Two tiger trout in the same day!
- Ray Sugg
- 7 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Tiger Trout
Tiger trout occur naturally, although rarely, in streams with reproducing populations of brook trout and brown trout. Although browns are true trout (salmo trutta) and brookies are actually char (salvelinus fontinalis), they can produce hybrid, sterile offspring when a brown trout's eggs are fertilized by brook trout milt. I have now caught four in my lifetime - two in Silver Run Creek (a Whitewater River tributary), one in Whitewater River, and my latest in Bearwallow Creek (a Toxaway River tributary). I also know of tiger trout caught in Deep Creek and Little East Fork Pigeon River. Although I have fished in many streams containing both wild browns and wild brookies - there are several in Haywood County and also in Ashe County - all of my tiger trout have come from the upper Savannah River drainage. In addition, as many times as I have fished those waters, I have never seen two wild tiger trout caught in the same day! Jason Jefferies caught one in the Whitewater River just upstream from the 281 bridge, and I caught mine in upper Bearwallow Creek, right beside the Gorges State Park access road.
3/28/25 - The Blue Ridge Escarpment Waterfall and Trout Fishing Tour
When I met up with Jason Jefferies at Mills River a couple of weeks ago, our original plan was to hike in to the upper North Mills River area above the old Hendersonville watershed. High winds were blowing smoke from a big forest fire at Table Rock in South Carolina straight up the Blue Ridge to that area, and I didn't want to fight my asthma all day, so we opted for a road trip instead. Here are the creeks we fished in order:
Avery Creek (Davidson river trib) - a quick side trip in Brevard - I caught a small brown, but the fish would not cooperate for Jason.
Toxaway Creek (Toxaway River/Lake Jocassee trib) - another side trip off of 64 on Frozen Creek Road - the lower half-mile of this one is in Gorges State Park, and there is a 100 yard roadside stretch at the upper end that is not posted, but all the rest has access issues. Ridge Haven Christian Retreat owns a short stretch of it above the roadside access, plus a couple of named tributaries (and a pond loaded with bluegill!). I got permission from them to fish their property several years ago. Most of the creek, (including four named waterfalls, one of which can compete with Whitewater Falls as the highest in NC) is on the property of The Wilds Christian Camp. Way back in the 1970s when I was a camper there, they allowed hikers to cross their property to access the Foothills Trail and the Canebrake Trail to Lake Jocassee. From what I understand, the answer now is a big NO! Don't get too upset - the fishing is not great. Jason fished the roadside stretch with no luck. Here is a link to a Kevin Adams' post about the waterfalls: https://www.kadamsphoto.com/north_carolina_waterfalls/waterfalls-toxaway-creek/
Thompson River - Highway 64 west from Brevard crosses the Toxaway River at Toxaway Falls (top flow dam at Lake Toxaway - ruined a lot of good trout water on the Toxaway). From there, a left on 281 (used to be Bohaynee Road - should be called Waterfalls Road) takes you across Bearwallow Creek, Horsepasture River, Thompson River, Mill Creek, and Whitewater River, and just below each crossing are major waterfalls on each stream, several in the case of Bearwallow, Horsepasture and Thompson. Thompson was once one of the top five brown trout streams in the state, but a much-publicized road-construction fiasco back in the 80s dumped loads of silt onto spawning beds. The browns are still there, just not as many, and there are specs upstream of the 281 crossing. A blue sky with bright sunshine at mid-day is not the best for browns, and Thompson's browns wouldn't budge. Here is a post from Rich Stevenson's "NC Waterfalls" about the Thompson and it's tributary, Mill Creek: https://www.ncwaterfalls.com/thompson1.htm
Mill Creek - 281 crosses Mill Creek, known as Gum Bottom Creek on older maps, just above a pretty waterfall called John's Jump, and just below another one called D.E.W. Falls. Jason caught specs in both plunge pools to add his first new creek of the day.
Whitewater River - another famous brown trout stream, on a "not-good-for-brown-trout" day! I fished downstream from the high bridge and managed to catch a small one. I had told Jason about the first time I fished it with a fly rod in the mid-80s. I had caught a few small browns on dries moving upstream on the right side. There is a tiny creek that comes down a long rock slide, pools up in a bathtub-size trough, then drops six feet over a small falls into the river. On a whim, I held my rod over the hole and dapped my fly on the surface, hoping for a spec but expecting nothing. To my shock a 14-inch brown rolled up and took it. I have no idea how he got up that six-foot vertical falls, but I released him into the river. Jason had fished upstream from the bridge, and when I got back to him, he was very excited. I thought he had caught one of the big ones, but he had actually caught something much more rare than a big brown - his first tiger trout, along with a couple of other browns, for his second new creek of the day! Here is another NC Waterfalls post about Whitewater Falls: https://www.ncwaterfalls.com/white1.htm
Bearwallow Creek - Bearwallow begins on private property but quickly ends up in Gorges State Park for the rest of it's course. Bearwallow runs into Toxaway River just downstream from where Augur Hole Road crosses the Toxaway on a concrete ford. I drove my little 1972 VW Bug down there the summer after I got my license and caught browns in both streams (the Toxaway has cooled enough for browns by then, but there are more smallmouth bass than trout). However, I was spinner fishing - I still have not tried the Toxaway with a fly rod. I also did not attempt to ford the river in my bug! I have fished Bearwallow from the mouth to where Augur Hole Road crosses it about a mile away from the Toxaway ford. It is loaded with 7-9 inch browns and has a beautiful waterfall in that stretch. There are several other falls all the way up to the park entrance. We got in the stretch above the upper named waterfall by scrambling down the bank from the park access road. I have caught browns and specs in that stretch, but they would not cooperate for Jason. I caught a tiny brown and a 9-incher in the plunge pools below two small falls on streamers. At the next plunge pool, I flipped the streamer to the falls, let it sink and stripped it back. What I thought was a brown rushed up from the bottom and slammed it. Of course, it was the fourth tiger trout of my blue-lining career, and second tiger trout of the day! Here is a post about the waterfalls on Bearwallow Creek: https://www.ncwaterfalls.com/bearwallow_creek1.htm
Turkey Creek - On the way back through Brevard, we stopped at a church for Jason to pick up an easy one - Turkey Creek is full of small rainbows.
Creeks 2-6 start in Transylvania or Jackson County, NC and flow into South Carolina as a part of the Savannah River watershed. I found and spinner-fished all of these when I was 16, tooling around the mountains in my blue bug and my trusty Game Lands Maps book and NCWRC Fishing Regulations book. Like I said before, I still need to fly fish the Toxaway River, which has plenty of wild rainbows above the lake, but that stretch is posted. I also need to catch fish on a fly in the Horsepasture River, current home of the state record rainbow trout (Sapphire Valley club water pellet pig caught, more like poached, by the girlfriend of a landscaper working in the area). Unlike the rest of the streams in the area, I have always caught more rainbows than browns when spin-fishing the Horsepasture. I had a banner day one April when I caught a dozen wild, full-finned rainbows, the smallest was 12 inches and the biggest was 18 inches, along with one 10 inch brown. The one time I tried to fly fish it, I only caught chubs and bream. The public water is 14 miles downstream from the source, and that 14 miles is very developed, and water-temps are marginal. From what I understand, it also cools and has more trout farther downstream, like the Toxaway, but that requires a very long hike (unless you are a hunter with a permit). If you have not heard of the waterfalls on the Horsepasture, check this out: https://www.ncwaterfalls.com/horse1.htm
