In the month since my last post I have caught trout in eleven new creeks, including four from my bucket list, and in the process got to see some beautiful waterfalls. Three of these new creeks are actual blue lines - unnamed on USGS topo maps! I also got to fish with the two guys who will most likely be the next two members of the 1,000 creek club, Ben Wilson and Jason Jefferies.
June 28, 2024
I caught trout in three new creeks - one on public land that requires a hike, one that would be considered "urban", and one that is right beside a state road, private but not posted. No doubt someone will get in a tizzy over one of these, but I have known about it for several years thanks to an article about trout streams along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Wildlife in North Carolina. It seems that the people that get the most upset about "spot-burning" only get upset about their "spots" being burned - they are very interested in learning about someone else's. Most fly fishermen are only interested in creeks open enough to comfortably cast, where there are lots of decent fish and some big ones (delayed harvest streams, tailraces, and private club water). The vast majority of new creeks for me are tiny blue lines that even I would not return to now that they are crossed off of my list. In addition, I do not do any social media whatsoever, and don't plan to in the future. A couple of the 100-200 people who visit this site each month may decide to try some of these creeks, but I know I am not causing a stampede. Even then, they will have to do some homework to actually find the creeks (or contact me personally). That being said, I apologize if you are upset about me naming any creeks in this post - just let me know and I will take you to my cow pasture creek. The only reason I do not name it is because none of it is on public property.
July 2, 2024
I got three new creeks in Pisgah National Forest, one of which is actually just a blue line on the USGS topo map (UT, or unnamed tributary), and I stopped by an old favorite on the way home to catch some stockers.
July 5, 2024
I went with Ben Wilson to a North Carolina creek that you can drive to, but only by going through Georgia. Ben got Betty Creek, and I got a tributary named Wildcat Branch, and we both got totally soaked walking back to the truck in a downpour. In addition, a tree had fallen across the road on the way out. Thank goodness Ben always has a chainsaw in his truck, or we would have been stuck in Georgia for a while! There were also several very appreciative residents of Betty's Creek Road that were trying to get home.
July 12, 2024
I went to the Chattooga River to mark one off the bucket list and find another one. I had heard from a good source that Cane Creek had a population of specs, at least back in the 1990s. When I compiled my bucket list back in 2022, I had just come across a picture of a waterfall on Cane Creek with a plunge pool that looked like it would surely hold specs, so I added it to the list. I followed directions to the waterfall from Kevin Adams' book North Carolina Waterfalls, confident that I would find specs. I did find a pretty waterfall . . . but I saw no fish at all.
I continued down the logging road to the Chattooga River Trail, which crosses Cane Creek on a steel bridge a little ways upstream from the confluence with the Chattooga, and fished upstream from the bridge. I saw a few more small waterfalls, but still no fish. I then retraced my steps to the bridge, tied on a sheep fly, and fished downstream towards the Chattooga. I still saw no fish until I reached a pool below a long slide. I caught two browns there, so I can mark another off the bucket list!
From there, I hiked upstream to the next creek crossing - Norton Mill Creek. I had fished it at the Whiteside Cove Road crossing back in college and caught specs, but did not record the date or get pics, and everything along that road crossing is very posted now. Norton Mill Creek drops over a cascade into a big pool in the Chattooga River just below the upper narrows, where the whole river squeezes in between two solid rock slabs. It's a really cool place, but don't go there expecting great fishing. There is a small waterfall just above the bridge, and I caught a stocked rainbow and a couple of wild browns there on the sheep fly. I also stopped to get some waterfall pics on the way home.
July 19, 2024
I met up with Jason Jefferies and Ben Wilson to get some new creeks in Yancey County. When Bowlens Creek was first listed in the NCWRC regulations back in the 80s, I found it on the map and headed in that direction as soon as I could. The headwaters were on national forest land, and I was sure I would catch specs there, but I was very disappointed to discover that private, posted land blocked any road access to the headwaters. Several years later I fished a roadside section near a church and caught plenty of wild rainbows (7/1/11, new creek 429). Jason had recently discovered access to the headwaters from the Black Mountain Crest Trail, and had fished Bowlens Creek and two UTs, so that's where he took us. My goal for the day was to catch a spec in Bowlens, get the two UTs, and then take Ben and Jason to some other Yancey County creeks - mission accomplished! Jason got six new creeks on the day and Ben got ten!
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