Archived Outdoors

Spring brings trout stocking and U.S. championship

The Western North Carolina Fly-fishing trail is being stocked with 49,400 trout up through June, with the U.S. National Fly Fishing Championship using part of the trail in May.

The WNC Fly-Fishing trail, centered in Jackson County, includes some of the best trout fishing in the Eastern U.S. In addition to stocking on creeks included in the fly-fishing trail, stocking occurs throughout the region as a whole.

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is stocking four trail streams — the Tuckasegee River, Scott Creek, Savannah Creek and Greens Creek.

A total of 29,400 brook, rainbow and brown trout will be placed in the delayed harvest section of the Tuckasegee, with the remaining 20,000 spread amongst Scott,

Savannah and Greens creeks, along with other sections of the Tuckasegee.

Brook and rainbow account for 80 percent of the fish, with brown making up 20 percent. Most of the stocking takes place in March and April to provide excellent conditions for the April 2 opening of trout season in North Carolina’s hatchery supported waters.

Many more trout than that are stocked in Western North Carolina, but

In May, some of the nation’s best fly anglers will compete in the 2011 U.S. National Fly Fishing Championship.

This is the first time the championship has been conducted in the Southeast, and the trail’s Tuckasegee River will be one of five sites used in the competition. Co-hosts

for the event are Cherokee and the North Carolina Fly Fishing Team.

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