Perhaps the best creek in the county - and the entire district - is Beech Creek, which runs east of Beech Mountain, along the Avery County line in some sections, including the Route 321 bridge.

"One of the first questions I asked after I fished Beech Creek was, 'Why are we stocking it?' " Hining said. "It has excellent wild browns, rainbows and brook trout. It's just one of those things. It's been stocked for ages, at least 30 years. The wild trout do just fine, and the hatchery-reared fish don't make it very long; they all get caught out. But what happens is that, because so many of our streams are on private land, we have to go with what the landowners want. If we made Beech Creek wild trout, we might lose a lot of it."

Still, Hining calls it "our little jewel - probably the best stream in the district." And, he says, fishing pressure is not terribly heavy, especially in the off-season for heavy stocking.

Not far away is Laurel Creek, which flows south-north and can be accessed from the Route 321 bridge. Hining and Hodges both agree that it holds some nice wild trout, even though it's hatchery supported.

A third creek that has both wild and hatchery-stocked trout is Dutch Creek. It's wild-trout water - without a lot of easy access - from its headwater in the high country to the second bridge on SR 1134. From that bridge downstream to where it meets the Watauga River near Valle Crucis, it's hatchery supported.

Both Hining and Hodges are excited about the two sections of the Watauga River that remain open to the public and designated as delayed-harvest waters. The first is from the SR 1557 bridge to the N.C. Route 105 bridge, and the second runs from the SR 1114 bridge to the Route 194 bridge at Valle Crucis, with much of that section running through a city park.

There are plenty of other streams in Watauga County that hold trout - a lot of them without names and designation, like the ones running through urban areas.

Hining said he was ready to jump into his truck and grab a spinning rod after doing some electroshocking work last fall. "We shocked up two 15-inch fish and an 18-inch fish in one place below where a culvert came out of somebody's back yard," he said. "I was ready to start fishing from culvert to culvert after that.

"I've seen all kinds of big trout in the urban streams around Boone, the creeks running right through town," he said. "The habitat is degraded, to some extent, but you sure see some big trout. They're almost in people's back yards, and they don't know they're there."

The Middle Prong of the New River from Blowing Rock to Boone was once a thriving stream holding wild trout, but being stocked regularly. Last fall, a chemical-related fish kill resulted in more than 4,000 wild trout. Hining and Hodges said that it may take three or four years before it is returned to its previous state.

Stone Mountain State Park has a handful of wild trout streams, including Garden, Widows, Harris and Big Sandy creeks. The East Prong Roaring River cuts through the park, giving fishermen easy access for several miles; it's the park's biggest stream, and it's managed under delayed-harvest regulations inside the park's boundaries. West of the park, it's managed as a hatchery-supported stream.

A neat and relatively large creek on the park is Bullhead, which is catch-and-release-only, artificial flies-only, with a daily fishing fee attached. Some fishermen think the money is well worth the opportunity to stalk and cast to numerous browns and rainbows that exceed 20 inches, thanks in part to supplemental feedings.

Doughton Park's blue-ribbon streams are Basin and Cove creeks, with headwaters on the Blue Ridge Parkway. They are managed as wild-trout waters, and can be accessed by some strenuous hikes, either from the parkway above or from Longbottom Road below, where they pour into the Middle Prong Roaring River.

But Hodges said there is one really good stream in each county - the Dan River in Stokes County and the Fisher River in Surry County - plus a promising delayed-harvest stream in the Mitchell River in Surry County.

"There used to not be much to the Fisher River, just that part close to Route 89, but last year, we added a stretch downstream of the bridge, about two or three miles, and it's nice, big water," Hodges said. "It's a pretty decent stretch, real nice habitat for trout."

The section of the Mitchell River that has recently been added to the delayed-harvest program is approximately 2 1/2 miles long, ending at Zephyr Road (SR 1330), just downstream from the Kapps Mill Dam and a few miles downstream from the old Reynolds estate of Devotion.

"I don't know if we can add enough delayed-harvest streams to satisfy the demand from fishermen," Hodges said. "They're tough to come by."

The section of the Dan River in Stokes County that's worth checking out is from the Virginia state line around the junction of the Dan and Little Dan rivers, roughly to Elastic Mill Road (SR 1422). "It's a big stream, well stocked, and we've gotten a lot more stocking places over the past couple of years as we've added stretches to the program," Hodges said.

"Where the river starts to get wide open, you get sandy bottoms, but the area we've got has a nice, rocky bottom, nice rhododendrons - very nice, physical habitat."

If you are a trout angler, you probably have some favorite streams, and if you have a free day, you probably fish one of those streams. There's a certain pleasure in revisiting a stream you've fished before.

But this spring, get yourself a copy of the fishing regs and a good map. Hop in your fishing car and take a look at some new water. You might be in for a nice surprise.