BirdTroutOpen the map Is the Mitchell River good for rainbow trout?
Yes, on the classification rather than on a thermometer. NC DEQ recorded rainbow trout in the Mitchell River in 1999, at one sampling site on it, and this site reads the water as cold-transitional from NCWRC's management tier for it, which is an inference from how the fishery is managed and not a temperature NCWRC publishes — but no USGS gauge on this river reports water temperature, so this site has no measured July mean to hold against the 55–65 °F band this fish wants. That was 27 years ago — it is the most recent record NC DEQ publishes for this water, not a reading from this season. Fish of 7–14 inches are what North Carolina reports as typical.
What the state's records say
- Species
- Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
- In North Carolina
- introduced
- Record here
- surveyed present
- Holds in
- 55–65 °F, stops feeding above 75 °F
- Typical
- 7–14 inches
- Spawns
- Spring — March into May — on gravel, which is what separates it from the two autumn spawners above.
Introduced, and now the most widely distributed trout in the western counties — wild in the tumbling gradient water and stocked through the hatchery-supported season.
Is the water cold enough
No USGS gauge on this river reports water temperature, so there is no measured July mean to put beside the species' band. NCWRC publishes no temperature classification for this water; the Cold-transitional band above is inferred from its management tier for the fishery, and it is not a thermometer.
What you may keep
North Carolina WRC classifies this water as Delayed Harvest Trout Waters. The management tier on those reaches is stocked holdover. This is a designation of the fishery and not the season and creel rules.
NCWRC public mountain trout waters → North Carolina season and creel rules →
What to fish for it
- Little Black Stonefly — January–April, #16–18
- Little Brown Stonefly — February–April, #12–16
- Blue-Winged Olive — March–May and September–November, #16–22
- Quill Gordon — March–April, #12–14
- Blackfly — April–June, #18–22
- Blue Quill — April–May, #16–18
- Cranefly — April–June and September–October, #6–10
- Grannom — April–May, #14–16
The insects recorded from this river's region, earliest first. The full calendar →
More about Mitchell River
Mitchell River — live water temperature, regulations and access
- Is the Mitchell River good for brown trout?
- When to fish the Mitchell River, North Carolina
- How to get to the Mitchell River, North Carolina
- Mitchell River fishing report
- Mitchell River fishing regulations