Gold Discovered in NC Mountains!
By Robert Fulton
No,
I’m not talking about “striking it big” at Harrah’s Tribal Casino on
the Cherokee Indian Reservation! The advantage to
this kind of gold is it’s
a lot more enjoyable to find and it’s a renewable resource.
The middle of last month, the Cherokee Indian Reservation in Cherokee, NC, opened a section of the Raven’s Fork River to fly-fishing “catch-and-release” only…and stocked the water with huge trophy trout. I called one of the area’s premiere guides, Eugene Shular, and made arrangements to fish for these large trout. Then Steve “NightCrawler” Patterson and I hopped in his “trout van” and headed to the mountains.
For years, the Eastern Band of the Cherokee have had a $7 “catch-and-keep” 10 fish limit per day on their trout water, but these have been 10-12” stocked fish. The difference now, and one that will soon have fly fishermen from around the country visiting, is the Tribal Fish Hatchery is raising and stocking BIG trout. And not just large—5 to 10 pounds—rainbows, but a beautiful “gold” rainbow trout.
Friday afternoon we visited with Robert Blackenship, a Cherokee who manages the Tribal Fish Hatchery. What an eye-opener this was! I’m used to seeing fingerlings and 10” trout in a hatchery, but not huge trout. Robert, who returned home from 19 years of working in the fish culture (salmon) industry in Alaska, and his assistant, Charlie Toineeta, have managed to raise the fish feed budget for the hatchery from $75,000 a year to $476,000. That’s to raise 6 to 700,000 pounds of fish. The Tribe is serious about making this a world class fishery.
Six-thirty
Saturday morning, Steve and I met
Then
I realized I’d come to fish. Don’t make the mistake of thinking
these stocked fish are pushovers.
Any fisherman
will tell you it doesn’t take long at all for a fish to become
fish…stocked or not.
Especially when the fish are being caught and put back into the
river. They become
“educated” quickly. We had to use a variety of flies, ones the fish
had not seen before, to present to the fish.
Trout fishing is enjoyable for many reasons, not the least of
which is the beautiful fall scenery.
And catching ten-inch fish that fight hard and jump is a
pleasure.
Imagine Steve’s reaction when a twenty-four inch trout grabbed his fly and ripped through the water’s surface. And he caught 3 big ones.
One
reason stocked waters in
That’s going to be hard to do on the Tribal C&R water. The area is patrolled by 2 Cherokees who’ve grown up here and know the land very well. Eddie Smathers and J.D. Raby are the two personable wildlife officers who will check your permits. And you better have them. Remember, an Indian reservation is a government unto itself.
On your way to the fishing, stop by Big Don’s
Place (828-497-7205) on Big Cove Road.
Big Don will tell you what flies are working and take your
$20 for an annual Catch & Release permit and $7 for the daily Tribal
Water permit.
Believe me, if you have any idea of what it costs to go someplace—say Alaska?—where you can catch fish this size, the Tribal Waters offer a major bargain.
If you want the opportunity to catch very large trout and have the possibility of seeing free roaming elk all no farther than an nine hours’ drive from Jacksonville, FL, you need to check out the new Tribal Catch-and-Release Waters at Cherokee, NC.
If
you’re going:
Fishing Guide:
Call Eugene Shular: 828-488-7665, or e-mail: teshuler@yahoo.comLodging:
Steve and I stayed at
Lloyd’s on-the-River
Dining: And a place to eat on the reservation that has good food and is a bargain: Peter’s Pancakes:
34 Hwy. 441. There are old photos that show how this area has changed from the 1940’s. Ph. 828-497-5116
About the Author:
Robert Fulton
Outdoor Writer
Member of Florida Outdoor Writers and Southeast Outdoor Press
Association
Books: "But You Know What I Mean" and "Swamp Drifter", Pine
Island Press
To have Doctor Fulton speak to your group, contact Faye Pullen:
704 843 2488
If you have any comments or questions, you can contact the RiverGeezer at: RFULTON@esouthernoutdoors.com