One of Cherokee's most popular recreational pastimes is trout fishing. Thirty miles of regularly stocked streams attract young, old, male, female, amateur and serious anglers anxious to try their hand at catching brown, brook or rainbow trout.

In October of 1990, the state record for a brown trout was caught in Tribal waters. It weighed 15 pounds, 2 ounces.

Some prefer our streams, while others like the tranquility of the three trout ponds located on Big Cove Road. No statelicense (North Carolina or other state) is required. All you need is a Tribal Fishing Permit available at nearly two dozen Reservation businesses. The Tribal permit sells for $7.00 and is valid for one day and a creel limit of ten fish. Permits for longer periods such as three or five days are available.

Children under 12 are not required to have a Tribal fishing permit as long as they are accompanied by someone with the proper permit.

All rivers and ponds are open every day from the last Saturday in March through the end of the following February. (March 31, 2001 through February 28, 2002). Also, fish caught in streams can either be released or kept up to the limit of ten per day. Trout caught in the tribal ponds cannot be released.

Cherokee's fishing program is managed by the Cherokee Fish and Game Management, a program of the Eastern Bandof Cherokee Indians.

Two businesses on the reservation rent fishing equipment: One Feather Fly & Tackle, located at the intersection of US 19 and US 441 downtown, and KOA on Big Cove Road. One Feather Fly & Tackle has the largest spinner selection inWestern North Carolina, with over 200 patterns of flies and fly-tying material and a full line of live bait. Phone 828-497-3113. .