The fall trout fishing in western North Carolina is something every fly angler should experience. The leaves are changing colors, the weather is ideal, and the water temperatures have dropped to a suitable level after a long summer. Fall fishing is special because you are likely to experience some excellent dry fly fishing, nymphing, and streamer fishing all in the same day. Recently on the Catawba River we got into a Blue Wing Olive and an Early Black Stone hatch that offered us some excellent sigh fishing to pods of stocked fish. Earlier in the day the nymph and streamer bite was consistent till the sun was directly above us. There are plenty of wade fishing and float fishing opportunities available on one of the many delayed harvest streams in NC. If you want to specialize in Euronymphing, Streamer Fishing, Nymphing Fishing, or Dry Fly Fishing we can customize your trip to solely focus on one of these different tactics. It’s our goal to help you become a better angler on the water. We understand that everyone likes to catch fish which we can definitely do that, but if you want to focus on some advanced fly fishing tactics to accelerate your growth as an angler then give us a call to set up a trip with one of our professional guides.
Water levels in the mountains of North Carolina are currently low which makes fishing more challenging that years past. We’ve been having to run very light tippet and downsize our flies this year due to low flows and spooky fish. This requires anglers to make longer casts and get flawless drifts over the fish to get eats. We’ve had our best success on the Catawba River since there is more flow on it than the smaller mountain creeks. Curtis Creek has been fishing consistent but it’s best to go early morning or late evening when the light isn’t directly above the water. The sun directly over the water makes it tough to sneak up on fish.
The Catawba Tailrace is slowly starting to fish better and better. We’ve been picking fish up in the deeper runs on nymphs and streamers in the riffles. The current water temperature coming out the dam is 67 degrees. As that temp drops the fishing will continue to get better and better. This is our best fishery from November to the end of May. The water temperature here during the winter is 50-55 degrees which is alot warmer than the freestone streams in the mountains. Numbers of fish can be high and there are opportunities at some very large holdover brown trout. The Catawba Tailrace offers some of the best brown trout fishing in North Carolina. Below are some of the biggest fish we’ve caught out of the Tailrace.
If you want to chase these bigger fish using large nymphs and streamers then this trip is for you. The float is 8 miles so it’s a full day of fishing. This is our favorite fishery to guide on because in these waters lurk the biggest trout in the state. Ask us about the ones that have gotten away.
If float fishing isn’t your thing then we got some excellent wade fishing opportunities chasing stocked and wild trout. These trips are fun because we can post up on fish and use different tactics to catch them. The best method has been using dry dropper rigs using 5-6x tippet. We’ve been fortunate to catch some really nice trout on the Catawba River this year. We offer half day wade trips for $250 (2 anglers).
We’ve got a few more smallmouth trips on the books this year which we are excited to finish the year out strong. The reaction bite the last two weeks has been nothing short of amazing. The water is unusually low on the Nolichucky so we’ve been spending the most time on the French Broad. Below are some fish from the last two weeks. Once the water temperature drops below 45 degrees we will solely focus on trout until the smallmouth bite picks back up in March.
Outlook for November 2022
The trout fishing in November will be good. The rivers are stocked and will receive another stocking the first week of November. There isn’t a better time than now to get out on the water and learn the sport of fly fishing. These stockings provide a lot of opportunities to catch fish. If you are just getting into the sport then book a guide to help accelerate your growth and have a mentor that will teach you how to do things the “right” way. We are big on teaching then catching at our guide service because you’ve got to be able to do things the right way before you start catching. There are alot of fish in the river right now so let us take you to them and show you how to be a better angler. The Catawba Tailrace is about to get really good so don’t hesitate to book a trip down there. Pressure is light and the fish are eager to hit big bugs and streamers. The weather is perfect this time of year with the later start times so give us a call to book your fishing adventure in the mountains of NC. I appreciate you taking the time to read our reports. We look forward to seeing you on the water.
Matt Evans
Owner/The Catawba Angler