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Below is an email from the NC Wildlife mountain district fisheries manager. Justin passed along your email to me about Lake Nantahala. I am the lead on the Kokanee stocking project. The Kokanee stockings do not look like they are working, but we are still in the evaluation phase. I will be...

Following the Nantahala koke fishery on another site and unfortunately not one fish has been reported to date. Several good fishermen have given them a go without success. Very discouraging. 3 years into the restocking effort and it is looking pretty bleak. Does anyone have intel that's any...

Not going to get up there this year, but have been periodically checking this site to see if ANYONE had information on the lake. Very sad to see zero posts. Has anyone given them a go? Are the kokes gone as we have feared? Has NCWRC decided on what they are going to do with either the...

Mark, have you, or anyone else, heard of any fish caught this year? Did you ever go?

The hybrids were mostly caught downlining live herring. We also caught some on unweighted lines up top on ultralights. That was a lot of fun. Most were caught in a large cove in about 30-35ft. of water 15-20 ft down. School moved around some but if we marked them we caught them. Frequently...

Pics from L. Chatuge

Just finished our week up on the lake. Talked to 3 different Koke fisherman and one guide while there. No one had caught one yet this yr.! The guide said he hadn't caught one in over 2 yrs. & has stopped guiding for them. He thinks they are gone forever. The occasional walleye and rainbow is...

Got up to the mountains Sat. and went straight to Hiwassee L. Caught some spots but didn't even mark a striper. Weather unsettled. Bad storms with high winds. Dealt with power outage & generator issues Sat. PM and Sun. AM so haven't fished Nantahala yet. Talked to 2 trollers coming back to...

The silence on this site has me very worried. Are the Kokes still around? Has anyone given it a try yet this year? Was hoping to see a post or two (Ron, Mark, Fred...anyone?). My family will be back up on the lake the last week of June. I'm going to give them a try & fish for them a time...

The herring are definitely there. We just finished our week up on the lake. We marked a few schools here and there in all sections of the lake, the fewest in the Choga arm. Most were suspended 15-40ft down but we did catch a dozen or so in the cast net from a school that was hanging around...

Terrible news. Hope the kokes can survive. It would be a real shame to lose NC's most unique fishery. Let me know what you see this spring and summer. Our family will be back up there in mid-June. (never been so early before). Hope to y'all up there at some point.

Hey Ron, I',m sorry to hear about any health issues. I was worried about you since I hadn't seen any posts yet this year. Glad to hear you are back on the water, though! I wish you all the best in fighting whatever it is that's had you down. I don't think my family will be making the trip...

I admit that I am relatively new to the NC kokanee scene but I have been fishing for them ~6 yrs. now. I have seen in that short a period of time a very noticeable increase in the number of folks fishing for them and it concerns me. 6 years ago I noted 2 boats fishing for them in an entire...

My brother with his 1st Koke, a very nice 19" (our largest) Daughter with 21 1/2 " rainbow Nice walleye and some large Y. perch My family and my brother's family just spent the week at L. Nantahala. Had a great time as usual. Fishing was challenging, as it always is, in the heat of the late...

Sorry I'll miss you. I'll post any results from our trip. Your input hopefully will have me on a few. In the past I've caught most of my fish around 1.4-1.6 mph, but my 2 biggest at 1.8 mph. I've noticed that you tended to troll a little slower. What speed have you found them to be...

Ron, Great posts and glad to see you're still on them and in the same area that has produced for me in the past. Seeing your posts has got me really excited to get back up there. Missed it last year. I'll be there this weekend thru next and hope to fish several days next week. Look for my...

Mark, thanks for the tips. Good intel to have. Out of curiosity, how deep did you find the trout last Aug. and did you notice if the bite improved with moving water/generating. My experience is that it usually helps, but haven't been there before and it may be different. Ron, good luck on...

Trollmonkey/Rgarbar, I was looking to try something a little different on our trip this year and get off L. Nant. I've fished the Nant. Riv. for trout and the Little Tenn. R. for smallmouths. The trout at Lake Apalachia was on the bucket list. Is late July too late to go up there or would I...

Ron, You seem to be having a fantastic year! Hope it continues. Our family will be up there in 3-4 weeks (last week in July). Keep up the good work. Can't wait to get back up there.

Y'all are making me jealous with all these pics of nice fish. I won't be up there this yr. but did manage my best NC rainbow yesterday (20 1/2 inches). Hope to get up to the lake next yr.