Fishing in the Pisgah National Forest
The Pisgah District of the Pisgah National Forest is home to one of the best trout streams in the United States – the Davidson River. There are also numerous smaller streams in the area that offer almost unlimited trout fishing opportunities. People come from all over the country to fish here. The Davidson River is beautiful to fish – shallow enough to wade in most places, and wide enough to keep from snagging your line in brush and tree limbs along the shore.
Another place to fish in the Pisgah District is at Lake Powhatan. Close to Asheville, Lake Powhatan is stocked with Rainbow, Brown, and Brook Trout. It has a fishing pier for easy access to the lake. It’s a daily fee area.
The people at the desk at the Pisgah District Visitors Center are not fishing experts. Fishing Regulations are handled by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. In the past the visitors center would receive copies of the fishing and hunting regulations to hand out to visitors. This is no longer the case, so contact the commission in advance of your trip – their web site has a place where you can request that a copy of the regulations be mailed to you. You can also download a copy of the regulations using the links below.
Link to North Carolina Mountain Trout Water Fishing Regulations (Website):
Link to Fishing Regulation web page
North Carolina Trout Fishing County Maps.
We often get asked if we have a secret fishing spot. Our answer is yes. This having been said, there are downloadable maps of the trout streams in the Pisgah District available by county. Links to the interactive stream maps by county are available . Select the “Zoom to Location” option on the upper left corner, and select “Transylvania County”. Click on “Legend” to see what the different colors mean.