Recently I visited The Great Smoky Mountains for a meeting of the Southeast Outdoor Writers Association at the Fontana Lake Resort in western North Carolina. I was developing my next book, “Fishin’ Different,” and this mountainous region provided opportunities for unique fishing experiences.
I was assigned a guide named Danny Williams, an employee of the resort and a local resident who has fished this area since he was a child. Hard rains delayed the start of our fishing day, but we eventually got started around 10 a.m. Ed Wall, an outdoor writer for the New Bern Sun Journal, in New Bern, N.C. accompanied me. Williams suggested that trout fishing a local stream might be the best bet for catching some nice fish. Both Ed and I agreed, since it was suggested we might catch trout as large as 22 inches.
We all got into Williams’ truck as he drove about 10 miles north of Fontana Lake. When he eventually stopped, I looked around and there was no mountain stream in sight. Of more concern was the area we were in. It was fairly populated, and when we finally saw the stream it was running through the front yards of several houses.
The image of a 22-inch trout rapidly disappeared since in some areas the stream wasn’t even 22 inches wide. The stream did bring back memories of my childhood, when I actually did catch some nice trout in a stream just like this. The technique was simple. Williams handed us spinning rods with a small hook and split-shot attached. The bait was small pieces of worm, just like I had used as a kid.
We walked along the stream to find small pools. Each pool would contain at least one trout, Williams said. He was right, although it was a challenge to fight through the briars. This was fishing at its most primitive. No skill was required except it was necessary to hook the fish quickly or it would take the bait into its stomach. Since we were releasing the fish, we didn’t want that to happen.
Ed and I caught and released about 15 trout each, rainbow and brown trout, and none exceeding 10 inches. These were naturally born fish and had beautiful coloring. If there was a 22-inch fish in this stream, it certainly was not in the area we fished.
This experience brought back long-forgotten memories of my childhood in a small New England town where I would dangle a worm close to a rock in a small pool just like the ones in this stream. I remember the small trout I caught then to be some of the best tasting fish I had eaten. Back in the day, we would simply clean out the fish, cut off the head, tail and fins and fry the fish in butter, eating the meat right off of the bones.
Jake Bussolini is a freelance writer and author of six books about freshwater fishing. His books can be reviewed or purchased at www.jakestakeonfishing.com.
[easy-social-share]