Fires Creek 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. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. 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. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. 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 and stocked with
holdovers)
Brown Trout (wild and stocked with
holdovers)
Size
Small to medium
Location
Southwestern North Carolina
Nearest Towns
Murphy
Season
Delayed Harvest section: Oct. 1- first
Sat. in June.
Hatchery supported section:
April 1-February 1 (closed in March)
Access:
Good
Non-Resident License
State of North Carolina
Weather
National Weather Service Link
Season:
Winter:
Trout can be caught on warm days during the winter.
Spring:
Spring is the best time for fly fishing the Fires Creek
because of its hatches.
Summer:
Summertime is okay but some of the water can get too
warm for good fishing on the hottest days.
Fall:
Fall is the best time for big browns in the lower section.
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.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
Fly Fishing Fires Creek North Carolina
Not many anglers have ever heard of Fires Creek. It’s located in an area of the state of North Carolina not far from the Georgia state line that’s out of the way to anywhere. It’s located about 16 miles east of Murphy North Carolina off highway #64. Tennessee anglers are very familiar with the Hiwassee River but the Hiwassee tailwater is several miles to the west of Fires Creek, which is one of its tributaries. It has ten miles of trout waters located on Nantahala Game Land.
I wouldn’t call Fires Creek a destination blue ribbon trout stream but only because of all the other nearby streams in Eastern Tennessee, Western North Carolina and North Georgia. This isn’t exactly a small creek. It’s a wild, rough, pocket water stream with short
riffles, runs and deep plunge pools. The wild trout population consist mostly of rainbows, but there are some brown trout. Its headwaters flow from Tusquitee Bald area of the Tusquitee Mountains. It flows into the Hiwassee River near Hayesville. It has two very small tributaries – Little Fires Creek and Long Branch that also contain wild rainbow and brown trout. Backcountry camping is allowed along the stream at a few points.
The entire length of Fires Creek can be accessed from Forest Service Road # 340. Just under two miles upstream from the National Forest land is Fires Creek Picnic Area. There’s a small waterfall that enters Fire Creek in the Picnic area. Most of the people that use
this area are not there for fishing and the ones that are mostly fish the stocked waters downstream. Just above the picnic area, the stream enters a deep gorge for about three miles and the road runs far above it. Fly fishing the stream in this location is possible but it’s very difficult. It’s best to fish upstream from below the point the road departs the stream at the picnic area The road get back close to the creek above the gorge and
provides good access from that point for a long ways to where FS 340 intercepts FS 340C. Above that point the creek enters another gorge but it’s still accessible from the 340 road although it is well below the road and tough to get to. It’s best to fish upstream from that point.
The first surprise you may get when you reach this creek is the fact it isn’t as small as you may expect it to be. I’m not saying it’s a big stream. I’m just implying there’s plenty of room to cast. It’s doubtful you will see anyone else fishing unless it’s purely coincidental or during the prime Spring season. Fishing upstream can be tough in the gorge sections but there are trails following along the streambed. Where you cannot easily wade you can exit the creek and walk upstream to another access.
Fishing Fires Creek is very similar to fishing the streams of the Great Smoky Mountains. You do have to use caution about letting the trout see your movements. Staying hidden from the trout by staying low and moving slowly are keys. Short, upstream cast work best. Just like in the Smokies or any fast, pocket water stream, most of the time you’ll find the trout are relatively easy to fool in the fast water.
The water appears to have little, if any, algae and I would guess the pH is on the low side or more acidic. Because it’s mostly fast, pocket water, its mayflies are probably mostly clingers. According to our notes, we did look at the bottom of some rocks which had some
free-living caddis (rock worms), saddle-cased caddis, chimney cased caddis, March Brown nymphs, and Little Yellow Stoneflies. I’m fairly sure that some swimming nymphs like Slate Drakes and BWOs are present but they are very difficult to find by picking up rocks from the stream. I’m not sure just which crawler mayflies exist in Fires Creek but I’m sure there would be some species of them. I would also bet most all of the stonefly families are present.
You shouldn’t expect to set any records but I would bet the stream has some large brown trout. The first time we fished the stream, we caught a small brown and several wild rainbows up to about eight inches in length. We only fished about three hours, moving around to mostly just see the stream. Since, trips to the stream (two) have been much more productive, especially in the Delayed Harvest section.