Researching Trout Streams

Researching Trout Streams

The reason for writing this post was to entice, encourage, and give background into my mindset and practices while researching areas to fish. Like most people, I am set in my ways and want to fish a certain area or catch a certain fish. These methods I’ve written about below have given me the best shot into catching the fish I want or fishing the areas I want to. Catching fish is the goal, but being successful about the research and time put into something is just as rewarding…Just like when you cast a fly into a certain pocket that just HAS to have a fish…the feeling is undeniable ❤

_{Discovering hidden gems like this with Rachael is my favorite…}

Researching Trout Streams

This is an article I wrote for the Heritage Tenkara Project…

A few weeks ago I got a message from a tenkara friend asking if I had any information on fishable trout waters in a certain west coast state.  The state doesn’t matter for this story, but I do come across this situation quite often since I enjoy exploring other states and areas around the country.  I have a yearning to travel and catch fish in places I have never been to and tenkara really takes me to some beautiful places.

I’d like to share the method to my madness of researching places I have never been to in order to encourage exploring nature in your own way.  Hopefully it gives some insight into how I go about making sure I find a fishable stream when I am hundreds of miles away from home or even just a few hours.  It surely can be frustrating to go to a stream or area that produces no fish for someone when their main goal in going to this place was to catch fish.  I have honed in on some solid methods for finding trout water! So, here it is.

Firstly, whether it be to catch a certain fish species or fish a specific area, I set goals for the trip.  There are simple but specific terms to start researching on google or whatever search engine on the internet to use.  The internet is full of nonsensical things and people being obnoxious, but there are times when it can be handy in finding things that might not be so prevalent in everyday conversation.  I have had the privilege and honor of talking and discussing fishing and tenkara with a plethora of anglers, but they are naturally hesitant to give up spots to fish since word of mouth can travel quickly in the fishing community and a spot can be ruined in seconds.

So, if I am looking into traveling to a certain area, then I begin searching specific, short-worded phrases and explore the links that emerge.  For example, I type things like “trout fishing northeastern pennsylvania” and see what comes up.  If I know the specific area I will be, then I might type “trout fishing poconos pennsylvania”.  I wont use punctuation or capital letters and I am short and sweet.  If I am looking for brook trout, then I might even type in “brook trout poconos pennsylvania”. 

When the phrase “brook trout poconos pa” is typed into Google, then that search page brings up many things I like to see when researching.  Fishing blogs, Pennsylvania government websites like DCNR, fly shops/guides, and youtube videos of fishing in the Poconos pop up and these are all great to start reading into and watching!  They sometimes give thorough reviews on streams to visit and whether it is useful or not to even go to a certain area to fish.  Afterall, not wasting our time in a spot exploring and fishing for trout that might be in an area that is too overgrown or where it is over pressured is my ultimate goal.   The Youtube videos I see just as important as written blog as these video journals are visual insights into things that might not be discussed such as the actual terrain of the waterways and give exact insight into what you may or may not want to be fishing in.

After going through these written and visual journals of official websites, a guide’s insight on the area, and personal journals from locals, then that it when I start taking keywords from their websites and typing them back into google and diving deeper into the web.  The more specific you are to an area or a fish, then you are more likely to come across something.  As you watch youtube videos of specific streams, then that is where I say to myself, “yes, I can see myself fishing that”, or maybe “that is not somewhere I’d like to fish”.  A lot of times, not with how I personally document my videos and writings, some people use specific creeks, waterway, and area identifiers in their descriptions, and you can literally see the creek you might want to visit.  If you see an area you like, then maybe even calling a fly shop or guide to see if you can setup a guided trip could be helpful as well!  Paying for their services not only can benefit your angling experience of an area or targeted specific fish, but can also help you locate other places to fish in your time in an area.

Along with these more specific searches, I like to use the Gaia GPS app on my phone to explore “blue lines” on a map.  I search for public land with a map overlay as I may not necessarily know the exact rules to what is legal to fish and explore in certain states.  For instance, while researching Wisconsin, I learned that all waterways are open to the public regardless of whether it was surrounded by public or private land as long as your feet were in the water.  There are other instances of private land giving rights to the public to fish from the banks of the water, but that was something to explore and learn even further depending on the area or state.  As a general rule, public land is for everyone and I at least know that I can fish there and find a way from a trailhead or other parking area to walk to the water.

More specifically, on the Gaia GPS app, I use the “Gaia Overland (feet)” as my base map and have “Public Lands (US)” and “Gaia Classic (feet)” as map overlays.  I can toggle these overlays to be as heavily portrayed on my actual base map as I want.  I also like to keep the overlay “Wilderness Areas (US)” in my active overlays in order to toggle that on and off if I come across a wilderness area since those are public lands as well.  This allows me to know whether I am legally crossing or not regardless of state laws.  There are other map overlays that I have since I pay for this app yearly, and I use it constantly and can track myself with or without cell service.

As I come across public land on the Gaia GPA app, I put the actual public land name into search engines as well and can type in specific creeks and waterways to search for places to fish.  With those results, I will continue to look for more video blogs and written blogs to learn the area.  I am a visual learner and much prefer videos over written, but I can also learn about the area differently by the way people write about the area.  To me, a good blogger will not go into too much naming details about a certain area, but you can still get an idea of the land with how they write about it.  They are the true conservationists of the area.   For an example of this kind of search, I might type in “fishing mcmichaels creek poconos pa” into a search engine.  This is a hometown waterway that I’m sure has some local people blogging about their experiences and if I wasn’t from the area, then I would be able to see from their GoPro or other cameras how the area looks while being fished and explored.

For researching a specific trout to catch, then I find it useful to visit a more official webpage that involves nonprofits and government agencies that advocate for the species.  For example, there are websites that give range maps for species in their natives ranges and current habited ranges such as the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture (easternbrooktrout.org) and the Western Native Trout Initiative (westernnativetrout.org).  These websites give specific maps and insight into where you should be fishing for these gems of the US.  Also, they give you resources to start personally protecting these fish and fish habitats.  There are ways to donate money and time to these organizations.  I have been very thankful for these websites because of the information they are spreading to the angling world and the rest of the world in order to protect the environments and ultimately the fish they house and I frequently visit these sites for their maps.  So, if you are hunting for specific trout, then these organizations should used in your series of searches.

With the websites listed previously, I also tend to stick to “blue lines” like I discussed earlier.   Most of my fishing involves finding a stream less traveled and fished.  I enjoy the hunt for native trout, but what is a “blue line”?  It is literally what it sounds like.  It is a blue line on a map that is connected to a larger body of water such as a river or lake.  These lines tend to be where I find myself and I explore these areas because they’re usually not explored as much and have fish that are less pressured.  This usually takes me to places at an elevation, whether it be to get into the ravine or out of, and the fish are untouched and opportunistic.  I recommend blue lines for people who are mobile and are looking for fish who are ready to eat just about any fly you throw down as long as you haven’t scared them away.   These areas tend to be where the cleanest water is and waters that have not been touched by stocking or cannot be touched by stocking because of natural barriers like waterfalls or natural or man-made dams.  These areas also tend to be where the native fish are since there is no way for stocked fished to enter them and this is where you can catch these little native gems.  Therefore, finding blue lines on the maps from the websites I listed earlier is how I go about finding an area I like to fish.  I then go back to my Gaia GPS app and try to find a trail and nearest parking area or trail head to park at to get to this area.  This has given me the best opportunity to find native trout in areas I have never been to.

Speaking of trails and trailheads, I also tend to use the AllTrails app to research the actual trail to find out the terrain of the trails I will be encountering to get to the water I want to fish.  These will list the trails in terms of their difficulty and also provide member subscribed pictures of the trail in order to show me what I will be getting myself into.  However, I almost always follow the creek while I fish on these blue lines and only use the trails to get back to my car, but it is still good information to have since it gives ascent and descent and can give you a good perspective in terms of which way to hike to get to the fishing spot. The app is also pretty good at giving directions to a trail head and will allow you to read trail reviews in terms of how well it is maintained and marked so you can anticipate the walk in or out of a river or creek. 

Another app that I utilize, not as nearly as much as Gaia GPS, is TroutRoutes.  This app gives details in terms of water access ratings.  I personally do not utilize their ratings systems as they appear to be geared towards a group of people that fish for “trophy trout” and that just is never my goal.  I have seen creeks listed as a TroutRoutes “Class 3”, which is listed as having “marginal access and quality”, when I know from my experience that it is easily accessed and has brought to net over 20 fish in half a mile.  But my “easy access” and “quality” is not everyone’s, so their rating system isn’t reliable in my terms of access and quality.  That is okay, however, I do not use this app in order to judge the trout streams I want to research and focus on.  Nevertheless, it is a pretty good idea to use all the resources available, so I do tend to look at it when I am researching an area I have never been to.  It does list areas to park for specific fishing activities and not just trail heads like the AllTrails app.  It also gives fly shop locations, waterfalls, and places where streams cross a trail.  I do like to find trails that are close to the creeks I fish in order to find an easy place to exit and get back to my car as quickly as possible if it is getting dark.  It does allow for planning the day about where to enter and exit the creek.

With all that being said, it is always important to know, that even if you don’t find fish in your net by the time you are done exploring these places that you’ve researched, then you’ve done the due diligence in researching and uncovering these areas.  As you grow into tenkara, as I have, and find more ways to fine tune your own experience with researching places, then you will be able to find places you desire to fish and know how to go about finding these places more effectively and efficiently. 

In the end, please be mindful of all the areas you explore and leave no trace behind, always keep those hands wet when handling those precious fish you’re searching for, and stay safe!