America's fly-fishing rivers

From Leadville to the Royal Gorge, the Arkansas is Colorado's longest trout river, famous for its spring caddis hatch.

Below Olympus Dam at Estes Park, the Big Thompson cuts a tight canyon down to the plains, its cold, regulated flows sustaining a blue-ribbon tailwater fishery for wild brown and rainbow trout that commonly push 20 inches. Summer evenings draw crowds to the caddis hatch, but spring midge fishing and fall Baetis seasons belong to the patient angler willing to fish small flies with a light touch.

Below Dillon Reservoir, the Blue River drops into Silverthorne as one of Colorado's most technical tailwaters: crystal-clear, 40°F year-round, and full of educated rainbows and browns that demand small flies and light tippet. The Mysis shrimp flushed from the reservoir have grown fish to remarkable sizes, and the town-center access makes it a can't-miss stop on any I-70 corridor fishing trip.

The upper Colorado near Kremmling and Glenwood offers float and wade fishing for wild trout through dramatic canyon water.

Colorado's last major dam-free freestone river in the Roaring Fork Valley, the Crystal runs 35 miles through White River National Forest from its headwaters above Marble to its confluence with the Roaring Fork at Carbondale, holding wild rainbows and browns to 18 inches alongside a robust whitefish population in clear, boulder-studded water.

Colorado's longest true freestone river, the Eagle runs cobblestone-fast through the I-70 corridor from Camp Hale to the Colorado River at Dotsero: prolific caddis hatches, wild rainbows and browns up to 20 inches, and easy roadside access for over 40 miles.

The Frying Pan is a Gold Medal tailwater that runs 14 miles from Ruedi Reservoir down to Basalt in Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley, with Fryingpan Road following the entire stretch and ample public water. Cold, clear, stable releases below Ruedi Dam produce exceptionally large rainbow and brown trout, especially in the 'Toilet Bowl' plunge pool just below the dam. The fishery is famous for trophy rainbows that gorge on mysis shrimp flushed from the reservoir, supplemented by dense midge and Blue-winged Olive hatches. A celebrated late-summer Green Drake emergence brings the biggest fish up to dry flies.

A compact, clear freestone stream threading through Vail and its surrounding Gore Range wilderness, Gore Creek punches above its size with a Gold Medal designation and exceptional sight-fishing to selective trout year-round. The Gold Medal stretch from Red Sandstone Creek to the Eagle River holds an estimated 60 pounds of trout per acre.

Below the towering walls of the Black Canyon, the Gunnison carves through a billion-year-old gorge as one of Colorado's premier Gold Medal tailwaters, its cold, dam-regulated flows nurturing wild brown and rainbow trout to trophy size. The gorge float (a multi-day wilderness raft trip through dramatic Precambrian canyon walls) is widely considered the marquee fly-fishing float trip in the state.

One of Colorado's premier freestone fisheries, the Roaring Fork tumbles out of Independence Pass and winds through Aspen and Carbondale before hitting the Gold Medal water near Glenwood Springs: big browns and rainbows, world-class dry-fly hatches, and a river that fishes well in every season.

The South Platte is Colorado's signature Front Range trout river, with a chain of celebrated tailwater reaches (Cheesman Canyon, Deckers, the Dream Stream below Spinney Mountain, and Eleven Mile Canyon) all within easy reach of Denver. Cold, clear, dam-regulated flows produce technical sight-fishing to wild and stocked rainbows and browns that grow large and selective. Cheesman Canyon in particular is regarded as one of the most demanding catch-and-release fisheries in the West, rewarding small flies, fine tippet, and a careful approach. Midges and Blue-winged Olives dominate the calendar, with a strong summer Pale Morning Dun and Trico window.

A small, technical tailwater flowing cold and clear from Williams Fork Reservoir through the Arapaho National Forest to the Colorado River near Parshall, the Williams Fork rewards patient anglers with wild brown and rainbow trout in a quiet, off-the-beaten-track setting that rarely sees the crowds of Colorado's more famous tailwaters.

One of the premier steelhead rivers in the lower 48, the Clearwater carries legendary B-run fish averaging 10–13 pounds through canyon country to the Snake River, while its upper North Fork tributaries like Kelly Creek offer catch-and-release westslope cutthroat fishing in remote, roadless backcountry.

A productive freestone stream cutting through Idaho's historic Silver Valley, the South Fork Coeur d'Alene holds westslope cutthroat, rainbow, brown, and brook trout amid a rich stonefly-and-caddis hatch cycle. Recent conservation work has strengthened fish populations, with cutthroat reaching 20 inches in remote feeder streams.

The Henry's Fork of the Snake at Last Chance and Harriman Park is hallowed dry-fly water for its green drake and PMD hatches.

The Spokane drains Lake Coeur d'Alene and carves a canyon through the heart of downtown Spokane, offering an improbable urban tailwater fishery for wild Redband rainbow trout averaging 14–16 inches. Cold aquifer contributions and steady dam-regulated flows keep the river fishable and the insects consistent through a long season, making it one of the Pacific Northwest's best roadside fly-fishing destinations.

The Beaverhead punches well above its size: a narrow, spring-loaded tailwater flowing out of Clark Canyon Reservoir that holds thousands of trout per mile. It's technical fishing in intimate water, demanding precise presentations to fish that have seen it all, but the reward is some of the densest trout populations in Montana.

One of Montana's most storied freestone rivers, the Big Hole flows through remote, open country from the Beaverhead Mountains to Twin Bridges, home to the last self-sustaining population of fluvial Arctic grayling in the lower 48 and a salmonfly hatch that draws anglers from across the country.

The Bighorn flows out of Yellowtail Dam on the Crow Reservation in south-central Montana, with the legendary first 13 miles below the Afterbay Dam (from Three Mile down to Bighorn Access) holding some of the densest trout populations in the country. Cold, nutrient-rich tailwater flows grow heavy brown and rainbow trout that feed steadily through prolific aquatic insect emergences. Most anglers fish from drift boats with frequent wade-out spots on the long gravel flats. It is best known for its blanket Trico and Baetis hatches and reliable year-round midge fishing.

The Bitterroot Valley holds one of Montana's most consistent dry-fly rivers: 80-plus miles of freestone water running south from Missoula through a working valley framed by the Bitterroot Range. The Skwala hatch kicks things off early and a strong fall caddis and BWO season keeps fish feeding until the snows arrive.

Made famous by Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It, the Blackfoot is a classic Montana freestone, with immense stonefly hatches, strong summer terrestrial fishing, and wild cutthroat and brown trout holding in gin-clear water east of Missoula.

The Boulder flows wild and rocky from its headwaters in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness down through a scenic canyon to the Yellowstone Valley near Big Timber, carrying wild rainbows, cutthroats, and browns through miles of lichen-crusted pocket water. It sees a fraction of the pressure of its famous neighbors, rewarding the angler who makes the effort with big fish and even bigger solitude.

The Clark Fork defines Missoula: a broad, braided freestone river with prolific caddis and mayfly hatches that keep fish looking up well into October. It transforms from a small meadow stream near Anaconda to a wide western river by the time it passes through downtown, offering everything from easy wade fishing to technical canyon floats.

A classic freestone running through the Gallatin Canyon, with wade-friendly pocket water and strong caddis and stonefly hatches.

The Jefferson is Montana's overlooked gem: a wide, slow freestone winding through cottonwood bottomlands from Twin Bridges to Three Forks, where Lewis and Clark paddled through in 1805. Low summer flows concentrate fish and bring out hungry browns on hoppers; the spring window before runoff and the fall BWO season reward anglers willing to seek it out.

The Madison runs fast, broad, and wadeable from Hebgen and Quake lakes north toward Ennis, a continuous riffle famously nicknamed 'the fifty-mile riffle.' It is a blue-ribbon freestone and one of the most storied dry-fly rivers in the world, draining out of Yellowstone country through the Madison Valley. Wild brown and rainbow trout hold in its boulder-strewn pocket water, and the river fishes well on both nymphs and dries through the summer and fall. Its signature event is the late-June salmonfly hatch, followed by golden stones, summer caddis, and a strong fall Baetis season.

Below Holter Dam near Wolf Creek and Craig, the 'Mighty Mo' is a wide, weed-rich tailwater that ranks among the most productive trout rivers in the country, holding several thousand rainbow and brown trout per mile. Stable cold-water releases and abundant aquatic vegetation support enormous insect populations and consistent rising fish across long, glassy runs. The river is fished by drift boat and on foot from numerous FWP access sites along the Recreation Road between Holter Dam and Cascade. It is renowned for blanket Trico and Baetis hatches, an early-May Mother's Day caddis emergence, and a strong Pale Morning Dun season.

Tucked into the Absaroka-Beartooth foothills south of Red Lodge, Rock Creek is a narrow, bouldered freestone stream that runs cold and clear through Custer-Gallatin National Forest. It punches above its size with a legendary salmonfly hatch and a diverse slate of wild trout: cutthroat, brown, rainbow, brook, and bull trout all share the water.

Draining the remote Beartooth Range into the Yellowstone near Columbus, the Stillwater is a classic Montana freestone (fast, bouldery, and wildly scenic) with a stacked menu of hatches that keeps dry-fly fishing productive from stoneflies in early July through hoppers and Baetis well into fall. Despite flowing through one of Montana's most dramatic river corridors, it remains far less pressured than the Madison or Yellowstone.

The Yellowstone is the longest undammed river in the lower 48, running free out of Yellowstone National Park through Paradise Valley past Livingston and on across Montana. This stretch is a classic big freestone, fishing best after spring runoff clears, with wild Yellowstone cutthroat, rainbows, browns, and cutbows holding in its riffles, runs, and seams. Anglers float and wade through dramatic mountain scenery beneath the Absaroka Range. It is known for its early-summer salmonfly and golden stone hatches, prolific summer caddis and Pale Morning Duns, and an excellent fall Baetis and streamer season for big browns.

Below Flaming Gorge Dam in northeastern Utah, the Green River is a gin-clear tailwater carving through the red-rock walls of Red Canyon, and it holds one of the highest trout densities in the West: thousands of fish per mile through the famous 'A' section from the dam to Little Hole. A paved riverside trail and several float launches make it exceptionally accessible to both waders and drift boats. The water clarity allows sight-fishing to brown, rainbow, and cutthroat trout that see heavy pressure and demand accurate presentations. Spring and fall Blue-winged Olives, summer Pale Morning Duns and caddis, and the early-summer cicada 'hatch' are the marquee events.

The Middle and Lower Provo are Utah's premier tailwaters, minutes from Salt Lake and Park City, with dense brown and rainbow populations.

Sandwiched between two reservoirs in the Wasatch foothills, the Weber's middle section is a surprisingly productive tailwater running cold and clear through open ranch country near Wanship and Coalville, where big brown trout hold in undercut banks and deep runs year-round. Its proximity to the Wasatch Front makes it Utah's most accessible quality trout fishery.

Arguably the most unusual trout river in the world, the Firehole flows through active geyser basins with steam rising alongside every cast, yet holds healthy brown and rainbow trout that demand precise, technical dry-fly presentations. Its geothermal warming makes it one of the first Yellowstone rivers to fish in spring and compresses the season into two distinct windows.

Tucked below the Wind River Range, the New Fork is a blue-ribbon freestone that rewards patient anglers with trophy browns and cutthroats rising to some of the finest dry-fly hatches in Wyoming: Golden Stones, Grey Drakes, and summer tricos on water that feels like it's been forgotten by everyone but a handful of guides out of Pinedale.

The Miracle Mile and Grey Reef sections of Wyoming's North Platte grow trophy rainbows in nutrient-rich tailwater flows.

Star Valley's Salt River is a small, intimate freestone stream fed by springs and high-country snowmelt, running cold through willowy ranch corridors with wild Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat and sizeable brown trout that don't see nearly enough pressure. The float from Afton to the Snake takes anglers through some of Wyoming's most scenic agricultural valley, and some surprisingly technical dry-fly water.

The South Fork and Jackson-area Snake are home to the native Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat, fished from drift boats under the Tetons.

Central Oregon's Deschutes is a powerful high-desert river that flows north to the Columbia, with its Lower section below Pelton Round Butte Dam regarded as a world-class fishery for hard-fighting native 'redside' rainbow trout and summer-run steelhead. Fishing from a floating device is prohibited on the lower river, so anglers float to access points and then wade the bank, casting to fish holding along basalt ledges and riffles. The river is defined by its enormous late-spring salmonfly and golden stonefly hatch, when big dries draw redsides to the surface. Summer caddis and steelhead season then carry the fishing through fall.

The Owyhee's 10-mile tailwater below Owyhee Dam cuts through a high-desert canyon in southeastern Oregon, holding brown trout that average 16–20 inches on a river famous for its prolific Skwala and caddis hatches, one of the West's most underrated trophy trout fisheries.

The mid-Columbia near the Tri-Cities is a large, powerful river best known for salmon, steelhead, walleye, and smallmouth bass; the free-flowing Hanford Reach above Richland is the most fly-accessible stretch, offering wade and drift opportunities in a high-desert canyon setting unlike anywhere else in the Northwest.

Washington's blue-ribbon wild rainbow trout fishery, the Yakima flows through a dramatic basalt canyon east of the Cascades with some of the most reliable hatch fishing in the Pacific Northwest. From February Skwalas to October caddis, it's a four-season river.

The East Walker below Bridgeport Reservoir is one of the Eastern Sierra's best-kept secrets: a cold, clear tailwater that produces wild trophy brown and rainbow trout in a high-desert sagebrush canyon. Midge and BWO presentations dominate much of the year, but summer brings hoppers along the grassy banks and the evening hatch on the Miracle Mile can be exceptional.

Born out of Lake Tahoe at 6,000 feet and tumbling more than 100 miles into the Nevada desert, the Truckee is one of the West's most storied wild-trout rivers. The spring Skwala hatch draws serious anglers, the PMD and caddis hatches of early summer push fish to the surface, and fall baetis fishing can be outstanding, all within reach of the I-80 corridor.

The San Juan tailwater below Navajo Dam in northwestern New Mexico is one of the most famous big-fish trout fisheries in the country, with the 'Quality Waters' running roughly 3.75 miles downstream from the dam. Cold, stable, nutrient-rich releases produce enormous numbers of large, well-fed rainbow and brown trout in a desert canyon setting. The fishery is defined by midges (anglers routinely fish size 22–26 patterns on long, fine leaders), making it a proving ground for technical nymphing. Blue-winged Olives in the cooler months and a midsummer Pale Morning Dun emergence round out the dry-fly opportunities.

Michigan's Au Sable, birthplace of Trout Unlimited, is a fly-fishing-only legend famous for its Hex hatch.

One of Michigan's most celebrated trout rivers, the Manistee offers a spring-creek-like upper section and a productive tailwater below Tippy Dam, anchored by the legendary Hex hatch that draws dry-fly devotees every June.

The best tailwater trout fishery in the Southern Plains, the Mountain Fork runs cold and clear out of Broken Bow Dam through the Ouachita Mountains, holding brown trout to 10 pounds and drawing anglers from Dallas to Little Rock all winter long.

A bottom-draw tailwater below Goodwin Dam that rivals western rivers in fish density, the Farmington is Connecticut's most productive trout fishery and draws dry-fly anglers to its legendary Hendrickson and sulphur hatches just an hour from Hartford.

The Deerfield's tailwater section below Fife Brook Dam in the Deerfield River Gorge runs cold through one of the most scenic river valleys in western Massachusetts, producing prolific hatches and wild brown trout in a stretch that anglers can fish virtually year-round.

The most technically demanding tailwater in New England, the Swift flows year-round from Quabbin Reservoir with crystalline water and educated trout that regularly run 16–22 inches, a small-fly, fine-tippet proving ground unlike anything else in the Northeast.

New Hampshire's upper Androscoggin runs cold and clear out of Lake Umbagog, offering a rare combination of fly-fishing-only regulated water, low crowds, and a renowned mid-summer Alder Fly hatch that brings big browns to the surface for weeks.

The Upper Delaware system on the New York–Pennsylvania line is the East's premier wild-trout dry-fly fishery, anchored by the cold West Branch below Cannonsville Reservoir, the East Branch below Pepacton, and the larger main stem below Hancock. The West Branch at Hale Eddy runs cold and clear, sustaining self-reproducing wild brown and rainbow trout that key selectively on hatches. These are technical, often big-water fish that reward long leaders and accurate casts during prolific mayfly emergences. The river is famous for its Hendrickson, March Brown, sulphur, and Blue-winged Olive hatches from spring into fall.

One of the most productive salmon and steelhead rivers in the eastern United States, the Salmon River at Pulaski draws fly anglers from across the country each fall for explosive Chinook runs and chrome steelhead that push well into spring.

A classic Catskill freestone that flows through Livingston Manor to join the Beaverkill at the famous Junction Pool, the Willowemoc carries the same storied dry-fly heritage as its sister rivers and remains one of the most accessible Catskill streams for wade anglers.

Penns Creek springs directly from a limestone cavern at Penns Cave and hosts one of the greatest Green Drake hatches in the eastern United States, drawing pilgrims every late May to watch huge Ephemera guttulata duns blanket the water at dusk.

The storied Battenkill flows from Vermont into New York, a wild, wary brown-trout river and the home water of American fly fishing.

Short but stout, the Norfork runs only 5 miles before joining the White River, yet Trout Unlimited has ranked it among the top five trout rivers in the country. The 'Princess of Tailwaters' holds cutthroat, brown, rainbow, and brook trout in numbers that defy its modest length, plus a spring caddis hatch that can bring every fish in the river to the surface.

Fed by one of the largest natural springs in the Midwest (Mammoth Spring discharges nearly 10 million gallons per hour at a constant 58°F), the Spring River delivers year-round trout fishing through the Ozark foothills of northern Arkansas.

Below Bull Shoals Dam, Arkansas's White River is a trophy tailwater for brown and rainbow trout, fishable year-round.

North Georgia's most celebrated private trout river, the Soque runs 30 spring-fed miles through Habersham County holding some of the largest brown and rainbow trout in the Southeast. The trade-off for size is access (nearly all of the best water is private), but a guided day on the Soque is hard to match anywhere in the region.

The Toccoa tailrace is North Georgia's premier coldwater trout fishery, rolling 14 miles out of Lake Blue Ridge dam through the mountains toward Copperhill, Tennessee. Consistent 50-degree releases keep rainbow and brown trout feeding year-round, and the river's reliable caddis and sulphur hatches make it one of the few Southern tailwaters where dry-fly fishing genuinely pays off.

The Nantahala Gorge produces some of the most consistent fishing in western North Carolina. Cold releases from Nantahala Lake keep the lower river fly-fishable year-round and the tailwater section around Wesser holds impressive brown and rainbow trout. The river's blue-winged olive hatch is arguably the most reliable dry-fly opportunity in the Southern Appalachians.

The Tuck is the biggest trout river in western North Carolina, and one of the most accessible. Cold releases from Cedar Cliff and Bear Creek Lake dams keep trout happy year-round while the Delayed Harvest sections near Sylva give wading anglers miles of productive, lightly pressured water during the off-season.

One of the premier tailwaters in the American Southeast, the South Holston holds an extraordinary density of wild brown and rainbow trout (estimated at 8,500 fish per mile) and is most famous for its prolonged, prolific sulphur hatches that bring selective surface-feeders up each evening from mid-April through October, demanding technical presentations on light tippet.

Tennessee's other great tailwater, the Watauga flows cold and clear out of Wilbur Dam into Carter County with an estimated 2,000–4,000 trout per mile in its Trophy section. Sulphurs and blue-winged olives are the headliners, but the river rewards all year long if you stay on top of TVA release schedules.

Virginia's largest river, the James cuts through Appalachian ridges and open farmland on its 340-mile run to the Chesapeake. The upper section near Glasgow is prime smallmouth water: long rocky shoals, wooded banks, and fish that will blaze after a Clouser or a well-placed hopper from late May straight through summer.

Virginia's finest tailwater and arguably the best wild brown trout fishery east of the Mississippi, the Smith River below Philpott Dam stays cold year-round, supporting a naturally reproducing population with fish commonly 12–18 inches and the occasional 20-plus-inch trophy. Legendary sulphur hatches draw dry-fly anglers from across the Southeast each May and June.

One of the most remote and pristine spring-fed rivers in Texas, the Devils cuts 94 miles through raw canyon desert, offering extraordinary sight-fishing for smallmouth bass in gin-clear water that most fly anglers will never see.

The southernmost trout fishery in the United States, the Guadalupe's tailwater below Canyon Dam stays cold enough to hold stocked rainbows all winter, plus year-round trophy bass and stripers when the trout season ends.

Fed by 250 million gallons daily from the Edwards Aquifer, the San Marcos runs a crystal-clear 70°F year-round, one of Texas's finest spring creeks for Guadalupe bass and a rare chance to throw dry flies in January.

Fed by glacial melt from the Harding Ice Field, the Kenai's turquoise waters hold massive rainbow trout alongside world-class salmon runs, one of the most famous multi-species fisheries in North America.