Fish Qualla country
A trout tournament offering $20,000 in prizes will hit Cherokee’s pristine streams Aug. 26-27.
Sponsored: Trout Trivia
Thanks to the cool, clean water in Western NC we are fortunate to have trout farms that raise or farm rainbow trout for restaurants, supermarkets, farmers markets and for recreational use to stock streams.
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.
Help fill the West Fork of the Pigeon with trout
Volunteers are wanted to help the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission stock trout into the West Fork Pigeon River in Haywood County beginning at 10:45 a.m. Monday, May 8.
Fishing after the flood: Flood took two-thirds of state hatchery’s trout
When the Davidson River first hit flood stage on at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 17, it was a normal — albeit rainy — workday for employees at the Bobby N. Setzer Fish Hatchery and the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard. But by 5:45 p.m. a river that had mere days ago flowed less than a foot deep peaked at 14.19 feet, plunging the fish hatchery raceways under feet of water and leaving employees — as well as a volunteer and member of the public who had been at the education center — to scramble for higher ground.
Make way for elk (and trout): Haywood, Jackson counties seek designation as state’s elk and trout capitals
If you want to see an elk, the Elk Capital of North Carolina would probably be a good place to look. Pretty soon, that could mean a trip to Haywood County.
“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to promote unique things in our area, our national parks and our beautiful mountains in general,” said Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville. “It’s a way to use really a symbol of North Carolina to promote our region.”
Stocking the Pigeon: Trout stocking a team effort in Haywood
It’s a sunny Friday morning on the Pigeon River when the bucket brigade assembles, five-gallon containers in hand. The stock truck has just arrived, making its way up windy U.S. 276 and down the equally squirrely N.C. 215, tanks loaded with fish and water.
A pair of fish culturists from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission stands atop the truck as a line of bucket-bearers forms leading up to it, and the work begins. Each bucket received a splash of water and a dollop of flipping, fighting trout — rainbow, brown and brook all mixed together in one writhing mass.
Anticipated Trout Capital designation likely to spur fly fishing tourism
If all goes according to plan, by this time next year Jackson County will have been declared the trout capital of North Carolina, and county commissioners are already starting to talk about how to plan for the resulting increase they anticipate in angling tourism.
Trout Capital, North Carolina: Jackson County pushes to land unique designation
Jackson County is on its way to becoming the trout capital of North Carolina after county leaders unveiled a plan last week that’s been in the works since last summer.
“Anything that we can do to encourage tourists to come to Jackson County we ought to try to do, and I think we already recognize that we have this remarkable resource in Jackson County — the public waterways. It’s already being utilized and is such a treasure in Jackson County,” said County Commission Chairman Brian McMahan, who spearheaded the effort with Jackson County Chamber of Commerce Director Julie Spiro. “It just makes sense to try to do what we can to further enhance it and to promote it.”
Students learn about chemistry, fish and water quality through trout raising project
When the holidays wind down and schools go back in session, kids in some Western North Carolina classrooms will have more to look forward to than just books and lessons. For some, the first day back at school will also be a reunion with the tank full of trout sitting in their classroom.
“It’s just pretty cool to have a tank of fish to watch grow over the course of the year,” said Ben Davis, a science teacher at Robbinsville High School who’s in his fourth year participating in Trout Unlimited’s Trout in the Classroom program.