2023 HIGHLANDS NC EXPERIENCE GUIDE
They were hooked. And they now admit to being at their happiest when they are fishing. “It’s what we think about the most outside of our daily activities,” Heckel said. Every April and November – to coincide with the Bear Shadow and Highlands Food & Wine festivals – they work the area’s river, hoping to land one of the brown trout that Heckel calls a river monster. Cox and Heckel are part of a population fueling a fly-fishing resurgence. Highland Hiker was one of the first fly-fishing schools outside of Vermont when the company started sending people on guide trips in 1984. Proprietor Chris Wilkes explained why the sport is gaining renewed popularity. “We are in a boom period for fly fishing. During the pandemic, people realized they could fish in non-populated areas and didn’t need a lot of spare time to do it. It used to be a lot of guys in their 40s and 50s. But these days, everybody from 10-year-olds to 70-year-old couples are fly fishing. And trout don’t live in ugly places. Even on days when you’re not catching fish, you’re standing in a beautiful spot.” “Highlands is a freshwater fly- fisherman’s paradise,” said Shockley. Shockley knows what he’s talking about. He’s been guiding folks on the waterways around Highlands for more than 14 years. “There are 2,200 miles of impressive, fishable trout water within an hour’s drive,” he said. “Though prime months are May and October, we can trout fish in Western North Carolina 12 months of the year–and you can’t beat the scenery.”
Raleigh residents Scharles Cox and Amanda Heckel had been coming to Highlands for more than a dec- ade, but they truly fell in love with the area when they discovered fly fishing five years ago. “We’d see people fly fishing or hear them talking about it at Highland Hiker, and think, ‘Why are we not fly fishing in a place we love?’” said Heckel. On their first outing, local guide Leland Shockley took them casting
on the Chattooga River and then, unexpectedly on a hike down to Secret Falls – a gorgeous 50-foot waterfall. Barefoot (they had yet to buy waders), they fished the serene pool at the bottom of the falls. As the waters rushed around them and the mist floated above, they discov- ered what so many had before; that there’s a peace and tranquillity on the river that places fishing into a world perfect and apart. “I never felt more connected to nature,” Cox sighed.
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