Drought worse on big trout in the Smokies

This article on Knoxville, TN television station WVLT's website says that big fish are taking the brunt of the drought in the Great Smoky Mountians National Park.

"What we found actually is the numbers of fish per mile were actually a little better than average this year. What we didn't see is bigger fish," said Bob Miller, spokesman for the National Park."

It might be a while before things get back to normal.

"If we saw natural or normal water conditions again this fall, we'd be back at a normal size distribution in about two years," said Miller

On another note, the same article has a quote from a visitor to the GSMNP that caught our eye:

"We got bites and I caught two trout that size, honest to God. And one that was eating the worm. I didn't even get him on my hook," said Busick.

We can only hope that if he was fishing in the park he was using an artificial worm.

Break out the corn meal.

The Superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Dale Ditmanson has announced that fishing has no significant impact on stocks of native brook trout.

From the National Park Service Press Release:


Superintendent Ditmanson said, “A year ago we reopened all but a handful of Park streams to brook trout fishing on an experimental basis after a 30-year ban. This decision opens the door for a permanent change to Park regulations that will allow visitors to fish for brook trout throughout the Park except in three streams where active restoration is currently ongoing. These streams are Bear Creek, Sams Creek, and Indian Flats Prong.”

Fishing and harvest will generally be open in streams throughout the Park with the exception of newly restored streams, so as to allow ample time for recovery. Park staff will monitor and assess the viability of opening newly restored systems after a sufficient period of recovery and sound monitoring results that support such an opening. Each restored system will be evaluated on a case by case basis. Monitoring will also be used to assess whether a “catch and release” program should be initiated if at any time the populations appears to be at risk.

Input from the public during the EA public comment period clearly indicated support for the permitting of brook trout fishing within the Park. Park managers will initiate a regulation change in the Code of Federal Regulations, but in the interim the experimental brook trout fishery will continue. The change to the existing regulation may take a year or more.


No power bait allowed yet though.

Photo via the NC Wildlife website.

The "Road to Nowhere"

The National Park Service has recommended abandoning a plan to construct the so called "Road to Nowhere" through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The road's construction was originally promised in 1943 to the residents of Swain County, North Carolina as a way for them to visit their family cemeteries, which were cut off from road access by the construction of Lake Fontana, without having to take a boat across the lake. Instead of funding the construction the park service will seek a settlement with the families involved. A recent article in the Charlotte Observer praises the decision.

The construction of the road caught the interest of fishermen who felt the project would harm the ecology of the park and also provide easy access to one of the state's best trout streams, Hazel Creek. Hazel Creek is currently only accessible by boat, a factor that contributes to its being one of the state's premier trout fisheries.

That's why 17 members of Congress signed a letter asking the administration to abandon the road and make a cash settlement with Swain County, whose commissioners have said they'd accept a $52 million offer. They plan to use the money to promote economic development in an area where the government owns much of the land. That solution would preserve the mountain ecosystem, help the county and save U.S. taxpayers a bundle of money.

Here is a link to an article about Hazel Creek from the GORP website. The article is written by Don Kirk, a noted authority on trout fishing in the GSMNP.

Chandler to visit GSMNP: Calamity Ensues

Famed blogging angler Tom Chandler of the Trout Underground is planning to visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the next couple of weeks. Around the time he announced his plans to visit the park on his excellent blog, several area roads were closed due to high wind and downed trees. Now, as the time for his visit approaches, we learn of a forest fire in the park that has closed a campground and trails.

"A visitor reported the fire to the park around 2:30 p.m. on Monday. The fire is about 1.5 miles inside the park boundary and is located about 0.3 mile from the Big Creek Trailhead between Big Creek Trail and Chestnut Branch Trail. Aerial reconnaissance of the fire yesterday afternoon estimated the fire to be about 40 acres north of Big Creek Trail."

Coincidence?

Trees downed in GSMNP - Hwy 441 blocked

Anglers preparing for a trip to fish the Great Smoky Mountains National Park should be advised that last night's windstorm brought down large numbers of trees around the park. According to this Charlotte.com article highway 441 which runs over the mountain between the town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Cherokee Indian Reservation, is blocked with over 200 trees down.

"The area where about 200 trees fell onto the road is in North Carolina, near the Tennessee state line, east of Newfound Gap. There was no estimate of when the highway would be opened again and no word about damage to the roadway. Crews were scheduled to work until dark on Monday."

The National Park Service website reports the following road closures:

Temporary Closures • Newfound Gap Road (US-441) - due to ice and wind damage
• Clingmans Dome Road - due to ice and snow
• Parsons Branch Road - was severely damaged by a flood. Repairs to the road began on October 16, 2006. For safety reasons, the road will be closed to all public use, including hikers, equestrians, and cyclists during construction.