Cruise the Smokies Spring Rod Run

For 2021, Cherokee's fishing season “opening day” will be March 27, and we are offering you 20,000 reasons to get excited about it.

Our Opening Day Fishing Tournament requires a $15 entry fee and a $17 two-day fishing permit to compete for $20,000 in tagged fish. You’ll be competing in the rivers on the Qualla Boundary (excluding the 2.2 miles of catch-and-release waters). Tagged fish will be specially stocked for this event, and when you catch one, you redeem it for cash prizes ranging from $25 to $5,000 at the Natural Resources Enforcement Office, 517 Sequoyah Trail, Cherokee, NC 28719, which is across the street from Cherokee Welcome Center off Hwy 441. Prize redemption hours are from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. each tournament day.

Register anywhere fishing licenses are sold or online at FishCherokee.com by Friday, March 26, 2021. Fishing will start one hour before sunrise and end one hour after sunset each day. Open to all ages and for all legal fishing methods. 

Fisheries & Wildlife Management reserves the right to cancel, reschedule, or amend any tournament or event due to catastrophes, pandemics, states of emergency, adverse weather, etc.

Spend the long weekend with the boys: rainbow, brook, golden, and brown. With your $15 entry fee and $17 two-day fishing permit, you can compete for $10,000 in tagged fish within the beautiful freestone streams of Cherokee, NC; only the 2.2 miles of catch-and-release waters are excluded.

Tagged fish will be specially stocked for this event, and when you catch one, you redeem it for cash prizes at the Natural Resources Enforcement Office located at 517 Sequoyah Trail off Hwy 441. Prize redemption hours are from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. each tournament day. Open to all ages and for all legal fishing methods.

Register for this tournament anywhere fishing permits are sold in and around Cherokee or online at FishCherokee.com by Friday, May 28, 2021. 

Fisheries & Wildlife Management reserves the right to cancel, reschedule, or amend any tournament or event due to catastrophes, pandemics, states of emergency, adverse weather, etc.

Who’s Tim, and why are we honoring him?

As many of you know, this tournament honors Tim Hill, a longtime employee at our very own trout hatchery who sadly passed too soon. Several years ago, Cherokee’s Fisheries & Wildlife Management Division created this fun and lucrative tournament in his name. 

Did we mention the $10,000 purse?

With a registration fee of $15 and a two-day fishing permit for $17, you’ll be fishing for your share of $10,000 by catching beautiful trout in rivers all across the Qualla Boundary (excluding the 2.2 miles of catch-and-release waters), which will be stocked with tagged fish. When you catch one, you redeem it for cash prizes at the Natural Resources Enforcement Office, 517 Sequoyah Trail, Cherokee, NC 28719, which is across the street from Cherokee Welcome Center off Hwy 441. Prize redemption hours are from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. each tournament day. Register anywhere fishing licenses are sold or at FishCherokee.com by Friday, July 23, 2021. Fishing will start one hour before sunrise and end one hour after sunset each day. Open to all ages and for all legal fishing methods. 

Fisheries & Wildlife Management reserves the right to cancel, reschedule, or amend any tournament or event due to catastrophes, pandemics, states of emergency, adverse weather, etc.

The trout, the purse, and the bragging rights are the biggest of the year.

With your $15 entry fee and $17 two-day fishing permit, you’ll be competing for your share of $20,000 in the pristine freestone streams of Cherokee (excluding the 2.2 miles of catch-and-release waters). Tagged fish will be specially stocked for this event, and when you catch one, you redeem it for cash prizes at the Natural Resources Enforcement Office, 517 Sequoyah Trail, Cherokee, NC 28719, which is across the street from Cherokee Welcome Center off Hwy 441. Prize redemption hours are from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. each tournament day. Register anywhere fishing licenses are sold or at FishCherokee.com by Friday, September 3, 2021. Fishing will start one hour before sunrise and end one hour after sunset each day. Open to all ages and for all legal fishing methods. 

Fisheries & Wildlife Management reserves the right to cancel, reschedule, or amend any tournament or event due to catastrophes, pandemics, states of emergency, adverse weather, etc.