Wading In The Quill Rose Waters
On The Fly Freshwater
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Sponsored By
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September 2024
By Jim Casada
A son of the Smokies who grew up in Bryson City, Jim Casada is the author of numerous books on fly fishing, the people and places of the Smokies, and traditional Appalachian food. For fuller details, visit his website at jimcasadaoutdoors.com.
Tucked away in the lowermost embayment on Fontana Lake’s north shore, Eagle Creek is an overlooked gem that gets a mere fraction of the fishing pressure of nearby and rightly renowned Hazel Creek, but it is well worthy of careful attention from any angler. Access comes in one of two basic approaches—by water from the public launch area at Cable Cove or the private marina at Fontana Village. If you have your own kayak, canoe, or motorized craft, setting out from the latter involves only a modest $5 launch fee. You can also rent bass boats, kayaks, or canoes for a do-it-yourself adventure, but for many the most appeal approach will be a round trip shuttle arrangement where you and your equipment will be ferried across the lake to the mouth of Eagle Creek and then, at a specified time, picked up at the end of your camping trip. Incidentally, while one-day outings are marginally feasible, overnight stays are the way to go on Eagle Creek. The other alternative, access-wise, involves a hike of a bit over five miles from the trail at the west end of Fontana Dam along the Lakeshore Trail to the stream.
Historically speaking, Eagle Creek is of surpassing interest. Legend suggests its name came from eagles nesting in its upper reaches, and in today’s world sighting these majestic birds as you boat to the stream is commonplace. There are tales, with the boundary between fact and fiction being a blurred one, of a mighty Cherokee chief, Yonaguska, drowning a bear in the creek and thereafter being known as Drowning Bear. More readily verifiable are stories, dozens of them, connected with notorious rounder and moonshiner Quill Rose. He lived at in the uppermost reaches of Eagle Creek, conveniently close to the Tennessee border should North Carolina revenuers come a-calling. A gifted fiddle player, marvelous storyteller, and someone who figures prominently in a host of printed stories. Quill (fittingly his full given name was Aquila (Latin for eagle) was a mighty hunter, fished for food, and a hard drinker. Standing well over six feet tall and weighing upwards of 250 pounds, he had striking blue eyes “with the quality of flashing steel,” killed one man and maybe more, answered a judge who asked him if he didn’t or didn’t maybe illicit liquor with “Maybe,” and came from a family and a time when violence was all too commonplace.
The mid-section of Eagle Creek features less gradient and smooth runs. Photo by Jimmy Jacobs.
Yet in today’s world violence is that last thing likely to cross your mind while fishing Eagle Creek. It is a place of welcome solitude and striking serenity. Eagle Creek is just remote enough to see rather sparse fishing pressure (the proximity and fame of Hazel Creek helps in this regard); of sufficient size to make casting, at least by Smokies standards, relatively easy in most places; and breathtakingly beautiful in terms of aesthetic appeal.
There are three campsites well suited to serving the angler. Campsite No.89 (when Fontana is at full pond it is conveniently short distance upstream), #96 serving the middle portion of the stream, and No. 97 for the upper reaches. The upper two campsites are more appealing in terms of setting, but No. 89 has special appeal inasmuch as it is located at the mouth of Eagle Creek’s largest feeder, Ekaneetlee Creek, which at a width of 10 feet or so, is eminently fishable. Other fish-holding tributaries, all higher upstream, include Tub Mill, Gunna, and Pinnacle creeks. The latter is primarily speckled trout water and you’ll find these bejeweled beauties in the upper reaches of the other feeders as well as the mainstream. None of these feeders is served by a maintained trail.
An Eagle Creek rainbow trout. Photo by Jim Casada.
That being said, Eagle Creek is and long has been primarily rainbow water. There are browns, seemingly in increasing numbers with each passing year, in the lower reaches. Also, for the trophy seeker as opposed to individuals like yours truly who simply revel in catching wild fish without being a captive to considerations of size, big rainbows and browns make spawning runs out of Fontana each autumn. If you are willing to do some walking, it’s quite possible to score a one-day Smoky Mountain Slam (speck, rainbow, and brown) on Eagle Creek. Time permitting, you might even want to try for a Grand Slam by working a popper along the shoreline where Eagle Creek meets the lake in a quest for a smallmouth bass to expand your Slam.
When it comes to choice of patterns and presentation, that tried-and-true Smokies standby, a high-floating dry fly with a small nymph dropper underneath, is an ideal option. Choose a buoyant dry fly such as one of the Wulff patterns, a Parachute Adams, Royal Trude, Deerhair, Elkhair Caddis, or some type of stimulator for the floating portion of the rig. For the dropper, a beadhead Prince Nymph, Pheasant Tail, Copper John, Greenie Weenie, or something along those lines on a size 16 or 18 hook should serve you nicely.
A Royal Wulff, Parachute Adams and Elkhair Caddis. Photo by Jimmy Jacobs.
Most of your casting on Eagle Creek will be in the 15- to 30-foot range, but one special feature of the stream is that in its middle reaches, in particular, it has a relatively moderate gradient. That translates to some dandy holes and lots of smooth runs instead of the more typical pocket and plunge pools found in many Smokies streams. In these situations, you can make longer casts, and of course the larger, deeper pools are where you are most likely to make a meaningful connection with a larger fish. On the whole though, trout in Eagle Creek are typical in size for the Smokies, with 6 to 10 inches being common and anything in double figures a quite nice fish.
When you fish Eagle Creek solitude is likely to be your boon companion, but somehow, it’s comforting to think that maybe the ghost of old Quill Rose, or maybe that of his part-Cherokee wife, universally known as Aunt Vice (pronounced Vicey) smiles on your efforts and provides an intangible link to another era, one of a world we have forever lost. When you wade in old Quill’s waters yours are footsteps of wonder.
