(An abbreviated excerpt from “Flyfisher’s Guide to North Carolina & Georgia”)
By Nick Carter
Except in its delayed harvest section at Spruce Pine, N.C, the North Toe is a river often overlooked because of a perceived lack of access. This is a mistake. The North Toe is a valley river with roadside access that receives surprisingly little fishing pressure and fishes pretty well because of this.
It took a trip with Cade Buchanan, of Mountain Troutfitters, to convince me. Cade grew up in Avery County, across the street from the North Toe and has fished it since he was old enough to walk across the street with a fishing rod. Without his kind of local knowledge, it is easy to see why this perception of limited access persists. The North Toe runs through small farms and privately held property as a small to medium sized river through its accessible length. There is ample roadside access, but one must watch out for posted property.
Downstream of the Minneapolis community, the river parallels U.S. 19E for more than 12 miles. It might not be bounded by Forest Service land, but there are long stretches of water that are not posted.
The streambed is rocky. The water has a slight brown stain as it careens around boulders and over bedrock shelves with some good runs, pocket water and a few big holes. It is a flat bottomland river with easy wading and plenty of room to cast to deceptively deep runs. On a late summer day, I watched Cade expertly pluck numerous 9- to 12-inch trout from the North Toe using a double nymph rig with a big brown stonefly as his point fly. Then I watched Bob Ivins, also of Mountain Troutfitters, battle and land a rainbow in the 18- to 20-inch range. There are good fish in this river for the angler who knows how to get to them.
There isn’t much signage indicating where one is allowed to fish, but there also isn’t much signage restricting access. Some of this roadside water probably remains available because of the limited pressure the river sees.
Those looking for obvious access to a lot of trout will find it in Spruce Pine, where there is a section of the North Toe designated for delayed harvest. This stretch is also Mountain Heritage waters, which means anglers can fish it with a 3-day Mountain Heritage license that only costs $5.
This piece of water obviously receives pressure. It runs through the heart of town as a wide and flat river with easy access and easy wading. It is pretty big water, and there are some deep holes where stocked fish tend to congregate. Getting nymph rigs down deep is a key to consistent success.
With lightly pressured hatchery fish, some wild and holdover fish, and the delayed harvest stretch, the North Toe is a good resource that goes largely unnoticed in the shadow of its more famous sister, the South Toe.
For GPS coordinates to access points on the North Toe and the rest of the region’s trout fisheries, check out “Flyfisher’s Guide To North Carolina & Georgia.” This comprehensive guide is available on Amazon, and signed copies are available by emailing the author at nsc8957@gmail.com.