(GSMNP)
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies 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. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.
Type of Stream
Freestone
Species
Rainbow Trout (wild)
Brown Trout (wild)
Size
Small to medium
Location
Great Smoky Mountains National
Park
Nearest Towns
Bryson City, NC
Fontana Village, NC
Season
Year-round
Access:
Difficult
Special Regulations
None
Non-Resident License
State of North Carolina or
Tennessee Wildlife Resources
Agency
Weather
National Weather Service Link
Seasons:
The season is open year-round and trout can be taken
year-round.
Spring:
Spring is the best time to fish Forney Creek because of
the aquatic insect hatches.
Summer:
We would suggest you fish the headwaters of Forney
Creek during the summer months and avoid the lower
elevations.
Fall:
Fall is an excellent time to fish the stream, especially if
you spend the night at a remote campsite. Also, its brown
trout spawn during the fall season.
Winter:
It would certainly be okay to fish Forney during the winter
months but you could select another stream much easier
to access with few or no anglers.
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.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:
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.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
Fly Fishing Forney Creek North Carolina
(GSMNP)
Forney Creek keeps its trout safe from anglers by making them either cross Lake Fontana to get to its mouth, or by hiking three and a half miles to get there. With all the other streams available to fish in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, anglers would have to look for a reason to fish Forney Creek. We’ll give you a good reason. It is one of the least fished streams in the park.
There are several tributary streams to Forney Creek including Bear Branch, Bee Gum Branch, Jonas Creek and Huggins Creek. These are all small streams but they all have populations of trout. Jonas has two little feeder streams, Little Jonas Creek and Scarlett Ridge Creek.
If you go to the trouble to fish Forney Creek, or any of its tributaries, you wouldn’t have a lot of company, except maybe the bears. Most likely you would be the only angler there. That’s just what a lot of backpacking anglers enjoy. It has remote several backcountry
campsites and permits are available from the park
.Fly Fishing Guide to Forney Creek
Fly fishing Forney Creek is strictly small stream fishing and when we say small stream, we mean a stream that is not only comparatively small in width, but also just about
completely covered with tree limbs in many places.
Since getting to Forney Creek either requires a long hike, or crossing Fontana Lake to
access the stream, we suggest you travel with the minimum amount of fly gear. For
example, if you fish the stream during the summer months, you wouldn’t have to take
waders. You could wet wade.
If you crossed the lake by boat and plan on fishing the lower section of the stream, you
could stay at campsite #74 located on the lower end of the stream. You could also hike
in from the headwater area. This would not be a short hike either, but a way you may
want to consider if you fished the upper headwaters area that is rarely fished by
anyone. There are three other campsites on Forney Creek – 68, 69 and 70. You can
also hike in from the end of the Lake Shore Road (Road to No Where) that leads out
of Bryson City. That requires a three and a half mile hike. I believe the regulations
allow horses, so if you would consider a horseback trip, you may want to check that out.
Forney Creek is mostly tightly enclosed by a canopy of tree limbs. There are few
places that are open where you can cast very far or easily. You don’t want to make
long cast anyway. Short, upstream presentation work the best. Most of the stream,
particular in the upper sections, has fast water with short runs, riffles and small pools. It
is best to fish the fast water current seams. Getting a drag free drift isn’t easy in the
small streams of the Smokies and you are better off in most cases holding the tip of
the fly rod high as you can and keeping most of the fly line off the water. The less fly
line you have in the conflicting currents, the better off you are.
These trout see very few flies, even in the lower area of the stream. They are usually
very responsive to generic or attractor flies. However, you are always better off fishing
imitations of something hatching or about to hatch. The trout are going to eat whatever
is the most plentiful and readily obtainable. Fishing imitations of what may be hatching
in the near future is usually the best option.
Be sure that someone is fishing Forney Creek with you. It’s not a place you would want
to be alone. If you should break a leg or have a medical problem, you would be by
yourself until you vanished most likely. We have only meet one guy that has fished this
stream. I am sure there are plenty that have, but the two occasions we have been
there, I feel certain Angie and I were the only ones on the stream. There wasn’t even
anyone at the first campsite. This is strictly a stream for the anglers that love remote
adventure.
Additional Information:
Fly Fishing Smoky Mountains