What is Delayed Harvest?

Delayed Harvest SignMany of our fly fishing wade trips take place on Delayed Harvest streams around Asheville, but many of our clients don’t know what that means.  These are generally trout streams that are easy to access(close proximity to roads/parking areas).  As of the writing of this post there are 33 Delayed Harvest streams in 18 North Carolina Counties.  Our favorites are The Laurel River, Shelton Laurel Creek, The West Fork of the Pigeon, The North Mills River, The Green River, The Tuckaseegee River, and The East Fork of the French Broad.  These waters offer catch and release fly fishing, artificial only from Oct 1 until the first Saturday in June.  The North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission stocks these streams with brook trout, rainbow trout, and brown trout the first week of Oct, Nov, Mar, Apr, May.  They give us great opportunities to teach beginners to fly fish and sharpen skills for intermediate anglers in areas with a very high trout density.  They aren’t always easy, but they are some of our most productive streams in the area.  We mourn the arrival of bloody Saturday every June, and as I write this in August I can’t wait to get out on some of these rivers come Oct.  If you are ever unsure of trout regulations in NC just look at the trees along parking areas and if the land is public you will see plastic diamonds similar to the one above.  They represent different regulations and are color coded.  If you don’t know the colors yet look at the fine print.  It will be out lined for you.  To book your trip visit our Book a Trip Page.

Explore Asheville video Asheville: Return Again

The Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau released the video Asheville:  Return again on their tourism site Explore Asheville.  We were bummed fly fishing didn’t make the video, but though that this video does a great job of showcasing what your fly fishing trip to Asheville will include.  The CVB does get some great footage of rivers and we hope it makes you want to get in them with a Brown Trout Fly Fishing LLC Guide.  You will see in this video that while fly fishing may be the focal point of your trip, making Asheville your location affords you access to awesome food, incredible craft brews, and unique southern mountain town culture.

Click this Link to submit your Fly Fishing Trip Request

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Brown Trout in Garden and Gun Magazine Online

BrownWhalesbackfallsBethGrantPhotographyJared Sullivan included Brown Trout Fly Fishing LLC and the Davidson River in his Garden and Gun Article:  Five Top Southern Fishing Spots.  Click on the link and give it a read.  Photo Credit to our friend Beth Grant at ORVIS Asheville.

The Davidson River is one of the few Fly Fishing only Catch and Release streams in the Asheville area.  It is our main fly fishing wade trip option for trout during summer in Pisgah National Forest and one of the best places to catch a large trout in North Carolina.  There are three very different sections of the Davidson River.  The first is what we call the main river and it runs from the National Forest Boundary up to the Bobby N Setzer Fish Hatchery.  Here you will find both quality and quanitites of stocekd Brook Trout, wild Brown Trout, and wild Rainbow Trout.  They are also the spookiest fish on the river so angler be ware.  The second section is the Hatchery section.  It is only a half a mile long, but boasts the highest fish/mile count in our area.  The fish are not super spooky, but are very selective.  All three species of trout here are often caught on midges size 24 and smaller.  The third section is above the hatchery.  You may have to bushwack and hike a little/a lot, but trout up here receive less fly fishing pressure and behave more like the North Carolina trout you expect to find in our many other “blue line” streams.  Call us and come see why the Davidson is listed as on of Trout Unlimited’s top 100 trout streams to fly fish.