BirdTroutOpen the map Is the Yadkin River good for brook trout?
Not in midsummer, and not everywhere. NC DEQ recorded brook trout in the Yadkin River in 2006, at one sampling site on it, but the river's measured July mean of 73.0 °F is above the 68 °F upper limit for this fish, so the water that holds it is the cold tributary mouths and the spring-fed stretches rather than the mainstem in July. That was 20 years ago — it is the most recent record NC DEQ publishes for this water, not a reading from this season. Fish of 5–9 inches are what North Carolina reports as typical.
What the state's records say
- Species
- Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
- In North Carolina
- native
- Record here
- surveyed present
- Holds in
- 53–61 °F, stops feeding above 68 °F
- Typical
- 5–9 inches
- Spawns
- October and November, on gravel in groundwater-fed shallows, often at the mouths of seeps rather than in the main current.
Southern Appalachian brook trout — the native strain, in the highest and coldest water in the state, generally above 3,000 feet.
Is the water cold enough
Measured, not modelled: 1 gauged stretch of this river average 73.0 °F in July , against the 53–61 °F this fish holds in and the 68 °F it stops feeding at.
| Gauge | Now | July mean |
|---|---|---|
| Patterson | 61.2 °F | 73.0 °F |
What you may keep
North Carolina WRC classifies this water as Hatchery Supported 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 Yadkin River
Yadkin River — live water temperature, regulations and access