September 22nd marked the first day of Fall.
September is one of my favorite months to guide because it is a transition month. The beginning of the month can still be hot, but we start to experience those cooler fronts that remind us that fall is near. Once those cold fronts come in it triggers bass into feeding aggressively. Bass begin moving to the deeper holes which they stay in throughout the winter, so there are multiple fish to be caught in these holes. The primary diet for river smallmouth in the summertime consists of crayfish, but when water temperatures drop in late September smallmouth start eating shiners, chubs, and minnows. It’s always fun casting big flies or throwing big plugs to aggressive smallmouth. Normally you see some of your biggest smallmouth landed in the months of September and October. Here are some smallmouth we landed this September.
20 inch bruiser that crushed a streamer. This was a personal best for Toby!
Nice river smallmouth Chuck caught on the fly.
The mornings can be cold in September, but the fishing remains hot for river smallmouth.
We offer fly fishing and spin fishing trips for bass. Either ways it’s fun catching these amazing fish in a beautiful setting.
No better way to experience western North Carolina than on one of our rafts.
Mrs. Bone and her husband put 37 fish in the boat this day. September is a great month for numbers and bigger fish.
Mrs. Flournoy caught her first North Carolina smallmouth on the fly.
Trout Fishing starts heating up in September!
The Catawba Angler loves chasing smallmouth, but it’s always nice when the trout fishing begins to heat up towards the end of September. The best time to trout fish is from October to May, but when temperatures drop in September we will chase trout in some of our local trout streams. We were fortunate to have some cooler days this past week to get out and chase some trout on the fly. Our water temperatures dropped below 65 degrees which is ideal for chasing trout. The trout fishing only gets better from here and we will chase trout on our local creeks and rivers all winter long. See some of our recent catches from September.
Scott caught this stud on a wild trout stream on a 3 weight rod. What a fight!
Scott landed this big brown trout out of the same hole that he caught the wild rainbow. What a day!
One of the 15 trout James caught this day. Our wade fishing trips cater to many different ages.
Lee’s first trout on the fly.
Wild trout are still eager to hit dry flies in September.
Delayed Harvest starts in October!
October and November is one of our most popular months to trout fish here in western North Carolina. The leaves begin to change and I cannot think of a more beautiful place to experience it than wading knee deep in a mountain stream. Our creeks and rivers are stocked with some great trout and it’s the perfect time to learn how to fly fish or chase that personal best with one of our experiences guides. We offer wade fishing trips for $250 and float trips for $350. Check out some of our catches over the last few years on our local delayed harvest streams.
Lake James fishing in October
Bass fishing on Lake James will begin to pick back up after a slow month in September. Those cooler nights triggers the bass into feeding heavily on the forage to fatten up for winter. This is a great time to get out on the lake to see the scenery and catch some nice smallmouth.
