Matthew and I traveled up to Gorges State Park, located just above Lake Jocassee on the North Carolina – South Carolina line on a fishing trip I’ve been wanting to make for the better part of a decade. I’ve been waiting for the right time to make the trek, as it was the craziest trip I’ve ever planned, and Matthew is the only person crazy enough (and tough enough) to try it with me. Getting to the fishing in Gorges State Park is not easy, because as the name implies, the terrain is difficult. Add to that the fact that the “easy” way in is under construction, and the park is literally in an area of North Carolina that qualifies as a rain forest, and it makes for a difficult trip. However, I assumed that the fishing, because of it remoteness, would be worth the trip.
There are two major streams of interest in the park – the Toxaway River and Bearwallow Creek. These can both be accessed from the steep mountain biking trail Auger Hole Trail, about 5 and 6 miles from the trailhead, respectively. We used mountain bikes to get into the backcountry, which allowed us to traverse the downhill portions very quickly, but we had to walk the bikes up the steep upgrades.
When we arrived at the Toxaway River, it was muddy, due to the heavy rains the night before. The Toxaway River registered 72 deg F (too warm for trout fishing), so we ended up crossing the river (it is very easy to cross where the bike trail intersects it), and heading downstream (though there is no official path following the river) a quarter mile or so, to where Bearwallow Creek joins it. There is a beautiful pool where the two come together. I had a fish on in the pool, but it came off right before I got it out of the water, and I wasn’t able to tell if it was a trout or smallmouth bass.
We fished up Bearwallow Creek from there, with only a couple of trout wanting to cooperate. As we progressed upstream, the stream became steeper, until we reached impassable Lower Bearwallow Falls. These moss-laden falls are extremely picturesque, so much so that I included them in the beginning of our website’s welcome video. Unfortunately, the trout in the large pool beneath the falls were evidently taking their naps at this time, so we hiked back to our bikes and continued up the path to where it met Bearwallow Creek upstream one half mile or so from the lower falls. The stream here was a series of small waterfalls and plunge pools that provided what I consider to be the most scenic small trout stream I’ve ever fished. (I think that the larger Merced River in Yosemite and Lake Creek in Alaska actually had more scenic surroundings.) However, we had only one or two bites, and we were afraid to stay down there too late, as we didn’t know how long it would take to hike and bike our way out, as it was mostly uphill coming out. (It took us approximately one and one half hours of hiking/biking plus fifteen minutes of rest to get back out, but make sure you’re in good shape if you try it.) We never saw another person in the park after we started on the trail in the morning.
In summary, Gorges State Park, which is appropriately easy to confuse with Gorgeous State Park, is a remote, rugged, beautiful area. It has almost everything necessary for a great trout fishing experience: rugged beauty, lack of fishermen due to its remoteness, and waterfalls with great plunge pools. But, alas, it seems to lack the one main ingredient: an ample supply of trout. Nevertheless, someday I may come back and try again, this time with less gear and maybe even a different quarry: smallmouth bass. I would recommend other nearby streams, such as the Davidson, Thompson, Horsepasture, or Whitewater.If you plan on visiting the area, the Sierra Club publishes a good guide you may want to check out.