Whitewater River North Carolina Fishing Report & Options for Selecting Flies: Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. Please allow up to 24 hours for a response. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Freestone
Species
Rainbow Trout (wild)
Brown Trout (wild)
Size
Medium
Location
South Central North Carolina
Nearest Towns
Cashiers
Season
Year-round
Access:
Good to none, depending on the
section
Non-Resident License
State of North Carolina
Weather
Season:
The season runs year-round
Winter:
Trout can be caught on most warm winter days.
Spring:
Fly fishing the Whitewater River during the Springtime is
the best time to fish it.
Summer:
Summertime may get a little slow due to warm water
temperatures.
Fall:
Fall is a great time to catch a large brown trout
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
4, 5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 to 12 ft., 5 or 6X Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Supreme Four, Superb Five
or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 4/5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Options For Selecting Flies:
1. Email us (sales@perfectflystore.com)
with the dates you will be fishing this stream and we will send you a list of our fly suggestions. Please allow up to 24 hours for a response.
2. Call us 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide which flies you need
3. Email us (sales@perfectflystore.com)
with a budget for flies and we will select them to match the budget and get them to you in time for your fly fishing trip.
All orders are shipped free in the
U. S. Orders over $100 are shipped via Priority Mail.
Copyright 2016 James Marsh
Fly Fishing The Whitewater River North Carolina
The Whitewater River is known for its waterfalls, not its fly fishing opportunities. Upper Whitewater falls, located in North Carolina, is over 400 feet high and is one of the highest in the Eastern U. S. The other one, located in South Carolina, is just slightly smaller. The thing that makes this a stream well worth noting, is the fact it’s maintained strictly as a wild trout stream. It has a very good population of wild rainbows and brown trout.
The river flows through public property owned by Duke Power Company. The lower border is the South Carolina/North Carolina state line and the upper border of public land is near the mouth of Silver Run creek, a small tributary stream.
The Whitewater River is a medium size stream. It can be accessed from where state highway #281 crosses the river but both its downstream and upstream waters must
be reached on foot. There’s a road near the bridge that leads to the Overlook Trail which accesses the Upper Whitewater Falls Overlook. You can then access the gorge downstream by taking the trail at the overlook. The trail is very steep, with switchbacks but gets you down to the river and across it on a log bridge. Fly fishing the White River is good in the short section between the falls from there downstream.
You can also access the river in South Carolina just downstream from the Duke Power Company’s Bald Creek Project. It requires a short half mile hike to the river from a parking area. There’s approximately a mile of water below the upper Falls in the state of North
Carolina.
The upstream portion of the Whitewater River above the highway #281 bridge can be accessed from a trail that follows the stream. Most of the river in North Carolina lies upstream from the bridge. This trail isn’t a formal hiking trail but rather one probably created by anglers. The flow of the river in this area is more moderate and more suitable for brown trout than rainbows although it contains both species.
There’s also access along the river from state Highway #107 south of Cashiers. There’s a mixture of public access and private property along the road. This is the best area to fish the Whitewater river in our opinion. Of course, you don’t have the extreme ruggedness and all of the beauty of the area near the falls.
The streambed near the falls is almost solid rock and provides little in the way of aquatic insects for the trout other than strong, clinger stoneflies and a few species of clinger mayflies. The upper sections of the river has more aquatic insects as well as more baitfish and crustaceans.
We have only fished the Whitewater River a couple of times and not but a few hours each during those times. In both cases we made stops from trips to the Chattooga River in South Carolina and these stops were combined with trips to the Upper Chattooga and
Thompson Rivers, along with some other small streams in North Carolina that fed into Lake Jocassee which is located just across the state line in South Carolina.
I should also mention that the South Carolina water is maintained under the state’s wild trout regulations, but the river is stocked with fingerling rainbow and brown trout. Of course, these trout can swim upstream into North Carolina. This river probably averages thirty feet wide. It isn’t the small, stream you may picture it to be, not having seen it.
I would think that the brown trout in the lake move upstream to spawn in the Fall. I have not verified that but the lake is full of trout and I don’t see why they wouldn’t although they can only go a short ways. The rainbows probably do the same in the Springtime.