Within the past two weeks I managed to get out on the water twice, which was miraculous.  The magic faded though when the trout weren't hitting.  I'm not the best angler but I'm not the worst either and on each trip, I only caught one.  My buddy didn't catch any.  Even the hatchery supported waters weren't yielding any fish.  

 

We fished a little back water creek of Lake James (western NC) and I caught a 7 incher there.  Today, we went up to Wilson's Creek, the section that's on Brown Mountain Beach, and now I remember why I haven't been there in years to fish.  Empty water and trashy as last time.  All this hype and glory about Wilson's Creek must just be good marketing on the Web but I tell ya, if you're planning a trout trip to western NC, stay away from Brown Mountain or else you'll be disappointed.  We ended up ditching that area and found a little spot off a bridge where I caught a 12 incher and that was it.  

 

Hopefully, someone else is doing better on the stream than I am.

 

With the heat thats going on now, trout fishing is going to be tough. I am assuming the streams you fished were freestone mountain streams (not tailwaters fed by a dam).

Check the water temp next time you go. If is above 70° the fishing gets dangerous for the trout as they are just trying to survive. Try and find a place with good drop offs/rapids. These will have the highest oxygenation and coolest water temps. Trout will congregate below them to feed and will hold near them in pockets of calmer water. Good luck!

What kind of bait or lure were you using?

What kind of bait or lure were you using?

 

I was using a size 1 mepps spinner bait, a white rooster tail, a rainbow trout colored rooster tail, a Bass Pro spinner and a fly rod w/ a few different wet flies and a small woolly bugger streamer.  No luck.  My buddy even used worms!  No luck.  I'm depressed now.  Haha.

If your fishing in water usually stocked all the big fish may be gone, leaving just wild trout or the smaller stockers left. Over pressure makes them wise. I go out plenty of times and don't get bit, I walk around with a rooster tail. Pa hasn't stocked since beginning in June I believe. Just find another section of the river to fish, don't get down. They say it's too hot and trout go out to deeper spots, migrating toward bigger rivers during hot summer temps.