Trout Fishing Impacted by Release Levels of the Nantahala River
Over the last few months the Nantahala River Gorge area has seen an excessive amount of rain. Due to this increase in precipitation Duke Energy has been releasing water from the Nantahala Lake at levels much higher than normal. During the month of November water was being released into the Delayed Harvest section of the Upper Nantahala River which is very unusual.
Duke Energy has been working with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commision to make the impact on trout as minimal as possible. Duke Energy has also been working hard to reduce flows on weekends to enable anglers to have a much easier time accessing the river. When water is being released from the lake at high levels it is very difficult to fish or even gain access to the river as this type of pressure on the Upper Nantahala is very rare.
To find out what the flow levels of the Nantahala River currently are make sure to check out this site. If you plan on taking a fly fishing trip to the Upper Nantahala in the near future you might want to check ahead and make sure that you will have the ability to fish the river with success. It is also important for anglers to stay alert to the levels of the river while they are fishing. Duke Energy could change flows at any time and there is no way to warn anglers who are on the water.
If you see a steady increase in the flow of the river while fishing it would be a good idea to get to a safe place out of the water and see if the increase continues. Unfortunately, there is very little you can do as an angler when the water flow has drastically increased. The best option for most anglers is to fish nymphs along the banks as this is where the trout will hang out before the flow levels go back to the normal range.
The delayed harvest section of the Upper Nantahala River is a very popular fly fishing destination as this part of the river is stocked during the winter months. From October to May this section of the river is catch and release so the population of trout remains high throughout much of the year. For more information on Mountain Trout waters in North Carolina make sure to check out this site.
Author: Jacob Allen