Eagle Creek

[jigman29]

I know this isn't a Georgia stream but since several here fish the park I thought I would ask.

Any of yall ever fished Eagle Creek? I nearly got my killing in there 17 years ago and haven't been back. I have got a hankering to go deep and stay again. My main question is have any of you walked the trail all way through? I believe you can come out in Cades cove from what I have seen on the maps but was wondering how far I would have fishable water. The last time we fished it we got way up high ad got into some good sized specks and that was my goal for the next trip in.

 

[trout maharishi]

Been quite a few years since my wife and I did the whole Eagle Creek trail from the bottom up.You can fish Eagle creek almost all the way to the ridge line at the Spence Field shelter on the AT. The last mile or so gets fairly steep and the stream is small but still fishable. Once you reach Spence Field if you start down to Cades Cove there's not much fishing. The Bote Mt trail (no fishing) runs down a ridge and connects to Anthony's Creek. If I'm not mistaken the GSMNP is currently doing a spec restoration project in Anthony's Creek and it's closed. When my wife and I went we didn't hike down to Cades Cove, we walked a couple of miles north on the AT and dropped down into the headwaters of Hazel Creek and walked it all the way back down to the lake. We took a week to do the loop and that was one of the best fishing trips we ever did. You could do the same type of loop with 20 mile creek by heading south on the AT a couple miles if you wanted to. Walk up one from the lake and down another back to the lake.

 

[NCHillbilly]

I have actually never fished Eagle. What happened on your first trip?

 

[jigman29]

I have actually never fished Eagle. What happened on your first trip?

Me and a buddy walked back into the island to camp a few days. The first night we woke up to a thunderstorm and figured it would be a fast moving one and we would be fine. Well the creek rose over 2 feet that night and was at the edge of the tent. We were able to cross but had to bushwack through the mountains since the creek crossings were flooded. My buddy fell and wash washed down till he was able to grab onto a tree, he lost a good bit of his gear off his pack. 13 hours we climbed mountains and at one point we were on our bellies in an ivy thicket for 2 hours. We would grab what we could and get our feet under us and push forward a couple feet at a time. Once we crossed onto the ridge we started down the other side which was steep as a horses face the leaves covering the rocks slid off and we tumbled a long way down. I thought I had broken my leg but after sitting there a while it finally eased up enough to let me hobble on.
When I got back to work on Monday the guys were saying how I looked like a had lost weight, I weight myself and I was 15lb lighter than before we left! If it wasn't for my water bottle keeping us hydrated I have no doubt we would have been in a sure enough mess. My buddy lost his at the first creek crossing and Mine would run out fairly quick but luckily we found enough branches to keep it filled.
To give perspective on how much rain we got, when we pulled the boat up at the campsite we drove it onto the shore and barely reached a tree on the bank with his 6' log chain. When we got back to the boat I had to go under water to unlock it. It was a good 2' underwater. It blew my mind how much Fontana came up in that one night.
My buddy at work said he was watching the weather channel and it showed the area where we were getting 12+ inched of rain in that storm cell. I believe it too.
Hard to describe it but I have lived in these mountains all my life and have been lost in some rough country but this was the first time I honestly wondered if I was gonna make it out. But we saw some amazing country back there.

 

[trout maharishi]

Lots of wet crossings above the island camp site. You could be stuck if you had one of those systems that dumps a foot of rain. I was camping over on Hazel Ck one time when one of those low pressure systems coming up from the gulf stalled and dumped for 3 days. My wife called the park service and they sent a ranger (they use to stay at the Calhoun House during the summer) up to check on us at Bone Valley.

 

[jigman29]

Lots of wet crossings above the island camp site. You could be stuck if you had one of those systems that dumps a foot of rain. I was camping over on Hazel Ck one time when one of those low pressure systems coming up from the gulf stalled and dumped for 3 days. My wife called the park service and they sent a ranger (they use to stay at the Calhoun House during the summer) up to check on us at Bone Valley.

Several below the island as well. We caught some pretty fish the first evening though. Always loved that place.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Me and a buddy walked back into the island to camp a few days. The first night we woke up to a thunderstorm and figured it would be a fast moving one and we would be fine. Well the creek rose over 2 feet that night and was at the edge of the tent. We were able to cross but had to bushwack through the mountains since the creek crossings were flooded. My buddy fell and wash washed down till he was able to grab onto a tree, he lost a good bit of his gear off his pack. 13 hours we climbed mountains and at one point we were on our bellies in an ivy thicket for 2 hours. We would grab what we could and get our feet under us and push forward a couple feet at a time. Once we crossed onto the ridge we started down the other side which was steep as a horses face the leaves covering the rocks slid off and we tumbled a long way down. I thought I had broken my leg but after sitting there a while it finally eased up enough to let me hobble on.
When I got back to work on Monday the guys were saying how I looked like a had lost weight, I weight myself and I was 15lb lighter than before we left! If it wasn't for my water bottle keeping us hydrated I have no doubt we would have been in a sure enough mess. My buddy lost his at the first creek crossing and Mine would run out fairly quick but luckily we found enough branches to keep it filled.
To give perspective on how much rain we got, when we pulled the boat up at the campsite we drove it onto the shore and barely reached a tree on the bank with his 6' log chain. When we got back to the boat I had to go under water to unlock it. It was a good 2' underwater. It blew my mind how much Fontana came up in that one night.
My buddy at work said he was watching the weather channel and it showed the area where we were getting 12+ inched of rain in that storm cell. I believe it too.
Hard to describe it but I have lived in these mountains all my life and have been lost in some rough country but this was the first time I honestly wondered if I was gonna make it out. But we saw some amazing country back there.

Man, that sounds like a rough trip for sure. It's amazing how fast the water can come up in these mountain creeks, and how much rain a storm can dump in one place.

 

[jigman29]

Man, that sounds like a rough trip for sure. It's amazing how fast the water can come up in these mountain creeks, and how much rain a storm can dump in one place.

That's the truth. Lived here and followed hounds through these mountains all my life and I never been through anything that rough. But I seen plenty of country I would love to look out over from the seat of my summit lol