Written by Amanda Hoffner
I often have people reach out asking if I have information on fishable trout waters in certain
areas or states since I enjoy exploring and fishing the country. I have a yearning to travel and catch fish in places I have never been and tenkara really takes me to some beautiful places. In order to do this in a productive and practical way, I do use certain methods and tactics to find and research areas before I get there.
I’d like to share my method of researching places I have never been to encourage exploring nature on your own. Hopefully it gives some insight into how I go about making sure I find a fishable stream, whether I am close to home or hundreds of miles away. It surely can be frustrating to go to a stream or area that produces no fish for someone when their main goal was to catch fish. I have honed in on some solid methods for finding trout water! So, here they are.
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 using internet search engines that can be handy in finding things that might not be so prevalent in everyday conversation. I have had the privilege and honor of 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 no time.
So, if I am looking into traveling to a certain area, 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.” If I am looking for brook trout, then I might even type in “brook trout Poconos Pennsylvania.” I don’t use punctuation or capital letters and I am short and sweet.
When the phrase “brook trout Poconos PA” is typed into Google, 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 are all great to start reading into and watching! They sometimes give thorough reviews on streams to visit and whether it is worth it or not to even go to a certain area to fish. After all, not wasting 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. I feel like the YouTube videos are just as important as written blogs as they are visual insights into things that might not be discussed, such as the terrain of the waterways and specific insight into what you may or may not want to be fishing in. When I watch videos of specific streams, I can say to myself, “yes, I can see myself fishing that,” or maybe “that is not somewhere I’d like to fish”.
After going through these written and visual journals of official websites, a guide’s insight on the area, and personal journals from locals, then 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 helpful. Though it is not something I do, a lot of times people will 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 calling a fly shop or guide to see if you can set up a guided trip could be helpful as well! Paying for their services can not only benefit your experience of angling in an area or for a targeted 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 use a map overlay to search for public land as I may not necessarily know the exact rules for what is legal to fish and explore in certain states. More specifically, I use the “Gaia Overland (feet)” as my base map and have “Public Lands (US)” and “Gaia Classic (feet)” as map overlays. I can alter the opacity of the overlays to be as dark or light on my base map as I want. I also like to keep “Wilderness Areas (US)” in my active overlays tab in order to easily toggle it 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 borders or not regardless of state laws. I have some other overlays, and I use the app constantly because I can track my hikes with or without cell service.
Briefly returning to the legality aspect, 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 is something to explore 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 path from a trailhead or other parking area to the water.
As I come across public land on maps, I put the names into search engines as well and can type in specific creeks and waterways to find places to fish. With those results, I will continue to look for more videos and articles to learn the area. I am a visual learner and much prefer videos, but I can also learn about the area by the way people write it. 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. They are the true conservationists of the area. For an example of this kind of search, I might type in “fishing McMichael's 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 videos how the area looks while being fished and explored.
For researching a specific trout to catch, 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 provide maps for species in their native and currently habited ranges, such as the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture and the Western Native Trout Initiative. These websites give specific maps and insight into where you should be fishing for these gems of the US. They also give you resources for how to start protecting these fish and habitats yourself, such as donating money and time to these organizations. I am very thankful for these websites because of the information they spread to the angling community and the rest of the world in order to protect different environments and ultimately the fish they house. So, if you are hunting for specific trout, then these organizations should be used in your series of searches.
Along with all of those websites, 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 typically not as explored or pressured. This usually takes me to a higher elevation, whether it be to get into or out of a valley, and the fish are untouched and opportunistic. I recommend blue lines for people who are physically 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 have cleaner water and are typically untouched by stocking, either directly or indirectly, because of natural barriers like waterfalls or natural or man-made dams. These areas also tend to be where the native fish are. 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 the nearest parking area or trailhead to get to an 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 an identified trail to find out the terrain I will be encountering to get to the water I want to fish. The app identifies the trails in terms of their difficulty and also provides pictures that let me see what I will be getting myself into. 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. The app is also pretty good at giving driving directions to a trailhead and has reviews that include information like 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 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 not 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 everyone’s “easy access” and “quality” is not the same, so their rating system isn’t as reliable for me – which is fine. Nevertheless, it is a pretty good idea to use all the resources available, so I will look at it when I am researching an area I have never been. It does list areas to park for specific fishing activities and not just trail heads like the AllTrails app, and 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 to find an easy place to exit and get back to my car as quickly as possible if it is getting dark.
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 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 research, then you will be able to find places you desire to fish and know how to go about finding them more effectively and efficiently.
In the end, please be mindful of all the areas you explore and leave no trace, always keep those hands wet when handling those precious fish you’re searching for, and stay safe!
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