Fly Fishing for Brook Trout on the Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian Trail spans more than 2,000 miles, crossing through fourteen states on its way from Mount Springer in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine.

Following the spine of the Appalachian Mountains, the trail crosses countless cold-water streams that flow through the native range of one of my favorite fly rod fish: the eastern brook trout.

Brook Trout Fishing Along the Appalachian Trail in Vermont

I was in Vermont last week, in a small town that the Appalachian Trail passes through. I had my two-weight rod with me, and I was looking for a stream to catch these diminutive, colorful fish.

I pulled up OnX on my phone and found a blue line that crossed the Appalachian Trail a few miles outside of town. I parked on the side of the road near a small wooden bridge, where I dropped down to the bank and started to follow the stream up.

A Classic Appalachian Brook Trout Stream

In most places, the stream was no wider than the length of my fly rod. Alders lined the banks on both sides, branches hanging over the water.

As can be expected in late July, flows were low – the deepest plunge pools reaching my knees, the shallow riffles in between barely cresting the tops of my wading boots.

Finding Brook Trout in Their Summer Homes

It was in the deeper pools where I found them. In the heat of the summer, brook trout take refuge in the deepest sections of a stream, where it takes longer for the sun to warm the water.

The alders left no room for any kind of backcast, so fly presentation became an exercise in creativity.

I tied on a single dry fly, and I did what I could.

Fly Fishing the Appalachian Trail

I’ve fished hundreds of similar brook trout streams. It could have been in Maine or New Hampshire or Pennsylvania; replace the alders with rhododendrons, and I could have been in the mountains of Georgia or North Carolina.

But I had never fished a stream that ran along the Appalachian Trail. I thought about the thousands of hikers who take on the full trail – only about a third of whom make it to Mount Katahdin – and wondered how many stopped to notice all the life beneath the surface.

An Appalachian brook trout caught in North Carolina. | photo by Jasper Taback

The Ultimate Appalachian Trail Fly Fishing Trip

I like to hike. Five, ten, even fifteen miles in a day is well worth it if it brings me to fish that aren’t often pestered by artificial flies.

2,000 continuous miles, however, is a different beast. I have a few friends who have made the roughly six-month journey and completed the A.T., and I’ve tried to pin down the particular brand of insanity that compelled them to try it.

As far as I know, it wasn’t brook trout. But the thought of catching them in each of the fourteen states, following their native range all the way from Georgia to Maine, makes me kind of want to try it too.

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