Deep Creek or Grand Central station ??

[dink]

Originally Posted by fearnofishbob

My fishing partner and I went to Deep Creek this morning to fish for some browns in the lower section of the creek....from the campground up to the first bridge....... within an hour we were joined by a group (6 guys I think) from Chattanooga who had come to fish the same area.... within another hour we were joind by a threesome........... not long after that we were joined by a single fisherman........ THATS 11-12 people fishing the same small area for wild browns........ we were running over the top of each other......

I'm not sure where one will have to go to find some wild trout water without alot of company....but I keep trying !!

Welcome to the worldwide webb

[Rog 1]

I can remember fishing with my grandfather until he was 82 when the A disease started making its appearance and his doctor wouldn't let him drive beyond his work...but I must say if there was ever a place you couldn't remember how to get out of the Park would be at the top of my list....until the day he died at the age of 86 he still carried a fly rod in the car with him.

[NDuncan]

Originally Posted by duckypaddler

That didn't work on Forney last weekend. 7 miles from the top to 69 with over 3000 of elevation loss. When we got down to 2nd crossing below 69 ran into another fisherman. There were 4 at 70!

While what you said usually is true, I've had several trips this year where the complete opposite seems to be true

True, but also consider that if we had fished up from 69, we wouldn't have even known anyone else was out fishing and neither would the other group! It's like those old school math word problems: A group of fishermen hikes down from clingmans dome at 2 mph, a group of fishmermen hikes up from Lakeshore Drive at 3 mph, assuming they both try to get to as far down the trail as possible to avoid fishing around other groups, where do their paths collide?

My Rules for avoiding the crowds:

Don't fish along paved roads except during weekends Dec-Feb and weekdays between Nov-Mar

Don't fish along gravel roads on weekends except between Nov-early Mar, weekdays, Late Oct - Mid Apr

Don't fish along the fish 1-2 miles of any trailhead between Apr-Oct (some weekdays maybe ok)

Don't fish within 2-3 miles of any major frontcountry campground during Mid Apr- Mid Oct

Don't work every time, but work well enough

[David Knapp]

My rules: Go fishing when I can and preferably when its nasty weather outside!!! Its amazing how few people want to fish in the rain. Of course, the fishing is definitely NOT always better, but at least the streams, rivers and lakes tend to be uncrowded...

Seriously some good info on this thread for people wanting to avoid the crowds. I remember hiking in to upper Deep Creek one summer and hiking downstream for a few miles to reach "remote" water that was presumably unfished. Well, each campsite had multiple tents and empty fly rods were leaning against trees all over the place it seemed. Lesson learned and included a walk back upstream for 2 miles before we reached unfished water.

There are lots of other good tricks that time on the water will teach you to catch fish even in heavily pressured or travelled areas. Deep nymphing (with the correct flies is one easy solution. Learn all the tricks and you can fish major park streams year round and still do well.

[Carolina Kudzu]

If you fish the less popular streams, you will probably have them all to yourself, especially on a week day. Monday, a friend and I fished two streams within 5 minutes of Little River, and did not see another fisherman.
And you will be surprised at how good the fishing is on these streams. The size of the fish you can catch in smaller streams is also surprising. Just study a Park map or topo maps. Finding a gem not many people fish, is a kick, and the searching is a lot of fun. There are many, many wonderful places in the park away from the main roads and parking areas.