Slickrock 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
Location
Northwestern North Carolina
Nearest Towns
Robinsville
Season
Year-round
Access:
Poor, long hikes required
Non-Resident License
State of North Carolina
Weather
Season:
The season runs year-round
Winter:
Trout can be caught some days during the Winter
Spring:
Fly fishing Slickrock Creek is great in the Spring due to the hatches.
Summer:
Summertime is okay – the water stays cool.
Fall:
Fall is a beautiful time to fish this stream
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 2016 James Marsh
Fly Fishing Slickrock Creek North Carolina
The name of this stream could possible tell you something. The low pH of the water that’s typical in this area of the southern Appalachian Mountains means there’s little algae in the water and that means the rocks in a stream are usually not as slick as those in water
with a high pH. This stream probably does have a higher than normal pH, although I don’t know that for a fact. It’s also supposed to have Green Drakes and if this is true, then the pH of the water is certainly much higher than the average stream in the area. We have
not verified the existence of Green Drakes. The name could mean that those rocks out of the water, covered with moss or fallen leaves are slick, which would be true for certain. It could also just be that someone that had something to do with naming streams took a hard fall on Slickrock Creek at one time.
Angie and I have only fished this stream one time and then probably not in the best area of it because it requires more effort to reach than we have been willing to exert. We always take a commercial grade video camera along and that makes it tough on a long hike, especially when you reach my young, old age. Neither of us slipped and fell in Slickrock Creek. We did catch a half dozen small brown trout but none of them were over 12 inches. We only fished a short time due to the time it took to negotiate the steep decline of the trail. All of the trout above the lower falls are supposed to be brown trout. The stream is probably too low in elevation to have any brook trout in its headwaters. Below the falls, fish from Calderwood Lake can enter the stream to spawn. Fly fishing Slickrock Creek in its lower section will probably get your both browns and rainbow trout.
Slickrock Creek is a tributary of the Little Tennessee River. It flows into Calderwood Lake not very far from Great Smoky Mountains National Park in western North Carolina. It’s known for its brown trout. It doesn’t have any road access and therefore, it has maintained all the things it takes to continue to be a good trout stream over the years. It flows through the Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness Area.
Much of the stream forms the border between the states of Tennessee and North Carolina but most all of the headwaters and upper part of the stream are in the state of North Carolina. It’s managed by agreement between both states, so a license of either state works for Slickrock Creek. Most of the stream is in North Carolina and that’s why we call it a North Carolina stream.
The stream can be accessed from only a very few places, none of which is exactly an easy route to take. The lower part of the stream can be reached from U. S. Highway #129, the most dangerous road in the Eastern United States as far as I’m concerned. U. S. Highway
#129 crosses Calderwood Lake just below Cheoah Dam. From the trailhead at the bridge, the Slickrock Creek Trail (also called the Ike Branch Tail because it intersects it) follows along the bank of the lake to the mouth of Slickrock Creek. It’s about a 2 mile hike. According to a friend of mine that regularly fishes this stream , the Ike Branch Trial is the better trail to take to get to the water in the lower section of Slickrock Creek..
The other place to access the creek is from Forest Service Trail # 41 which is located at the end of Forest Service Road #82 (Slickrock Creek Road) which is off highway #129 in Robinsville. You have to drive about 7 miles to Big Fat Gap over a small, gravel road to get to the trailhead. It’s about a 2 mile hike to the creek’s middle section using this route but don’t let the millage fool you. This route seems like two miles of vertical distance. It does put you in a good area of the stream.
I can see why many anglers claim they have poor results fishing this stream. The wild browns are a lot easier to spook than rainbows. They avoid the sunlight. Nymphs are always far more productive than dry flies fishing this type of water for brown trout. During low water conditions, it’s especially difficult to approach the browns in this relatively shallow stream. Here are just a few difficulties you face. You can’t use the high sticking method effectively in low water and double and tandem rigs wouldn’t work well. Staying hidden while you make longer than normal, precisely placed presentations with a nymph, isn’t easy. Unless you are staying overnight, fishing during low light conditions early and late in the day would be out. Strike indicators wouldn’t work well. There are other problems with fly fishing Slickrock Creek using the traditional, locally accepted fishing methods that’s beyond the scope of this article.