Hook A Hawg On The Cherokee Reservation: Ready to hook up with a hawg on the fly rod? We recommend heading to the Oconaluftee. While most mountain trout average 9″ – 10″, on the heavily stocked Oconaluftee trout are measured in pounds, not inches. A 2.2-mile stretch near the Blue Ridge Parkway offers catch-and-release fishing for hatchery-raised brook, brown, rainbow, golden and Donaldson trout, some of them weighing more than 6 pounds. Streamers and nymphs are the biggest fish here but expect lots of company. A tribal fishing permit is required.
Directions from Asheville: Take I-40 W to Exit 27 (the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway). Continue west on US 74 past Waynesville, Sylva and Dillsboro to Cherokee, Exit 74. Follow US 441 onto the reservation.
