By Ken Kastorff
Ok Bill, throw your fly over there and let it sink to the bottom.” “Let the slighter line go under about two feet, it’s deep here.” “Don’t fall asleep though, pay attention, this is a good spot.” We had just dropped into one of the many deep holes that are common to the eight-mile tail race of the Nantahala River. The line tightened up and Bill did a sharp set and had yet one more beautiful native Nantahala rainbow on the line. All was going according to plan until the line mysteriously stopped. “ I think I’m hung on something on the bottom,” Bill said. I looked at the line and noticed it was still moving slowly away from us, but Bill’s rod was definitely bent over a lot more that when he originally hooked up. “Oh boy Bill, hang on, I think you got something big on the line, game on!” I moved the boat down stream to a shallow area and the fight continued. Bill did a great job of rod handling and eventually we got the fish to a place where we could see what was on the line. Bills 10” rainbow was being held crosswise in the powerful jaws of a 30 plus inch Brown trout. We fought that brown for fifteen minutes before it finally released the rainbow. Twice, Bill had it within four feet of the net but, being true to the Brown Trout MO, it hugged the bottom of the river like a catfish, staying far away from the net.
I always like watching River Monsters. It’s interesting to see what lurks in the depths. Here, in the southeast, we have a river monster and it’s called a Brown Trout. It’s the large mouth bass of the trout family. It’s aggressive, fearless, and sure would seem to be a river monster if you happened to be a small critter in it’s domain. Each year, I see at least half a dozen rainbows that have been hooked up and are being fought to the net, get chased or attacked by big brown trout. Rainbows, up to twelve inches, are fair game along with mice, frogs, crayfish, sculpins, and anything else that happens to look tasty. It’s more like fishing for musky than trout. I had a nice 24 inch brown follow a streamer right to the raft one day. My musky fishing reflexes kicked in and I did a few figure eights next to the raft. That brown hit the fly hard, within inches of the raft. When they have their sights set on a meal, nothing will get in their way. Last year, a friend of mine had a big brown eat a rainbow he had hooked up. They fought the fish until it finally gave the rainbow up. They threw the rainbow back in the river and the brown came back and took it again.
Another interesting thing about brown trout fishing is, if you happen to turn one, pay attention because you are likely to see more that day. It may seem as if someone rang the dinner bell and all the brown trout in the river heard it. Late summer and early fall is the time when Browns start roaming even more than usual in preparation for their late fall and early winter spawning, and it seems like this is when they are particularly aggressive.
We have two species of brown trout that hunt in the Nantahala River. The German Brown is easy to identify with its golden color and bright red spots. The fall season brings out an even darker more vibrant gold color. These fish are hands down the most beautiful fish in the stream. The Scottish Brown is more slate colored with black flecks on its flanks. While not as striking as the German version, it is still a unique and beautiful trout.
One thing is for sure though, if you hook into a Brown on the Nantahala River, you will know it immediately. These are strong and aggressive fish that do not give up easily and will do several powerful runs. While they will jump on occasion, most often they will stay on the bottom and make you pay for every inch of line you gain on them. With the addition of the strong current on the Nantahala River, the fight is definitely not over till you’re fortunate enough to get it in the net.
Ken Kastorff is the Owner and Guide at Endless River Adventures located along the Nantahala River in Bryson City, North Carolina.