We spent a beautiful fall day fly fishing and spinner fishing the upper South Toe River last weekend. With the fall colors just starting in the mountains, and the perfect weather, it was a great day to be on the stream.
The upper South Toe is managed under Wild regulations. Followed closely at times, and not so closely at times, by gravel FS472 near the Blue Ridge Parkway, the river is relatively easy to fish, thanks to its easy access and mild gradient. Campers abound this time of year, not only in the Black Mountain Campground, but also along the road in designated campsites. However, we didn't see any other fishermen on the stream the entire day.
With the water so low, as is typical for NC streams this time of year, the trout were spooky. The water was between 48 - 50 degrees all day, and the air temperature was in the 60's - 70's. Things started slowly, so slowly that we wondered if there were any fish in the creek at all. However, after fishing a couple hundred yards of stream above one of the bridges, we started encountering the small rainbows that abound in this stream. We used #14 yellow mayfly dun fly patterns and 1/8 oz. spinners all day. For the day, we caught 6 - 8 rainbow trout, the largest of which was about 11 inches. Check out the video below for the sights and sounds of the day.