BirdTroutOpen the map Is the South Fork Mills River good for brown trout?
Yes, on the classification rather than on a thermometer. NC DEQ recorded brown trout in the South Fork Mills River in 2007, 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 54–66 °F band this fish wants. That was 19 years ago — it is the most recent record NC DEQ publishes for this water, not a reading from this season. Fish of 8–16 inches are what North Carolina reports as typical.
What the state's records say
- Species
- Brown trout (Salmo trutta)
- In North Carolina
- introduced
- Record here
- surveyed present
- Holds in
- 54–66 °F, stops feeding above 75 °F
- Typical
- 8–16 inches
- Spawns
- Late October into December, on gravel riffles, later in the season than the rainbow and overlapping the brook trout.
Introduced. Wild in the larger mountain rivers and the tailwaters, and stocked into hatchery-supported water alongside rainbow.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Davidson River | 57.7 °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 South Fork Mills River
South Fork Mills River — live water temperature, regulations and access