French Broad River Fishing Guides and Conditions, North Carolina

About the French Broad River

The French Broad rises in Transylvania County and runs north through Brevard, Asheville and Marshall into Tennessee, where it joins the Holston to form the Tennessee River. It is one of a handful of rivers in the world that runs north through an ancient mountain range, and around Asheville it has become the center of a genuinely busy river economy: guides, brewery patios, greenways and a summer tubing crowd.

For anglers it is primarily a warm-water float. Smallmouth bass are the main quarry from Brevard down through Asheville and on to Marshall and Hot Springs, and the river also holds a well-regarded and challenging muskellunge fishery that a handful of local guides specialize in. Redbreast sunfish, rock bass and catfish fill out the day. The float from Bent Creek through the Biltmore water and into downtown Asheville is the classic half-day, and it is one of the few urban floats in the Southeast that is genuinely good fishing.

Trout live here too, but higher up: the headwaters above Rosman and the tributaries, particularly the Davidson, Mills River and North Mills River in the Pisgah National Forest, are the cold-water fisheries the region is known for. The main stem through Asheville is too warm for trout in summer.

The Asheville gauge reads a large mountain basin and responds fast to storms in the Blue Ridge. Summer fishing flows are typically in the several-hundred to low-thousand cfs range, wading and floating both comfortable; after heavy rain the river browns out and rises quickly.

Asheville has everything a visiting angler needs and then some. Book guides ahead in October.

Access

Rosman and Brevard: upper river access, cooler water, the top of the float.
Hap Simpson and Penrose: Transylvania County ramps above Asheville.
Bent Creek River Park: the standard put-in above the Biltmore water.
Amboy Road and French Broad River Park, Asheville: town ramps and greenway access near the gauge.
Woodfin, Alexander and Marshall: ramps on the middle river north of Asheville.
Hot Springs: lower river access near the Tennessee line.

Seasons

March through May: pre-spawn smallmouth and musky, higher water, big fish.
June through August: the main float season, topwater smallmouth early and late, heavy tubing traffic midday on some reaches.
September through November: the best fishing of the year, falling water and aggressive fish.
December through February: musky season; smallmouth hold deep and slow.