I received an email this week from Julie Spiro in the Jackson County, N.C., Tourism Authority that promoted recreational opportunities under the headline “Western North Carolina is Home to Nation’s First Fly Fishing Trail.”
Jackson County is 45 miles west of Asheville, N.C., and south of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. The Blue Ridge Parkway runs along the eastern margin of the county and U.S. Highways 19, 23, 64 and 441 cross it east-to-west. Cherokee Tribal Lands occupy the northernmost portion of the county.
The Fly Fishing Trail is composed of 15 access points to approximately 60 miles of trout water spread throughout the county. The waters range from tailwaters and free-flowing rivers to high mountain streams.
The Trail has a web presence at www.FlyFishingTrail.com and it offers comprehensive support for the resource. A detailed, downloadable map of the trail showing highway and route connections is available onsite. There’s also an offer of a free map by mail for those wanting something more substantial than the flickering flow of electrons.
The map is keyed with information about each stream’s classification under North Carolina’s fishing regulations. Five categories of water are shown: Hatchery Supported; Wild Trout; Delayed Harvest; Wild Trout with Natural Bait and Catch and Release Single Hook; and, Artificial Lure.
Other features of the website include lodging, license information, photo albums for each stream, a place for submitted videos, a guest book for comments and GPS coordinates for the locations on the map.
All together, it’s a very nice way to package the concept.
I’m perfectly willing to give the streams in Jackson County a closer examination. They look like fun.
However, there’s one thing about which I’m a little ambivalent. It’s up against the eastern border just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, and it’s named Rough Butt Creek. Somehow, I don’t
think that’s an advertising gimmick. What the heck: Life’s supposed to be an adventure.
Our area has gotten some bad news lately. Unemployment has been increasing in response to worsening economic conditions.
The latest blow came when a service industry that would have employed 500 apparently dropped its plans to open a call center in Johnson City. Right now, the agencies that work to recruit industry to the area have a hard sell with the current recession.
Maybe we need to look at something other than outside industries as a source of employment.
Maybe we just need to look around at all the raw material we have for an industry that has a proven track record of performance even in tough times: outdoor recreation.
Maybe it’s time to start work on the Nation’s Second Fly Fishing Trail.
ffadvice@aol.com
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