Ben Wilson gets 1,000 creeks!
August 14, 2026, Maggie Valley NC
Ben Wilson was at 999 creeks, and I got permission from landowner Bart Campbell for us to fish the East and West Forks of Campbell Creek which run together to form Campbell Creek on his property. In addition to Ben, our crew included Bobby Kilby, his son Scott Kilby, Jack Horan, Larry Frick, and Howard Nichols. Scott and Jack were with Bobby when he got creek number 1000 in 2008, and all three were with me when I got 1000 in 2021. Jack wrote the articles "Grand Achievement" about Bobby and "Man of a Thousand Streams" about me, and Wildlife in North Carolina magazine carried both articles. Now it was Ben's turn. He caught a rainbow and a brown in East Fork Campbell Creek to join the club. Like me, he accomplished it by using flies that he tied. However, it took Ben much less time than Bobby or me. Jack will once again write the article, which will also appear in Wildlife. Bobby is now well over 1300 creeks, I have 1135, and Ben will also keep searching out new creeks to fish. Way to go, Ben!
July 7-9, Haywood County
Rocky River TU member Bill Carney came up to fish some Haywood County streams with me. We fished Campbell Creek on Tuesday, Cataloochee Creek, Palmer Creek and Rough Fork Wednesday, and Jonathan Creek on Thursday. Bill is a good, patient fly fisherman, but the trout were not very hungry.
July 21, Squally Creek
I had fished Squally Creek the first day of our Snowbird camping trip this summer, and when I told Coach Doug Brooks and Colonel Bill Brooks (no relation) about it, they really wanted to go. It is beautiful speckled trout water! We didn't do as well as I did back in June, but there is a good chance we were fishing behind somebody. We still caught some pretty specs and enjoyed a great day!
September 7, Elk Hollow Branch
Elk Hollow Branch has been on my bucket list since it was named by NCWRC as a wild trout stream in Avery County. Ben and I went in on a chilly, overcast day. The creek is beautiful, but the fishing was not great on that particular day. We both caught enough small wild browns and rainbows to count it as a new creek, so my bucket list got smaller. We also fished Joe Branch, another Roaring Creek tributary. You have to see this creek to believe how tiny a creek can be and still hold trout! Ben caught small wild browns, so he got another new creek. I pulled a couple of nice 9" browns out of the water that seemed like monsters in water so small, but I did not land any.
All summer long - Jonathan Creek inch worm hatch!
Felix Walker was a US congressman from Maggie Valley who represented Buncombe County in 1820. As the floor debate on the Missouri Compromise was nearly over and it was almost time for the vote, Walker stood up and said he had to "make a speech for Buncombe". I pass the historical marker about Walker every time I fish in Maggie Valley, which is every chance I get. I get it, Felix, I have to make a speech for Jonathan Creek! In a summer of low water, Jonathan Creek has had plenty of water. In a summer with few stocked fish, hatchery-supported Jonathan Creek has had plenty of wild trout. There are some nice size wild rainbows in the creek, but nowhere near as many smaller ones as before hurricane Hellene. The browns, however, are doing just fine. In fact, there is a young-of-the-year brown behind every rock! If you tie on a green weenie, you will catch trout. I will let the pictures from several different short trips do the talking.
Finally, one of my favorite Jackson County blue lines seems to have escaped Hellene's fury.
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