Want to fish the Tuck?

Jackson County, N.C. – Want to fish the Tuck? Fly Fishing Team USA Member and Champion Angler Josh Stephens recommends the following for those looking to cast a line in the Tuckasegee River:
• 4-6 wt rod (Stephens most often uses a 9.5' 4 wt 2-axis rod)
• Glo Bug, Woolly Bugger, Leach, Czech and Standard Nymph Patterns
• 3-5X tippet
• Use Czech Nymphing and Dry Dropper Techniques

If you're not bringing your own gear or just want to try your hand fly-fishing while you're here, visit one of the local fly shops for some of the best advice. And a guided trip can be tailored to become just what you're looking for.

What's so great about fishing in Jackson County?
The Tuckasegee River, which runs through Jackson County, is a great body of water on which to learn to fly fish, say Fly Fishing Team USA Member Josh Stephens.
"You've got great access and a good variety of fish," he said.
There are several places along the river where you can pull your vehicle over and walk to the river to get a few quick casts or spend the whole day wading up and down stream.
Also, the Horsepasture River near Cashiers and sections of the Chattooga River offer excellent fishing, Stephens said.
With so much water in the mountains of Western North Carolina, every fisherman's bound to find their hole.

Born and raised in Sylva — and the son of a game warden — Josh Stephens got his fair share of outdoor adventures growing up. But while he'd gone fishing, he never really understood the appeal of a fly-line until Robert Redford's film "A River Runs Through It."
"We fished a lot, but we never fly-fished together," Stephens said of his father.
Set in rural Montana, the film's sweeping scenery and sun-silhouetted frames of two brothers casting their lines into a cool, rippling stream captured Stephens' imagination. It's a fact that Stephens gets a little razzing in fly-fishing's inner circles, where many champions come from long lines of fishermen and weren't motivated by movie stars.
But it is what it is, Stephens says, and what got him into the sport in no way diminishes his love or talent for it.

At 17, Stephens headed to Yellowstone National Park for the summer with plans to do little more than work and fish. He fell in love with the West and spent his college vacations there working and fishing, returning to school at Western Carolina University to earn his degree in criminal justice.

He held the pattern after graduating, moving out to Colorado and working in Durango, returning to North Carolina for a job with the state Wildlife Resources Commission. Then — 18 months later — he moved back to Durango to take over outfitting for a local lodge. For Stephens it was a dream come true — fishing in the summer, elk hunting in the winter.

By this time, Stephens had more time on the water than even the most avid hobbyist fisherman. At an exposition he entered and won the "Best in the West" a casting competition, sending him on to the competition finals in Utah where he took third place. His skills attracted the attention of one of the coaches of Fly Fishing Team USA. Stephens was invited to try out for the team and made it.

The team is comprised of about two dozen master anglers from across the country who travel around the world to compete.

"We're all good fishermen, but we've learned how to work together as a team," Stephens said.
Stephens was team captain at the National Fly Fishing Championship in 2006 where the team placed sixth in the world — the highest the team has ever finished. This year the team will be traveling to New Zealand for the 28th annual World Fly Fishing Championships.