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Where is Muskie Mile on the French Broad River

Musky mile is a stretch of river that many anglers either choose to float or avoid. Of course anglers may have different reasons to do so. However, musky mile can provide some of the biggest musky in the French Broad River, right here in Asheville. Some anglers avoid musky mile because it can get busy […]

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Trout Fishing Regulations North Carolina | NC Fishing Regulations

NC Trout Fishing Regulations Mountain trout require cold, oxygenated water to thrive. Therefore there are a number of regulations put into place to help protect their environment, and prevent anglers from keeping the desired amount of fish with creel limits. While catch and release is the only practice that we preach at Southern Appalachian Anglers, […]

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Western North Carolina Smallmouth Bass Guide

A Guide To Help You Catch More Smallmouth Bass in WNC When it comes to the battle between the fisherman and the fish, the smallmouth is the one sport fish that is always brought up. With more power than a trout, more fight than a largemouth, the smallmouth is the best fighting fish – pound […]

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Summer Smallies on the Fly

Early Summer Smallies on the Fly Author: Ethan Hollifield River smallmouth are one of my favorite freshwater species to target on the fly. This is my favorite time of year to chase smallmouth, and Western North Carolina has an abundance of smallmouth water ranging from large river basins to low elevation creeks and streams. Pound […]

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How To Set Up A Drop Shot Nymph Rig

How to Set Up a Drop Shot Nymphing System Author: Ethan Hollifield It’s hard to argue that nymphing is an effective way to target trout throughout the year, and through varying types of water conditions. Nymphing techniques have multiple branches of skills to be mastered that all have their place on their water, but one […]

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Wild Trout Fishing Destinations in Western North Carolina

Western North Carolina running from southeast Asheville all the way north toward the Tennessee boarder has the best trout fishing in the Southeast United States. While there are some private creeks and rivers that you need to stay away from there are hundreds of local streams and rivers that provide anglers with wild trout fishing […]

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Late Winter Trophy Smallmouth Bass Tactics

How To Catch Trophy Smallmouth Bass Winter For most of us in Western North Carolina the fishing season comes to an end in November. Snow makes its way to the highest peaks, and shallow ponds begin to freeze over. Late winter is truly the best time to catch giant bass. Smallmouth begin to feed on […]

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The Smallmouth Spawn Breakdown

Most anglers spend their entire life in search of a trophy smallmouth bass. Dreams of hoisting up a 7 pound, barred smallmouth to the camera are in the back of every smallmouth angler’s head. With their tendency to travel to deep water and hide behind rock ledges, trophy smallmouth can be a challenge to find. […]

5 Must-Have Smallmouth Lures

“Small lures and finesse presentations is what I tend to use for smallmouth bass“. This is a topic of discussion that we often hear anglers mention when smallmouth bass fishing. But there are certain times of the year when these subtle presentations can do more harm than good. Smallmouth bass can be caught year round. Many […]

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Best Part of the French Broad River for Smallmouth

This is a common question we get as fishing guides. While there are many different access points and multiple variables to consider, our guides have put together a quick list of best places to fish for smallmouth, musky and trout on the French Broad river. Access Points on the French Broad Let’s start out with […]