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.
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
Brown Trout
Rainbow Trout
Brook Trout
(Wild)
Size
Small – Medium
Location
Great Smoky Mountains National
Park – North Carolina
Nearest Towns
Cherokee, North Carolina
Season
Year-round
Access:
Good
Special Regulations
None
Non-Resident License
State of North Carolina or
Tennessee Wildlife Resources
Agency
Weather
National Weather Service Link
Seasons:
Fly fishing Straight Fork is good most every day of the
year.
Spring:
Spring is the best time to fish Straight Fork due to the
numerous hatches that occur.
Summer:
This stream stays fairly cool even during the hot summer
due to a solid tree canopy. Fishing is always good
upstream.
Fall:
Fall is a great time to fish the Straight Fork. The colors of
the autumn foliage is simply beautiful.
Winter:
You can catch trout from the Straight Fork during the
winter. Warm days are usually very good.
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 2016 James Marsh
Fly Fishing Straight Fork North Carolina
The Straight Fork is one of those streams in Great Smoky Mountains National Park that is almost hidden. The residents of the Cherokee Indian Nation know where it is because you would normally pass through Cherokee to get to the Straight Fork. It is also accessible from Balsam Mountain Road that enters the park off of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
It is a beautiful stream that is probably fished as little as any trout stream in the park. The stream flows into the Raven Fork just outside of the park’s boundaries. Much of this stream is accessible from the Straight Fork Road that enters the park at the Cherokee Fish Hatchery. Don’t let that bother you. The Straight Fork is not stocked. They just use its water outside of the park to raise trout for other locations.
The Straight Fork leaves the road about 5 miles from the entrance to the park and from there upstream it is only accessible by hiking in through heavy brush or wading up the stream. The upper part contains mostly brook trout but there are plenty of rainbows and probably a few browns.
Fly fishing Straight Fork Creek is usually easy fishing. The stream is mostly shallow and easy to wade, wide enough to cast but still a small stream. It is probably the most overlooked stream in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Fly Fishing Guide for the Straight Fork:
Much of the stream offers adequate room for casting. Some of it, especially in the uppermost section, is tightly enclosed in tree limbs and brush, but for the most part, it
is easy to fish. You can fish wading upstream in the stream bed fairly easy where theres no trails or road. The lower section along the road is easy to access and to fish.
The Straight Fork is a nice little average size Great Smoky Mountains National Park
trout stream. Its average gradient is more moderate than steep. The decline of the
stream isn’t steep but in a few places in the section along the road. The road follows
the stream for about five miles from where the Straight Fork exits the park. Above the
point the road departs the stream, you have to make you way along in the streambed.
It isn’t that difficult to do for at least the first mile or two. There are a few areas clear
enough that you can get out of the stream and progress upstream on the banks.
One of the best sections of the stream is just inside the park. You can park practically
anywhere along the road and walk only a few yards to the stream. It has quite a few
large rocks and boulders scattered along its way, but again, it isn’t steeply declined.
The runs and riffles are fairly long. There are a few pools but most are shallow. This
section has quite a few brown trout. Although we have spotted a few well over twenty
inches, the largest we have caught was only sixteen. There seems to be an almost
50-50 mixture of browns to rainbows in this area of the stream. We usually fish the
riffles and runs from the bottom to the top focusing on the current seams. It is fairly
easy to navigate upstream most all the way to where the road departs the stream.
Between three and four miles in, the stream gets a little more decline in it and the runs
become faster and deeper. There are a few deep pools in this area. The higher
upstream you fish, the fewer brown trout you will catch. When you get to the bridge
where the road leaves the stream, you will begin to pick up brook trout. Most of them
are on the small side but I feel sure there are a few large ones in the stream.
It seems that the Straight Fork has more aquatic insects than many of the streams in
the park. The hatches are heavy and plentiful. There are a lot of Blue-winged Olives in
the lower section of the stream. We have seen a quite a few Hendrickson and Sulphurs
there also, or more than most of the other streams in the park.
The Straight Fork fishes like the perfect dry fly stream. Its long runs and riffles almost
always hold more than one trout willing to take your fly. On one fall day, Angie
managed to catch five rainbows and browns out of the same run. It’s not a stream you
want to just hit the likely looking spots and move on. It pays to work the flows slowly
and cover all the water.
The Straight Fork has produced a lot of trout for us every time we have fished it and
that has been at least twenty or more times during the past several years. I’m not sure
if it is the lack of pressure, a high fish population or exactly what, but it produces as
many trout as any stream we have fished in the park and usually, far more. We hope
you have the same success as we have had with this stream.
Additional Information:
Fly Fishing Smoky Mountains