Guide Marty Shaffer of Wilkes County works one of the many plunge pools at Stone Mountain State Park. Photo by Bruce Ingram.

"See that pool up there?" asked Marty Shaffner who operates Tri-State Angler Guide Service from his home in Wilkes County. "Slink down to your hands and knees and crawl up to where those ledges form the end of the pool. Cast your fly right behind that fallen log that runs out into the pool a few feet.

"By the way," Marty grinned, "you've got one chance to hit that spot. So, no pressure. Don't end up in the trees like you did at the last pool."

Still embarrassed by the five minutes spent trying to retrieve the size 12 Adams that probably still resides in an overhanging hemlock bough, I made a mental note to not make another humiliating cast and spook an entire pool of trout.

Taking a deep breath, I made one short false cast and sent a Size 14 Thunderhead to within about a foot of the prone tree. As I had feared, the cast wasn't perfect, but the trout that Shaffner had predicted would be there was, and the creature didn't seem to make note of my casting foibles as he sipped in the offering.

After cavorting across the surface, the 7-inch brown made its way to the net and after a few quick photos, I released the trout. It was the last fish of the day, an outing where Marty introduced me to the wondrous angling at Stone Mountain State Park. That anecdote took place on Garden Creek, one of many superlative trout waters that exist at the park, which lies along the county line of Alleghany and Wilkes.

WHERE TO GO AT STONE MOUNTAIN
The park extends across 13,500 highland acres and boasts 17 miles of trout streams that fall into four categories. Shaffner told me that his clients probably favor the wild trout streams the most. The foremost of these is Garden Creek.

"April is probably the prime month to fish Garden," said Marty. "The creek runs full then, and the trout are much less spooky than they will be by summer when all the streams here can run low. Expect a lot of 6- to 12-inch browns."

Even so, accurate casting is essential as rhododendron, hemlocks, alders, and silver maples shroud the creek. That same profuse vegetation, though, is another reason why brown trout, the primary species, fin the creek in such heavy numbers. The shaded pockets prove to be prime lairs. Browns predominate on the lower section of Garden Creek, and native brookies exist on the upper section above a waterfall. A trail parallels the creek as it courses down a mountain.

Shaffner also highly rates Widow Creek, which, though smaller, sports wild brown, rainbow and brook trout. Widow likewise possesses a waterfall. The third waterway, Big Sandy Creek, courses by a campground and contains wild rainbows. And the last member of the quartet, Stone Mountain Creek, holds a limited population of wild trout.

Since the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) manages these four as wild trout streams, anglers are restricted to single-hook artificial lures, a 7-inch minimum size limit on the trout, and a four-fish-a-day creel limit.