Welcome Delay

I'm no more fond of delays than the next guy, but when you're talking about delaying the harvest of trout for half a year, I'm all in favor. The catch-and-release season on North Carolina's 30-plus delayed harvest trout streams opens this morning. In Georgia and South Carolina, the delayed-harvest opportunity begins next month. These waters, which are ever expanding in number, provide an outstanding cool-season opportunity for anglers who don't mind releasing their fish and fishing only single-hook artificial lures.

I'm a big fan of the delayed harvest concept because it makes great use of resources. Most waters that are managed this way offer outstanding cool-season trout habitat, but conditions deteriorate dramatically when the whether warms during the summer. Most cannot hold high densities of trout through the warm months, so it is only because of the harvest season that fisheries crews can stock these waters so heavily for the catch-and-release season. Two distinctive user groups of trout fishermen are very well served on waters that mostly received only early-season stockings or very light summer stockings prior to the development of this program.

Before you hop in the in the car too quickly, do check the stocking schedule, which is posted on the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission's website. Initial stockings are staggered over the first week of October, and it would be sort of sad to visit a delayed harvest stream for the first time any given year, with naturally high expectations, the day before they stock the fish!

I haven't made any specific plans yet, but you can trust that I'll have the car pointed toward North Carolina soon!

Will Nantahala Trout Bite Today?

Some things suggest that the bite on North Carolina's Nantahala River could be good today. Last week's rain probably made the river surge enough cause the fish to lay low under rocks for a few days for for fishermen to stay away. It has returned to reasonable levels for feeding and for fishing but is still high enough to keep the fish from turning too terribly spooky. It's also supposed to stay cold all up there all week (it's 26 right now), and it's mid-week in late January. Those factors suggest that competition from other anglers should be light.

On the flip side, fall stockings for the delayed harvest are done in October and November and aren't resumed until March, so no trout have been put in the river for a couple of months. Even with catch-and-release regulations, natural mortality and poaching clearly impact the total number of trout as winter progresses. I've also felt like numbers seemed low following really high water like we had last week and wondered if a bunch of fish had found their way downstream. Then there's the cold factor. While trout are cold-weather fish and like things kind of cold, when the water gets too chilly and their body temperatures really drop, they tend to lay kind of low and wait for things to warm a little.

So with good arguments for against the trout feeding, I really don't know. I suppose there's only one way to find out!

Delayed Harvest Streams Now Open

North Carolina's Delayed Harvest waters create a fine opportunity for catch-and-release trout fishing throughout the cool months. Photo by Nathaniel Samsel.

With the beginning of October at the beginning of this week came one more new beginning -- and one that is noteworthy for Southern trout fishermen. October 1 marked the beginning of another Delayed Harvest trout season on several streams in western North Carolina. From Oct. 1 through the first Saturday in June, only single-hook artificial lures may be used or possessed on these waters, and all trout caught must be immediately released. Throughout the "delay" season, the DH waters stay heavily stocked with rainbows, browns and brook trout.

North Carolina's DH program, which began on four streams in the early 1990s, makes great use of streams that offer fine trout  habitat during the cool months but suffer from summer stress. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission loads these waters with trout during the time when the habitat is best, and then allows a harvest to begin about the time the habitat quality would begin to diminish in early June. Because of its extreme popularity, the DH program has expanded dramatically and now includes 29 waterways in 16 North Carolina counties and is also used in several surrounding states, including my home state of Georgia. North Carlina 's list of DH waters includes four new stream sections this season.

Delayed Harvest waters range from creeks you could hop across to fairly large mountain rivers and vary from from tumbling and rugged to nearly pancake flat. Some have good roadside access; others require more walking. All get stocked with roughly the same density of trout based on their normal total volume, with a mix of 40 percent rainbows, 40 percent brook trout and 20 percent brown trout. And while fish average a little less than a foot in length, the NCWRC always includes some "quality fish" as a bonus to keep things extra interesting for fishermen.

I typically make at least a few trips to North Carolina's Delayed Harvest waters during the catch-and-release season, and while no plans have been set in stone, I certainly hope that this season will be no different.

Final Days For Delayed Harvest

Only to days remain in the "delay" period for the 26 North Carolina streams and small lakes that are managed as Delayed Harvest waters. Only single-hook artificial lures may be used or possessed and all fish must be released on these waters through 1/2 hour after sunset on Friday, June 1. Starting Saturday morning, the same waters revert to general regulations, with natural bait and a harvest of fish both permitted.

Late May days tend to produce some of the best action of the year on these waters for anglers who enjoy catch-and-release trout fishing. Fish abundance is high, and the trout typically are aggressive. Fly fishermen do well with attractor dry fly/nymph combinations. Spin-fishermen do well with fast moving reaction baits like Rebel Teeny Wee Craws or flashy in-line spinners.

Of course if you like really fast action, want a limit fish to take home and don't mind the crowds, you'll want to be bank-side on the same streams when they open to the harvest on Saturday morning, 1/2 hour before sunrise.