wardens who seemed to think all the stocked fish would come from Armstrong hatchery. Awesome video hope this help
The blue ridge parkway is also shut down until further notice as some of the pictures I’ve seen from park rangers it was hit terrible
First off, very sorry about your situation man we’re praying big time for everyone in Yancey and surrounding counties. We’ve seen a lot of stuff about how bad that particular area is and how the toe watershed got absolutely pounded. That’s interesting about Armstrong. We’ve seen some comments saying its stock was wiped out.
The feeder creeks on the river where i live are doin good, so i think im fishing next week
Great to hear, you mind sharing what rough area or county you’re in?
@@SlabDynasty collettsville north carolina USA where hurricane helene came through
Any word on the headwaters of Jocassee? Whitewater river and the Thompson river?
No but thought I saw something about gorges state park being closed. Not sure if that’s still the case but I would double check before you head out there
Also not sure if gorges encompasses Thompson, but I know it’s close
@@SlabDynasty I called up to devils for state park and they said that most of that are will be opening tomorrow ( the push from people wanting to hunt the public land across Jocassee helped) SCDNR doesn't want to loose out on any of the money from up there. She did say the Thompson river can be accessed from the NC side right now via the Thompson river falls trail. (however it's unsure if the trail has been effected) the Nantahala nation Forrest is almost fully reopened. Looking forward to chasing the bull browns on the move for spawn! Any recommendations on flys?
Did River Road that follows the Green River get destroyed? Is the road there? Flat Rock? Anyone know? - Thxs
Green River got hit very hard. I don’t know current status, but I know the road was just about buried in silt and washed out in many places right after the storm. Took out 30+ houses in green river cove I believe.
And yes the cane river and toe river is devastated i have all kinds of videos and pictures of the rivers and I can send you all the footage I have of the toe, cane river, and the nolachucky
the fish will be fine, they always are. There's just some new habitat and new water to learn...
Any intel on west fork pigeon dh? Or Wilson?
No intel on Wilson, but west fork pigeon is apparently ok and fishing well right now
Be a generation at best before all the debris and trash is gone from the river systems. Seen the Toe in Avery all the way to the Catawba in McDowell.
A lot of that debris is trout habitat as long as it isnt toxic. Harder to fish requiring different tactics sometimes that allow more trout to grow bigger.
@@elonever.2.071 I’m talking about vehicles, siding, appliances, etc. Most of what I observed looked like a junk yard.
Don't use hatcheries so much. Catch and release is the way to go and allow wild trout to make a come back. Hatchery fish are a very poor substitute to the real thing!
The hatchery in McDowell county lost every trout, 600,000 I believe.
Lethargic trout in Ashville area before the storm
Fish are still in my river linville river close to the falls
Are the waters in the whole area not contaminated? I've heard rumors of nuclear waste etc from damaged tanks in some of the waters. Possibly other chemicals. Are most people just mkt aware? There as to be a lot of ad stuff in the waters from the old houses and buildings, asbestos, ,lead, etc. ?? I'm hearing of people and cadaver dogs getting really sick in the areas
Trout survive floods don't know how but they do!
Blowing Rock is needing tourists . Plan a trip now!
Did all the Floridians leave ??
volunteer one day and fish one day...who knows the person you help may own a stream.
Whers the best place for smallies in western NC?
The French broad, pigeon, little Tennessee, and nolichucky are all great smallmouth fisheries. But those are all large watersheds that received a ton of the water and debris wash-down from the storm. Likely lots of debris, chemicals, and massive siltation and bank erosion. I would give those larger rivers some time or go help with cleanup on them before considering fishing them.
@SlabDynasty thanks! I can't wait for those rivers to rebound as I plan to spend the majority of my retirement fishing for smallies. I thoroughly enjoy your videos as I love seeing young down to earth guys like you get outside...basically getting shit done whether fishing or life in general. It gives me hope for the future. Anyway I hope to run into you guys one day. Love the channel, keep up the positivity as it shines through in all your videos!
i've seen rivers and creeks blown out and transformed in colorado for 30 years. the trout has been on this planet in the same form as now for almost 2 million years. they've managed every type catastrophe just fine. humans, in just 165,000 years, not so much.
I don't fish much but as far as the ecology, I'd imagine most trout were able to weather the storm and would be marginally affected, but I'd imagine that it would be months until they'd stock from any hatchery, local or otherwise. There are tons of toxins that have been released into the water and cleaning up debris in some of the larger rivers will take weeks. At that point they'll probably start thorough testing. Until that check points cleared, I can't imagine them wanting to add any fish since they can potentially spread the toxins up the food chain
I think that’s true for the rivers in the heavily affected areas, but I’d say there’s plenty of DH water west of Asheville that’s ready to be stocked if they acquired fish from somewhere
As much as I love to fish, I could never fish after the floods thinking about the deceased bodies and pollution from vehicles in those waters.
You'd be shocked what trout can survive. Rivers I fished in Minnesota flooded and I feared the worst, but the loss was minimal if anything. A good flood can wash out sediment and create habitat, as bad as the other other effects seem, it's still a natural process. Oh yeah and we had a hatchery burst once, and the river it was on fished really well after that 🤣. You guys didn't lose everything, and in the coming months and years, those rivers are going to kick out big fish because only the strongest survived and there's more habitat per fish. Again, it's a natural process, and it's not all negative as far as the fishing goes. Keep that rod bent. 🕉️
I'm thinking about all of the debris, trash, sewage and chemicals that have been washed in. 😢
Send off some water samples to private labs and get back to us bud! You cannot begin to imagine the amount of pollution that has been washed into our rivers and streams! From irradiated material from power plants to entire waste water treatment plants to dead bodies of animals and humans to god knows what kind of chemicals from pvc manufacturing plant etc. etc. etc. It would take an absolute fool to eat a fish out of ANY stream in western North Carolina anytime in the foreseeable future! So before you drive by a river take a Quick Look and tell the world that it’s ready to be fished, you really need to understand the massive level of various toxins heavy metals and bad bacteria these fish are living in right now. I totally understand that we need business back in wnc but no stream in the entire area is safe for any human to wade in much less eat the fish!
I live in Spruce Pine and I couldn't agree more.
We’re very aware of the pollution in some of the rivers and wouldn’t encourage anyone to eat any fish out of any WNC rivers right now to be honest. We are 99% catch and release anglers anyways so it didn’t even occur to me to mention it, but it’s a great point thanks for bringing it up. The point of this video though is there’s plenty of water that was not as heavily affected or polluted and should absolutely fine for wading right now.
@SlabDynasty I love these waters here in Mitchell Co. But there is no telling how many thousands of gallons of fuel oil alone was spilled in the river system but it does not seem to be affecting the waterways. But as much water flowed, that's not to surprising
I feel like a flood revives a river by washing the mud and trash away
Yes they're blow out. Green river,pacolet river have 0 fish. . The whole river system is gone. O bugs,0 fish. Some rivers got lucky but for fact,these 2 rivers in Polk County are dead.
I expected to see more trees down....
Armstrong was blown out.
Have heard this but wasn’t sure, thanks Mike
the last thing we need is more people riding around,,