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The Cherokees have fished the pristine waters of the Qualla Boundary for some 11,000 years. Ancient stone fish traps, craved bone fishhooks, legends and lore all confirm this. The Cherokee and their ancestors also caught fish with bows and arrows, spears and by stunning the fish using chemicals released from beaten walnut bark, then dipping up the stupefied fish in baskets. Pine and poplar canoes forty feet long carried fifteen to twenty Cherokee fishermen to the most productive waters.

Cherokee Trout Fishing Facts At A Glance:
Cherokee features over 30 miles of tribally stocked trout streams open to all anglers, by permit.
• Cherokee trout fishing open a week earlier than the rest of the state of North Carolina.
• Cherokee hosts a number of trout fishing events throughout the season.
• The daily creel limit is 10 for adult anglers and a parent/guardian with a child or children.

Today, the trout fishing in Cherokee is exceptional, thanks to an outstanding Cherokee hatchery and stocking program and the streams are popular with visiting anglers from all over. In fact, North Carolina trout season literally starts in Cherokee.

That’s right. Open season for Cherokee “Enterprise Waters” – over 30 miles of clear, stocked streams and three easily accessed ponds – begins on the last Saturday in March. Elsewhere in North Carolina, the season does not start until April 1 and runs through February.

The Cherokee season starts out on a high note with the “Ramp Festival” in late March each year on the Cherokee Indian Fair Grounds. This festival highlights two of our mountain delicacies: trout, and our pungent, wild onion/garlic-like ramps. Held in conjunction with trout season opening on the Qualla Boundry (a.k.a. the Cherokee Indian Reservation), the festival includes music, competitions, craft exhibitions and a trout-and-ramp feast.

Another fishing high point, held in Oconaluftee Islands Park in early August, is the Talking Trees Children’s Trout Derby. This event entertains and thrills up to 2,000 children annually. Featuring fly-fishing exhibitions, fish-cleaning stations, food, music, door prizes and trophies, the derby is free for children ages 3-11.

Trout fishing regulations within the Qualla boundary

• Open season for Enterprise Waters shall be from the last Saturday in March until the last day in the following February, seven days a week from one half hour before sunrise until one half hour after sunset.
• Enterprise Waters consist of Raven Fork from the confluence with Straight Ford River downstream to its confluences with Oconaluftee River from the same confluence downstream to the Reservation boundary in Birdtown, Bunches Creek and fish ponds in Big Cove and Soco Creek on US 19 East. All other Reservation fishing waters are “Non-Enterprise Waters” for which fishing is open only to enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
• Fish may be taken from the Enterprise Waters only with a rod and line, and with bait or lure. No person may have more than one line in the water at one time. Snagging, chumming, grabbing, seining, and selling and buying of trout are prohibited.
• The daily creel for adult anglers is 10 trout, as is the combined daily creel limit for both parent/guardian and child/children under 12 years of age. All trout caught in the ponds located on Big Cove Road at permit station #14 must be retained by the fishermen up to the daily creel limit of 10 trout. Each angler is required to keep his/her catch in a separate container, stringer, etc. Limit in possession is one day’s catch.
• All persons fishing on the Enterprise Waters shall be required to obtain and have their possession a Tribal Fishing Permit. Cost for 1-day $7.00; 2-day $14.00; 3-day $20.00; 5-day $28.00; season $200.00
• Children under 12 years old may fish free when accompanied by a licensed parent or guardian.