Is Pigeonroost Creek good for rainbow trout?

Yes, on the classification rather than on a thermometer. NC DEQ recorded rainbow trout in Pigeonroost Creek between 1997 and 2022, at one sampling site on it, and this site reads the water as cold 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. Fish of 7–14 inches are what North Carolina reports as typical.

Open Pigeonroost Creek on the map See Pigeonroost Creek on the live map → Every reach coloured by water temperature, with the public land and access points along it.

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 band above is inferred from its management tier for the fishery, and it is not a thermometer.

Gauge	Now	July mean
CATAWBA R NR PLEASANT GARDENS, NC	63.3 °F	74.2 °F

What you may keep

North Carolina WRC classifies this water as Wild Trout Waters. The management tier on those reaches is wild. 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 Pigeonroost Creek

Pigeonroost Creek — live water temperature, regulations and access