Freestone · Mixed Metamorphic · North Carolina, US

Davidson River

A calm, tree-lined stretch of the Davidson River reflecting autumn foliage in Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina.
Marginal · Rainbow Trout
Blue Winged Olive · 16-20
Marginallive now
Slow going — pick your moments
Low and clear — careful approach country. Cover and shadow are doing the work today.
80% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.17 mLast reading 1h ago
  • Water temp20.1°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Blue Winged Olive
Blue Winged Olive16-20
High-confidence seasonal pick
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.17 m
Last reading 1h ago
Water temp20.1°C
ClarityClear
Weather24°C
WindS 4 km/h
Pressure1022 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead1.3 mm

Live readings only. Trends shown where the gauge supports them.

Water temperature for Rainbow Trout
Warm — slow
20.1°Cideal 10–18°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Rainbow Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Water at 20.1°C — above the brown trout caution line (18°C). Fish dawn or dusk only. Land it fast, wet hands, no air shots.
Likely species
Mayflies
Caddisflies
terrestrials
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 5pm

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 6 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 with Pro.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · September highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Brown DunHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Quill GordonHatch
2
2
Blue QuillHatch
2
3
2
HendricksonHatch
2
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Rainbow Trout fly box
Local fly shops: Davidson River Outfitters
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Cooler water nearby · 1
Water here at 20.1°C — the fishing's alive, but these are cooler if you'd rather rest the warm water.
Raven Fork (headwaters)
55 km
~17°C
Brook trout
Gallery · 2
  1. A calm, tree-lined stretch of the Davidson River reflecting autumn foliage in Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina.
    Davidson River, Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
Conservation note

Wild + stocked rainbow/brown with native brookies in the headwaters; technical, well-educated trout in the C&R water. brook_trout (char comfort-overlay), rainbow_trout and brown_trout all score post-seed.

Water quality · US Clean Water Act
  • Aquatic life: Impaired
What this classification means

EPA ATTAINS assessment unit 'Davidson River' (NC6-34-(1)), 2022 Integrated Report. Aquatic Life use: Not Supporting. Listed impairment causes: Habitat Alterations, Hydrologic Alteration, pH Acidity Caustic Conditions. This is a Clean Water Act assessment-unit classification (the US analogue of WFD), not a live reading.

Status is for the Clean Water Act assessment unit covering this reach.

EPA ATTAINS (Clean Water Act) · NC6-34-(1)

The full read · show the working · for Rainbow Trout · confidence 80%
How the 27 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature27 × 28%7.6
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity85 × 18%15.3
Feeding Time55 × 13%7.2
Pressure75 × 7%5.3
Insect activity66 × 12%7.9
Conditions total= 61
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
What would change the calculation
Cooler water — back toward the 10–18 °C ideal band — would lift the score and ease welfare.
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 January → 31 December
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts