NFC Looks to Establish a Tennessee Chapter...
NFC’s official brook trout. (Diana Mallard)
At roughly the same time that NFC was being established, founding member and Executive Director Bob Mallard took a trip to North Carolina to collect pictures for a book. The book was about fly fishing towns, and his goal was to collect pictures for the Asheville, North Carolina, chapter.
Having collected what he needed for the Davidson River, Pisgah National Forest, and two popular tailwater fisheries across the border in Tennessee, Bob worked his way over to Cherokee, North Carolina, to fish and collect pictures at the Raven Fork, a trophy fishery on tribal land.
Bob then turned his attention from stocked, nonnative and manufactured fisheries to what he loves most, wild native fish in unspoiled places. Specifically, wild native brook trout in Great Smokey Mountains National Park.
After fishing his way through North Carolina, Bob crossed the border into Tennessee. Looking for a place to turn around, he stumbled on a small stream that looked too good to pass up. After hiking upstream and away from the road, Bob saw an unusually colorful brook trout holding in a run.
Failing to fool the fish using an attractor dry fly, Bob tied on a small beadhead dropper which did the trick. Having forgot his net in the car, he tried to hold the fish in the water while his wife Diana readied the camera. As luck would have it, the fish flipped off the barbless hook before a picture could be taken.
Reacting quickly, Bob pulled off his trucker hat and netted the fish before it was able to swim away. Wetting his hands, he gently cradled the fish, pictures were taken, the fish was released to fight another day, ending his trip on a high note...
Trucker hats make great improvised nets. (Diana Mallard)
While not a trophy in today’s sense of the word, the brook trout in question was a near perfect speciman of Salvelinus fontinalis. It has since donned the pages of several books, a number of articles, and numerous blog posts.
The Tennessee brook trout has also become NFC’s signature fish, used on our national Facebook page and National Board page on our website, as well as serving as the model for an original artwork painted by artist Alan James Robinson and donated to NFC to help raise money.
In recognition of our official fish, NFC looks to expand into Tennessee, which would extend our footprint in the biodiversity-rich southern Appalachian region. If you would like o be part of this, please email us at Info@NativeFishCoalition.org