Field Notes
Fly Fishing
Fly water, hatches, and technique.
Ellensburg, WA
Fly Fishing the Yakima River: Washington's Only Blue Ribbon Trout Stream, 78 Miles of Dry-Fly Heaven
The Yakima River is Washington's only blue ribbon trout stream — 78 miles of catch-and-release water holding wild rainbow and cutthroat trout from Easton Dam to Roza Dam. The Mother's Day Caddis hatch is one of the most prolific in the West, the canyon section is world-class float water, and it's 90 minutes from Seattle.
Cotter, AR
Fly Fishing the White River: The Biggest Brown Trout in America, the Shad Kill, and the Dam That Controls Everything
The White River below Bull Shoals Dam grows the largest brown trout in America — fish over 30 pounds from a tailwater that produces year-round. But the dam's generation schedule can change the river from wadeable to unfishable in an hour. Here's how to fish it.
Rockport, TX
Fly Fishing the Texas Coast: Sight-Casting to Redfish on the Flats, and Why It's the Best Saltwater Fly Fishing You've Never Tried
The Texas coast from Rockport to Port Aransas holds miles of clear, shallow flats where redfish tail in ankle-deep water over turtle grass and white sand. If you've always wanted to try saltwater fly fishing but the Keys feel intimidating, start here.
Telluride, CO
Fly Fishing Telluride: The San Miguel, Four Rivers Within an Hour, and the High-Country Water Above 10,000 Feet
Telluride sits at 8,750 feet in the San Juan Mountains with one of the only free-flowing rivers in Colorado running through town, three more rivers within an hour's drive, and alpine lakes above 10,000 feet holding wild cutthroat that almost nobody fishes.
North Bend, WA
Fly Fishing the Snoqualmie River: Seattle's Backyard Trout Stream and the River You Should Already Be Fishing
The Snoqualmie River is 30 minutes from downtown Seattle — three forks of native cutthroat and rainbow trout above a 268-foot waterfall, plus salmon and sea-run cutthroat below it. It's not famous. It's better than that — it's close, it's open, and it's yours.
Gold Bar, WA
Fly Fishing the Skykomish River: Steelhead, Salmon, Spey Rods, and Seattle's Backyard Big-Fish River
The Skykomish is the closest serious steelhead and salmon river to Seattle — an hour on Highway 2 puts you in classic swinging water between Gold Bar and Sultan. Winter steelhead, summer steelhead, coho, chum, pinks, sea-run cutthroat, and a fly named after the river.
Marblemount, WA
Fly Fishing the Skagit River: The Most Frustrating River in the Pacific Northwest
The Skagit is the river that invented Skagit casting, humbled a generation of steelheaders, and still draws them back every winter for another season of blank days, frozen guides, and the faintest chance of a wild winter steelhead that will ruin you for every other fish.
Navajo Dam, NM
Fly Fishing the San Juan River: 15,000 Trout Per Mile, Year-Round Midges, and the Quality Water That Defines Technical Nymphing
The San Juan River below Navajo Dam holds 15,000 trout per mile in 3.75 miles of designated Quality Water. The fish average 17 inches and eat midges all day, every day, 365 days a year. If you want to master the midge game, this is where you learn.
Seattle, WA
Fly Fishing Puget Sound: Beach Fly Fishing for Sea-Run Cutthroat, Coho, and the Best Urban Fishery You've Never Heard Of
Within 30 minutes of downtown Seattle, you can wade into Puget Sound and fly fish for sea-run cutthroat trout, resident coho, pink salmon, and chum. The beaches are public, the fish are wild, and most of them have never seen a fly. Here's how to fish the Sound.
Baldwin, MI
Fly Fishing the Pere Marquette: Great Lakes Steelhead, the Hex Hatch, and a River That Fishes Every Month of the Year
The Pere Marquette is the longest unregulated river in Michigan's Lower Peninsula — no dams, wild fish, and a season that never ends. Spring steelhead, summer hex hatches, fall salmon, winter solitude. Every month has a reason to be on the water.
State College, PA
Fly Fishing Pennsylvania's Limestone Spring Creeks: Where American Fly Fishing Was Born
Pennsylvania's limestone spring creeks aren't just good trout water — they're where American dry-fly fishing, terrestrial fishing, and catch-and-release were invented. Penns Creek, Spring Creek, the Letort, and a history that shaped every cast you make today.
Forks, WA
Fly Fishing the Olympic Peninsula: Wild Steelhead in the Rainforest, the Rivers That Define the Sport, and Why They Need Us Now
The Olympic Peninsula holds the last great wild steelhead rivers in the lower 48 — the Hoh, the Sol Duc, the Bogachiel, the Queets. The fish are the biggest and wildest in the country. Some of these rivers are now closed. Here's what you need to know.
Casper, WY
Fly Fishing the North Platte: Grey Reef, the Miracle Mile, and Wyoming's Trophy Tailwater Nobody Talks About
The North Platte River holds two of the best tailwater fisheries in the Rockies — the Miracle Mile with its golden stoneflies and the Grey Reef with 8,000 trout per mile averaging 17-19 inches. Casper, Wyoming is the gateway nobody knows about.
Nashville, TN
Fly Fishing Nashville: Trophy Tailwater Trout an Hour from Broadway
Nashville sits an hour from one of the South's best tailwater trout fisheries and two hours from the lake that produced the world-record smallmouth bass. Here's the fly fishing you didn't know Music City had.
Craig, MT
Fly Fishing the Missouri River: The Widest Trout River in Montana, the Longest Hatches, and the Town That Exists Because of Both
The Missouri River below Holter Dam is nearly 100 yards wide in places, holds 5,000 trout per mile, and produces hatches so dense they turn the surface white. Craig, Montana — population 43 — exists entirely because of this water.
Winthrop, WA
Fly Fishing the Methow River: Wild Trout, Western Town Vibes, and Washington's Best Dry-Side Water
The Methow River holds the largest wild trout of any floatable river in Washington — rainbow and cutthroat to 20 inches in a free-flowing valley surrounded by the North Cascades. Winthrop's Old West main street, world-class dry-fly water, and no dams. This is the Methow.
Ennis, MT
Fly Fishing the Madison River: The 50-Mile Riffle, the Salmonfly Hatch, and the River That Defined Western Fly Fishing
The Madison River is the most famous trout river in America — 183 miles of water that flows from Yellowstone National Park through the 50-Mile Riffle, past the town of Ennis, and into fly-fishing legend. Here's the section-by-section guide with hatches, flies, and the gear to fish it.
Maupin, OR
Fly Fishing the Lower Deschutes: Wild Redbands, Summer Steelhead, and the River That Makes You Get Out of the Boat
The Lower Deschutes flows 100 miles through a desert canyon holding wild redband trout and summer steelhead — and the regulation that defines it: you cannot fish from a boat. Your feet have to be in the river. That changes everything.
Livingston, MT
Fly Fishing Livingston, Montana: Spring Creeks, the Yellowstone, and the Town That Takes Trout Seriously
Livingston sits at the north end of Paradise Valley with two of the most famous spring creeks in America — DePuy's and Armstrong's — plus the Yellowstone River running through town. Here's the hatch chart, the fly box, and the gear you need.
Island Park, ID
Fly Fishing the Henry's Fork: Railroad Ranch, Box Canyon, and the River That Tests Everything You Think You Know
The Henry's Fork of the Snake River is the most technically demanding dry-fly water in America. The Railroad Ranch section will humble you. The Box Canyon will overpower you. And the hatches will keep you coming back for decades.
Honolulu, HI
Fly Fishing Hawaii: Giant Bonefish, Trevally on the Flats, Peacock Bass in the Reservoirs, and the Most Overlooked Fly Fishery in America
Hawaii holds the biggest bonefish in the world, trevally that hit like freight trains, peacock bass in jungle reservoirs, and rainbow trout in a volcanic canyon. All of it overlooked by fly anglers who don't realize the 50th state has some of the most diverse fly fishing on earth.
Dutch John, UT
Fly Fishing the Green River: 14,000 Trout Per Mile in a Red-Rock Desert Canyon
The Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam holds up to 14,000 trout per mile in emerald water flowing through sandstone canyon walls. Three sections, three different rivers, one of the best tailwaters in the world. Here's the complete guide.
Bryson City, NC
Fly Fishing the Great Smoky Mountains: Native Brook Trout, Old-Growth Streams, and the Oldest Mountains on Earth
The Great Smoky Mountains hold the last wild populations of Southern Appalachian brook trout — a fish that's been here since the ice age, living in streams that flow through old-growth forest unchanged for centuries. Here's how to find them.
Islamorada, FL
Fly Fishing the Florida Keys: Tarpon, Permit, Bonefish, and the Flats That Invented Saltwater Fly Fishing
The Florida Keys invented saltwater fly fishing in the 1930s. The flats still hold tarpon, permit, and bonefish — the three species that make up the Grand Slam — in water so clear you can see a permit's eye at 60 feet. Here's how to fish it on fly.
Riverton, CT
Fly Fishing the Farmington River: New England's Best Trout Stream, Two Hours From Manhattan
The Farmington River's West Branch below Goodwin Dam holds the highest trout density in Connecticut — wild and holdover browns and rainbows to 20 inches in a tailwater that produces hatches rivaling Western rivers. It's two hours from New York City.
Driftless Area, WI
Fly Fishing the Driftless Area: The Best Spring Creek Fishing You've Never Heard Of, Three Hours From Chicago
The Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin holds over 600 spring creeks with 13,000 miles of classified trout water. The streams are small, the fish are wild, and most fly anglers don't know it exists. Here's the complete guide.
Smithville, TN
Fly Fishing the Caney Fork: Tennessee's Best-Kept Tailwater Secret
An hour east of Nashville, the Caney Fork River holds brown trout that haven't seen a fly all week. Here's the complete guide: hatch chart, wade spots, float sections, trophy tactics, and why this tailwater deserves more attention.
Fort Smith, MT
Fly Fishing the Bighorn River: The Technical Tailwater, the Trico Dawn, and the 13 Miles That Reward Patience
The Bighorn River below Yellowtail Dam holds 3,000-6,000 trout per mile in 13 miles of slow, clear tailwater that rewards the angler who reads the hatch, matches the fly, and presents it perfectly. It's the anti-Madison — and that's the point.
Manchester, VT
Fly Fishing the Battenkill: Orvis's Home Water, the Most Educated Wild Trout in the East, and Why That's the Point
The Battenkill is where Orvis was born in 1856, where Norman Rockwell fished between paintings, and where wild brown trout have been refusing flies for over a century. It's the hardest river in New England — and the most rewarding when you get it right.