Billion-dollar catch: Report reveals economic impact of N.C. trout fishing industry

The economic impact of trout fishing in North Carolina has more than tripled since 2014, clocking in at $1.38 billion in 2022 according to a report  just released by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. 

Casting for Canton: Papertown gets its first fly shop

Doug Mcelvy was only 3 or 4 the first time he picked up a fishing rod, but it sparked a love for the water that’s stayed with him throughout his life — at 36, that passion inspired him to open Canton’s only fly fishing shop, Mountain Fly Outfitters. 

Tons of trout coming to WNC

More than 67,000 pounds of trout will be stocked in the mountain and piedmont regions of North Carolina between Nov. 29 and Dec. 21, including locations in Jackson, Macon, Buncombe and Transylvania counties. 

Face-to-face with fish

Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail celebrates kickoff 

‘Hard to believe’: Downstream fish populations explode following mill closure

When the impending closure of Canton’s paper mill was announced in March, conservation professionals predicted a swift improvement  in downstream water quality once papermaking stopped.

Sponsored: Fish fillets – the real “fast food”

If you’re looking for a quick dinner protein, look no further than fish fillets – and rainbow trout, a farmed fish, is a perfect choice.

Fish On The Farm: Tour Highlights Importance, Challenges Of Mountain Aquaculture

Whenever Wes Eason runs across a potential customer who’s hesitant about eating farm-raised fish, he points to the picture on the front of the Sunburst Trout Farms brochure.

Snorkeling the mountains: New Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail will show off WNC’s vibrant streams

For most people, the word “snorkeling” conjures images of blue Caribbean waters, pink coral reefs and a rainbow of tropical fish. But witnessing a world of aquatic beauty doesn’t require a flight to the Florida Keys.

Under the Pigeon: Snorkeling workshop gives an up-close look at aquatic diversity

The clear water of the West Fork Pigeon River tumbling from its mountain headwaters takes on a yellowish hue through the plastic of the snorkel mask, revealing a riverbed of rounded rocks that sometimes sit within inches of the surface and sometimes plunge feet below.

Fish swim placidly in the flow, darting only occasionally when the wearer of the snorkel mask draws a bit too close for comfort. Here and there a leaf or a stick streams by like a stowaway for parts unknown.

All about the water: Adults get creek-splashing in inaugural waterways education event

out frThere’s excitement in the air as the class, its members scattered across the Pigeon River under cloudy skies in Canton, hunches over the water in an enthusiastic search. Slightly encumbered by awkwardly bulging, oversize wader suits, class members turn over rocks, shuffle their feet across the river bottom and generally stir things up to flush any nearby aquatic creatures into their waiting nets. 

Haywood Waterways Association has provided this education program year after year for eighth-graders in Haywood County, but on Sept. 24, the class wasn’t composed of over-energetic teenagers.

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