When most folks think of Cherokee, they think of Harrahs Casino and that is a mistake in several ways. Even thinking that many folks leave the casino as winners, the number of fishermen who leave the Cherokee Tribal Waters as happy fishermen is higher–much higher.
My wife and I headed up over Thanksgiving for a trout fishing trip and had a great time. we spent most of Friday and about half of Saturday wading pools in the Oconaluftee and Raven Fork Rivers searching for rainbow, brook and brown trout.
The Cherokee operate a Tribal Enterprise that contains approximately 30 miles of trout streams that are stocked twice each week with fish raised in a hatchery they also run. More than a quarter million trout are stocked each year, including thousands of trophy size trout. The public is also invited to visit the hatchery weekdays from 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.
A special permit is the only license required to fish on most Tribal Enterprise waters and they are clearly marked. Permit fees for enterprise waters begin at $7 daily, with two day ($14), three day ($20), five day ($28) periods and an annual permit ($200) available.
Several Tribal Enterprise waters flow right through town and all are easily accessed. There are pull-offs with parking along most of the streams. The Oconaluftee River is right beside U.S. 441 in town and Soco Creek flows under the bridges that cross from U.S. 19 into the casino parking lots. The Tribal Enterprise waters also include several ponds, with adjacent parking, along the Raven Fork River a few miles north of town.
Fishermen are required to keep all trout they catch in the ponds up to the 10 fish daily limit. On Tribal Enterprise creeks and rivers, the limit is also 10 trout, but catch and release fishing is permitted. We didn’t catch any large trout, but saw pictures of many and were close when a couple of nice ones were caught. We hadn’t planned to keep any fish, so we didn’t fish in the ponds, but saw several nice stringers that had been caught there. Both mornings there was ice on the ponds.
One prime section of the Oconaluftee and Raven Fork Rivers is reserved for catch and release flyfishing only. There is an extra $20 annual membership required to fish in this area, which is roughly 2 miles long. Other reservation waters are designated as Non Enterprise Waters and these waters are off limits to all except enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
National Park and state waters outside the reservation are open to all fishermen with appropriate licenses. The state of North Carolina also has a stocking program that stocks non reservation waters on a regular basis.
The water was cold and clear, but there were trout to be caught. I’m sure this area is crowded when it is warmer, and I was a little worried with this trip being on a holiday, but we never felt crowded. There were people fishing, but many of the turn-offs didn’t have a car parked there.
We received helpful advice at several of the businesses that sold the Tribal Enterprise permits and headed out to do it on our own. At the risk of sounding lazy, we rode along the river and when we spotted a pool we wanted to investigate, we found a close pull-off. We often spotted other nearby pools once we got over into the river.
Except for having to learn how to cast without a backswing so we wouldn’t hook flies and lures in trees, it was pretty easy fishing. Even knowing this, sometimes we would get excited and try to get the lure back to a certain spot too quickly and forget. While we didn’t lose a bunch at the casino, we made a tackle donation to several hungry rhododendrons and trees along the rivers.
For more information on Cherokee and the great fishing there, visit www.cherokee-nc.com.
Something else made a big impression on us during this trip. Friday afternoon we were driving between fishing spots and saw an elk. It was a cow, not a big bull with a huge set of antlers, but it was a Smoky Mountains Elk just the same.
As of January of this year there were 81 elk in the N.C. elk herd. Biologists felt strongly the herd would top 100 animals after calving. I don’t have any confirmation on this, but it is certainly safe to say the N.C. elk herd is approximately 100 strong. All the elk that have been captured wear electronic tracking collars. This is to document their feeding and travel habits and to track them if they wander off National Park Service lands.
For more information on elk and the N.C. elk herd, visit www.ncelk.org.
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