Best Trout Fly Fishing east of the Mississippi

[mporter012]

I'm attempting to come up with a list of fly-fishing destinations that I can get to within a days drive of so... i.e. east coast destinations. Places with enough water to occupy a week long vacation.

Here's what I've come up with.

Trout:
SW Wisconsin Driftless region (spring creeks)
Northern Michigan (everything imaginable)
Steelhead Alley
Central PA
NE PA and The Catskills
Western NC and East Tenn (greater smokey mountain region)

R.I./NY stripers
Keys Bone Fish

What am I missing!?

 

[Fishidiot]

Good list and I'd agree - If you limit the list to a dozen or so trout places. Maybe add the Rangeley's in Maine?

Smallmouth bass or other species?

The Keys are more than a day's drive from the northeast.

 

[krayfish]

Tenn & NC sounds pretty interesting. You could hit tailwaters or tiny brook trout streams. You could also get some bass fishing in.

 

[Zipper]

Mossy Creek in Virginia

 

[NickR]

Vermont?

 

[Paulson]

Wilson Creek near Mount Mitchell, that's on my early Spring list.

Anywhere in VT close to a small airport that anyone knows of?

 

[Pghtrouthunter]

There are two excellent trout streams in Connecticut that are about a 7 to 7.5 hour drive from Pittsburgh.

They are:

The Housatonic and the Farmington. Both are managed extremely will by the CDNR with exceptional hatches and Fly Fishing Only areas and produce exellent holdover trout.

There is some debate about naturally producing trout, but they are very solid trout streams. I would highly recommend them.

 

[Dale49]

Elk River in West Virginia.

 

[NickR]

Vermont near an airport? I am pretty sure Burlington has an airport. Lamoille or Winooski Rivers were pretty nice. There worth a visit. I am going back to visit Stowe, Vermont this summer.

 

[ryguyfi]

Dale49 wrote:
Elk River in West Virginia.

"The Lady" as the locals call it is on my short list to fish in the next 2 years.

There's also a stream they call "the sewer" for obvious reasons that produces some monster wild browns if you can dodge the std's.

 

[DaveS]

I'll second the Housie. Great trout river!

 

[Dale49]

The "sewer" ryguyfi was referring to is the Elkhorn (not to be confused with the Elk River) in McDowell County in southern West Virginia. It has a really good population of wild rainbows and browns. If you fish it, better have tetnus shot. Some people sy "fishing the poop"

 

[midnightangler]

Harker's Island off the coast of north carolina, probably the whole outer banks for that matter. There is a lot of saltwater FF on the east coast.

The Battenkill should be on this list as it is an all-wild stream. The Adirondacks as well, since there is a lot of water up there and it is very beautiful.

 

[midnightangler]

Tenn & NC sounds pretty interesting. You could hit tailwaters or tiny brook trout streams. You could also get some bass fishing in.

Most of the mountain angling in the south is for wild rainbows, which have displaced brook trout in probably 90% of their former territory. Many small streams also have at least a few brown trout. Those streams are very beautiful and worth visiting simply for that.

The tailwaters in TN are a destination for sure. They don't offer much in the way of hatch diversity (basically its sulphurs, bwo and caddis), especially if you're used to streams like Penns, the Upper Delaware or Pine creek. However, they do hold bigger fish than you will catch in the north. A few also have big stripers (10-30lbs) that run out of the lakes.

Of course, if you really like fishing dry flies, you should probably just go to the Upper Delaware. Big wild fish, lots of bugs, it's hard to beat. Those hex hatches in Michigan might be the only serious competition on the east coast for dry fly people...

 

[fishbaithohaha]

One week trip, in order: GSMNP, Eastern TN, Elk

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Western Mass. Southern Vt. Deerfield, Hoosic , Battenkill, lots of other smaller waters as well. GG

 

[Chaz]

The Blue Ridge Mt. in Va, Maine anywhere, but make sure it's not too hot. NC PA, Anyhwere in the Appalachian Mts. before June. The Coast from ME. to FLA.

 

[midgeman]

Bringing up an old tread. I’ve fished many eastern streams and here are my top 10 picks. Based on numbers, size, technical skil, hatches, memories, and straight shi+ & pi$$

1) Elkhorn
2) Delaware
3) Gunpowder
4) Falling Springs
5) Savage / Potomac System
6) Rapidan
7) Beaver Creak
8) Spring Creek
9) Little J
10) Slaty Fork

 

[ryansheehan]

Wow, going way back! How did you stumble across a 5 year old post? Gunpowder is nice but way, way too high.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

Mi+1 Outer Banks / Harker's. It's pretty much a year-round fishery with a peak in late October through November for False Albacore.