5 waters
Photo: NOAA, CC BY 2.0
Rivers & Streams · Alaska
A small, non-glacial roadside stream at Anchor Point on the lower Kenai Peninsula, with king salmon, coho salmon in August and a fall steelhead run. King seasons depend on the forecast, so check ADF&G emergency orders.
Steelhead · Coho Salmon · Chinook Salmon
Photo: Lisa Hupp/USFWS, Public domain
A Kodiak road-system river just south of the city with a coho salmon run and a small steelhead run that is catch-and-release only.
Coho Salmon · Steelhead · Sockeye Salmon
Photo: Frank K., CC BY 2.0
A glacial river, the longest in Southcentral Alaska, where the world record Chinook salmon was caught in 1985. Anglers fish it for sockeye and coho salmon and trophy-sized wild rainbow trout; check ADF&G emergency orders before fishing for kings.
Rainbow Trout · Coho Salmon · Chinook Salmon
Photo: Zhans33, Public domain
A clear tributary that meets the upper Kenai River near Cooper Landing and one of the most popular fishing destinations in Southcentral Alaska, with sockeye and coho salmon and rainbow trout. Closed to Chinook salmon fishing.
Coho Salmon · Rainbow Trout · Sockeye Salmon
A creek in downtown Anchorage where mostly hatchery-stocked king salmon return from mid-May and coho salmon from mid-July. Salmon fishing is open from the mouth up to a cable below the Chugach power plant dam; check ADF&G emergency orders before fishing for kings.
Chinook Salmon · Coho Salmon
1 water
Photo: NPS Photo / Grand Canyon National Park, CC BY 2.0
Rivers & Streams · Arizona
The cold Colorado River tailwater below Glen Canyon Dam, a 15 mile trout fishery in the walls of Glen Canyon above Lees Ferry.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Photo: Brandonrush, CC0
Rivers & Streams · Arkansas
The Greers Ferry tailwater at Heber Springs that once produced a world record brown trout.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout · Brook Trout
The Norfork tailwater of the North Fork River, managed for trout from Norfork Dam to the White River, stocked with rainbow, brown, cutthroat and brook trout.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · Brook Trout
Photo: Billings, Brett/USFWS, Public domain
The White River in Arkansas, a trout tailwater below Bull Shoals Dam and, far downstream at Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge, water with crappie, bluegill and largemouth bass.
Photo: Luhsteesay, CC BY-SA 4.0
Part of the White River
The Bull Shoals tailwater of the White River, managed for trout from Bull Shoals Dam to the Highway 58 bridge at Guion, with rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout · Cutthroat Trout
The lower White River at Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge, whose 300 or so bodies of water include oxbow lakes, bayous and the river itself, with crappie, bluegill, largemouth bass and catfish.
Bluegill · Crappie · Largemouth Bass
9 waters
Rivers & Streams · California
A Sacramento area river with spring shad and winter steelhead; some striped bass stay in the river through summer.
Striped Bass · American Shad · Steelhead
Photo: Blake, Tupper Ansel, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public domain
A California river with Chinook and coho salmon, steelhead, and American shad.
Steelhead · Chinook Salmon · Coho Salmon
An Eastern Sierra wild trout river below Pleasant Valley Dam, fishable year-round.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Photo: Bureau of Reclamation, CC BY-SA 2.0
Part of the Sacramento River
The Sacramento River in California, with rainbow trout, Chinook salmon, and steelhead.
Rainbow Trout · Chinook Salmon · Steelhead
Photo: Missvain, CC BY 4.0
A California river with steelhead.
Steelhead
The Sacramento River in California: wild trout water above Shasta Lake from Box Canyon Dam past Dunsmuir, and below the dams at Redding a river with rainbow trout, Chinook salmon and steelhead.
Flows out of Lake Tahoe through Truckee, California, and Reno, Nevada, to Pyramid Lake, with rainbow and brown trout on both sides of the state line.
Part of the Truckee River
Flows out of Lake Tahoe into Nevada; CDFW designates the river from Trout Creek downstream to the Nevada line a wild trout water.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · Cutthroat Trout
The Sacramento River above Shasta Lake, from Box Canyon Dam past Dunsmuir to the lake, with rainbow and brown trout and, at the lower end just above the reservoir, smallmouth bass.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout · Smallmouth Bass
7 waters
Photo: Roy Luck, CC BY 2.0
Rivers & Streams · Colorado
The upper Arkansas River from Leadville to Canon City, Gold Medal water from the Lake Fork to Parkdale. CPW counts about 90 percent of its trout as wild brown trout and 10 percent as stocked rainbow trout.
A Gold Medal tailwater below Dillon Dam with rainbow and brown trout; kokanee run up the middle Blue from Green Mountain Reservoir in the fall.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · Kokanee Salmon
A Gold Medal tailwater that runs about 14 miles from Ruedi Dam to the Roaring Fork River at Basalt, open to artificial flies and lures only.
Photo: Hogs555, CC BY-SA 3.0
A Gold Medal river through the Black Canyon and Gunnison Gorge with brown and rainbow trout.
Photo: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0
A Gold Medal trout river from the Fryingpan River at Basalt to the Colorado River at Glenwood Springs; below the upper Woody Creek bridge it is open to artificial flies and lures only.
Photo: Jacob Montgomery, CC BY-SA 3.0
The South Platte below Cheesman Dam: Gold Medal water through Cheesman Canyon and at Deckers. In the canyon, CPW says brown and rainbow trout reproduce naturally and the trout are famous for their size.
The Yampa River through Steamboat Springs, where flies and lures only and catch-and-release trout rules apply above the James Brown Soul Center of the Universe Bridge, and CPW protects native mountain whitefish during their fall spawn.
4 waters
Photo: National Park Service, Public domain
Rivers & Streams · Connecticut
A Connecticut river with brown and rainbow trout and a catch-and-release, barbless-hook trout management area (Section 2) from below Riverton to New Hartford.
Photo: Spacemace1, CC BY-SA 4.0
One of Connecticut's most popular rivers for fishing, per CT DEEP, from trout and smallmouth bass water around Cornwall to the tidal reach below Derby Dam, where anglers seek striped bass.
Photo: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0
Part of the Housatonic River
One of Connecticut's most popular rivers for fishing, per CT DEEP, with a catch-and-release trout management area above Cornwall Bridge whose lower three miles are fly fishing only, and a stretch managed for smallmouth bass a few miles below.
The tidal Housatonic from Derby Dam to Long Island Sound, brackish to salty at its lower end, where Connecticut DEEP says anglers seek striped bass, which overwinter in the area.
Striped Bass
Photo: Gabriel Vanslette, CC BY 3.0
Rivers & Streams · Florida
Florida's longest river entirely within its borders, flowing north from its headwaters in Brevard County through Lake Monroe and Lake George, with saltwater fish near its mouth at Jacksonville.
Part of the St. Johns River
The St. Johns from Puzzle Lake and Lake Harney past Lake Monroe and DeLand to Lake George, FWC's Lower St. Johns River and Lakes reach, with numerous oxbows between Lake Monroe and Lake George.
Largemouth Bass · Crappie · Striped Bass
Photo: Out of this World Adventure, CC BY-SA 4.0
The St. Johns in Clay County south of I-295, where FWC names Doctors Inlet and the river's hard sand bottoms for largemouth bass and redear sunfish, and nearby Black Creek for black crappie and panfish.
Largemouth Bass · Redear Sunfish · Bluegill
The St. Johns' 60 mile headwaters in Brevard County, a tannin-stained river that flows out of marshes through Lakes Hell'n Blazes, Sawgrass, Washington, Winder and Poinsett.
Largemouth Bass · Crappie · Bluegill
Photo: Keizers, CC BY-SA 3.0
Rivers & Streams · Georgia
The Chattahoochee from Buford Dam to Peachtree Creek in Atlanta, 48 miles of designated trout water inside the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area: a cold tailwater with stocked rainbow and wild brown trout below Buford Dam, and below Morgan Falls Dam a Delayed Harvest trout section with shoal, largemouth and spotted bass and summer striped bass.
Photo: Scott Long, CC BY 3.0
Part of the Chattahoochee River
The Lanier Tailwater, from Buford Dam down to Bull Sluice Lake at Roswell, where cold releases from Lake Lanier keep stocked rainbow and wild brown trout year-round.
The Chattahoochee from Morgan Falls Dam to Peachtree Creek, with the Delayed Harvest trout section from Sope Creek to Cobb Parkway, shoal, largemouth and spotted bass, and striped bass that run up from West Point Lake in summer.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · Largemouth Bass
Photo: Thomson200, CC0
The cold tailwater below Blue Ridge Dam, a 15-mile stretch with a reputation among anglers as one of the best trout rivers in north Georgia, stocked with rainbow and brown trout.
10 waters
Photo: U.S. Geological Survey, Public domain
Rivers & Streams · Idaho
Runs through Ketchum and Hailey, with wild rainbows and browns.
Photo: Tamanoeconomico, CC BY-SA 4.0
A tailwater that runs right through the city of Boise, with year-round trout fishing.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · Steelhead
Part of the Clark Fork River
The Clark Fork in Idaho, from below Cabinet Gorge Dam to its delta in Lake Pend Oreille, where Idaho Fish and Game's recommended game fish include walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass, lake trout and rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout.
Brown Trout · Cutthroat Trout · Lake Trout
Photo: Idaho Department of Commerce and Labor, Public domain
Home to the Clearwater B strain of steelhead, which return from the Pacific Ocean from October until May.
Steelhead · Rainbow Trout · Chinook Salmon
Photo: Z3lvs, CC0
The Henrys Fork in Idaho, with rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout.
Part of the Salmon River
The Main Salmon's wild section, floated by permit from the Corn Creek launch through the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness to Carey Creek, with cutthroat and rainbow trout, steelhead and whitefish.
Cutthroat Trout · Mountain Whitefish · Rainbow Trout
Photo: BLM Cottonwood Field Office, CC BY 2.0
Idaho's Salmon River, known as the River of No Return, which runs from the Sawtooth and Lemhi valleys through the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness and past Riggins to the Snake River.
Photo: David Wilson, CC BY 2.0
The Lower Salmon River at Riggins, with steelhead, Chinook salmon, rainbow trout and smallmouth bass.
Steelhead · Chinook Salmon · Rainbow Trout
Photo: Sam Beebe, CC BY 2.0
A spring creek near Picabo that IDFG calls a world-class trout stream fishery, rising from cool desert springs at the base of the Picabo Hills, with rainbow and brown trout.
Photo: Bob Wick / BLM, CC BY 2.0
IDFG calls the South Fork widely regarded as one of the finest trout fishing rivers in the country, home to native Yellowstone cutthroat trout, with rainbow and brown trout.
Cutthroat Trout · Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
3 waters
Rivers & Streams · Illinois
The Illinois River, from the Peoria Pool's sauger, walleye and catfish water to the Alton Pool above Grafton, where Illinois DNR calls channel catfish the primary game fish.
Part of the Illinois River
The Illinois River's Alton Pool, 80.2 miles from Grafton up to the La Grange Lock and Dam, where Illinois DNR calls channel catfish the primary game fish and blue and flathead catfish reach trophy sizes.
Blue Catfish · Channel Catfish · Crappie
The Illinois River at Peoria, with channel and flathead catfish, sauger, walleye, and largemouth and smallmouth bass.
Bluegill · Channel Catfish · Crappie
Photo: Isslwc, CC BY-SA 3.0
Rivers & Streams · Indiana
A Lake Michigan tributary with steelhead and salmon runs into South Bend and Mishawaka.
Steelhead · Chinook Salmon
Photo: Dsdugan, CC0
Rivers & Streams · Iowa
Upper Mississippi backwaters and wing dams with walleye, sauger, and panfish.
Walleye · Smallmouth Bass · Bluegill
Rivers & Streams · Kentucky
A big tailwater below Wolf Creek Dam with trophy brown trout.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · Striped Bass
2 waters
Photo: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Rivers & Streams · Louisiana
An 833,000-acre basin of land, swamp and water, where largemouth bass, crappie and channel catfish are among the primary species sought and the fishery follows the annual flooding and dewatering cycle.
Largemouth Bass · Crappie · Channel Catfish
The 26,000-acre Barataria Preserve of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park outside Marrero, a freshwater habitat of bayous, swamps and marshes where anglers also catch saltwater fish.
Largemouth Bass · Redfish
Photo: Thomsonmg2000, CC0
Rivers & Streams · Maine
Trout water below the dams on the upper river.
A short river in Upton, Maine, with wild brook trout.
Brook Trout · Landlocked Salmon
Photo: Henrysz, CC BY-SA 4.0
Rivers & Streams · Maryland
A cold tailwater below Prettyboy Dam with wild brown trout near Baltimore.
Brown Trout
Rivers & Streams · Massachusetts
The Deerfield River below Fife Brook Dam, with two catch-and-release areas, cold dam releases that support coldwater fish year round in the upper one, and brown trout from the dam to Charlemont that are over 80% wild.
Photo: Pi.1415926535, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Swift River below Quabbin Reservoir's Winsor Dam, where consistent flows and cool water support trout year round: fly fishing only down to Route 9, then catch-and-release from July to December down to Cady Lane.
Rainbow Trout · Brook Trout · Brown Trout
6 waters
Rivers & Streams · Michigan
A major Lake Huron tributary in northern lower Michigan, with stream-bred brown and brook trout in the flies-only Holy Water below Grayling and steelhead, salmon and walleye below Foote Dam at Oscoda.
Part of the Au Sable River
The Au Sable from Grayling through the flies-only Holy Water (Burton's Landing to Wakeley Bridge), with stream-bred brown and brook trout.
Brown Trout · Brook Trout
Photo: Sanibel sun, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Au Sable from Foote Dam to Lake Huron at Oscoda, where Michigan DNR's weekly fishing reports list steelhead, Chinook, coho and Atlantic salmon, walleye, smallmouth bass and channel catfish caught from the pier and in the lower river.
Channel Catfish · Chinook Salmon · Coho Salmon
Photo: NOAA Photo Library, Public domain
A Michigan river with walleye, smallmouth and largemouth bass, muskellunge, white bass, and yellow perch.
Walleye · Smallmouth Bass · Largemouth Bass
Photo: Eric Schmuttenmaer, CC BY-SA 2.0
A Michigan river with steelhead, Chinook salmon, and brown trout.
Steelhead · Chinook Salmon · Brown Trout
Photo: Yetiwriter, CC BY-SA 3.0
A Michigan river with steelhead, Chinook and coho salmon, and brown trout.
Rivers & Streams · Minnesota
The river mouth and bays between Duluth and Superior, about 10,000 acres where DNR surveys find walleye, northern pike, perch, crappie, and smallmouth.
Walleye · Northern Pike · Yellow Perch
Rivers & Streams · Missouri
An Ozark river with trout in the upper river below Montauk State Park, smallmouth bass in the middle river, and walleye in the lower river near Doniphan.
Photo: KTrimble, CC BY-SA 3.0
A lake below Table Rock Dam at Branson, stocked with about 560,000 rainbow trout and 15,000 brown trout a year.
Part of the Current River
The Current River from Van Buren to the Arkansas line, 51 miles of big water in Carter and Ripley counties with smallmouth bass and walleye, whose best population is above and below Doniphan.
Smallmouth Bass · Walleye
The Current River from Akers Ferry to Van Buren, 70 miles through Shannon and Carter counties with clear water and great smallmouth bass fishing, and chain pickerel in the slow pools and backwaters.
Smallmouth Bass · Chain Pickerel
Photo: Kbh3rd, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Current River from Montauk State Park to Akers Ferry, 19 miles in Dent and Shannon counties, with a stretch managed for large brown trout below Montauk and a White Ribbon area stocked with rainbow trout down to Akers Ferry.
14 waters
Photo: Mike Cline, Public domain
Rivers & Streams · Montana
A tailwater below Clark Canyon Dam, tight and willow-lined above Dillon, then a lower river of brown trout through an open valley to Twin Bridges.
A freestone river in southwest Montana with brown and rainbow trout and the last native river-dwelling Arctic grayling in the lower 48.
A tailwater below Yellowtail Dam at Fort Smith with brown and rainbow trout, where the National Park Service says trout can average upward of 11,000 per mile in normal water years.
Photo: USFWS Mountain-Prairie, CC BY 2.0
A wild trout river flowing north from the forks near Conner to Missoula, with rainbow and brown trout throughout and westslope cutthroat common above Hamilton.
Photo: Bureau of Land Management, Public domain
The river of A River Runs Through It, with native westslope cutthroat.
Photo: w_lemay, CC BY-SA 2.0
The Clark Fork from its wild trout water through Missoula to Idaho, where it runs below Cabinet Gorge Dam to Lake Pend Oreille with walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass and trout.
A wild trout river through Missoula, where rainbow trout and rainbow x cutthroat hybrids make up most of the trout, with brown trout and native westslope cutthroat.
Photo: Jim, CC BY-SA 2.0
A fast, scenic freestone through Gallatin Canyon near Bozeman and Big Sky.
The upper Madison above Ennis Lake, known to anglers as the 50-mile riffle, with brown and rainbow trout below Hebgen and Quake Lakes.
The Missouri River in Montana, from the trout tailwater below Holter Dam at Craig to the Upper Missouri River Breaks, where BLM lists walleye, sauger, northern pike, channel catfish and smallmouth bass.
Photo: Jet Lowe, Historic American Engineering Record, Public domain
Part of the Missouri River
The 35-mile tailwater below Holter Dam, from Wolf Creek past Craig to Cascade, which FWP calls one of Montana's premier trout fisheries, with wild rainbow and brown trout.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout · Walleye
Photo: Roger Peterson, U.S. Forest Service, Public domain
The Missouri River through BLM's Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, a float from Fort Benton past Coal Banks and Judith Landing to the James Kipp Recreation Area, where common sportfish include walleye, sauger, northern pike, channel catfish and smallmouth bass.
Channel Catfish · Northern Pike · Sauger
Photo: Robert Amundson, CC BY-SA 3.0
Longest free-flowing river in the lower 48, from Paradise Valley's trout water near Livingston to North Dakota, where it is a spring and fall fishery for sauger and walleye near Buford, Cartwright and Fairview.
Part of the Yellowstone River
Longest free-flowing river in the lower 48. Paradise Valley floats, big dries, and native cutthroat upstream.
Cutthroat Trout · Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Photo: Paul Hurtado, CC BY-SA 2.0
Rivers & Streams · Nevada
The Truckee River in Nevada, about 40 miles from the California line through Reno to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, with rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout, mountain whitefish, and largemouth bass in the lower sections.
Brown Trout · Cutthroat Trout · Largemouth Bass
Rivers & Streams · New Hampshire
A big river below Errol Dam in New Hampshire's North Country with brook, brown and rainbow trout.
Photo: Zeete, CC BY-SA 4.0
Rivers & Streams · New Jersey
The South Branch of the Raritan River through Ken Lockwood Gorge, a catch-and-release trout stretch of about 2.2 miles in Hunterdon County that is a favorite of fly anglers.
Photo: Chris English / U.S. Department of the Interior, CC BY-SA 2.0
Rivers & Streams · New Mexico
A mountain trout stream flowing out of the Pecos Wilderness near Santa Fe.
Photo: Phil Slattery, CC BY-SA 4.0
The tailwater below Navajo Dam, whose first 3.75 miles, to the Crusher Hole Day Use Area, are catch-and-release Special Trout Water (the quality waters), with rainbow and brown trout.
Rivers & Streams · New York
A famous trout stream with stocked and wild brown trout and wild brook trout.
Photo: NPS, Public domain
The upper Delaware River below the meeting of its East and West branches, part of the Delaware tailwaters, one of New York's most renowned wild trout fisheries.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · American Shad
Photo: Pollinator, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Genesee River from Rochester's lower falls down to Lake Ontario, where brown trout, steelhead, coho, and Chinook come up from the lake in season.
Steelhead · Brown Trout · Chinook Salmon
Photo: Antepenultimate, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Lake Ontario tributary at Pulaski, famous for fall king salmon and winter steelhead.
Photo: Sergey Ashmarin, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Thousand Islands region, where smallmouth bass are the most commonly caught fish and the river is a popular hotspot for trophy muskies.
Smallmouth Bass · Muskellunge · Northern Pike
Part of the Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River in New York, through Otsego, Chenango, Broome and Tioga counties, where DEC says the fishery is dominated by smallmouth bass and walleye, with hot spots in Binghamton such as the mouth of the Chenango River.
Photo: U.S. Forest Service, Public domain
Rivers & Streams · North Carolina
A mountain trout stream with catch-and-release, artificial flies and lures only water from the headwaters to Avery Creek and Hatchery Supported trout water from Avery Creek down to the lower national forest boundary.
Photo: Nader Moussa, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Nantahala River through the Nantahala Gorge, Hatchery Supported trout water from the Macon County line to Fontana Lake, with Delayed Harvest water upstream from Whiteoak Creek to the powerhouse discharge canal.
Brook Trout · Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Rivers & Streams · North Dakota
The Missouri River in North Dakota: a spring and fall sauger and walleye fishery above Lake Sakakawea near Williston, a tailrace below Garrison Dam with trophy brown and rainbow trout, and a walleye river between Garrison Dam and Lake Oahe at Bismarck.
A walleye river between Garrison Dam and Lake Oahe.
Walleye · Northern Pike · Channel Catfish
The Missouri River directly below Garrison Dam, where North Dakota Game and Fish says the tailrace continues to produce trophy brown and rainbow trout and a diverse quality fishery for walleye and salmon.
Brown Trout · Channel Catfish · Rainbow Trout
The Missouri River from Williston to the Montana line, above Lake Sakakawea: a spring and fall fishery for sauger and walleye, where North Dakota Game and Fish says channel catfish are abundant.
Channel Catfish · Sauger · Walleye
Photo: Ksteblet, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Yellowstone River in North Dakota near Buford, Cartwright and Fairview: a spring and fall fishery for sauger and walleye, where North Dakota Game and Fish says channel catfish are abundant.
Photo: Katie Sekelsky, CC BY-SA 3.0
Rivers & Streams · Ohio
A Lake Erie tributary that Ohio stocks with steelhead each year, with fish returning to the river from fall through spring.
Photo: Tim Kiser, CC BY-SA 4.0
A Lake Erie tributary at Painesville that the state stocks with steelhead each year, with fish running up from the lake from fall through spring.
Photo: Ken Winters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Public domain
A Steelhead Alley tributary in Cleveland Metroparks with fall through spring steelhead.
Photo: Thomas & Dianne Jones, CC BY 2.0
Rivers & Streams · Oklahoma
A year-round trout tailwater below Broken Bow Dam in the Ouachita foothills.
Rivers & Streams · Oregon
A south coast river at Brookings supporting fall Chinook and winter steelhead.
Chinook Salmon · Steelhead
Photo: Max Schwarz, CC BY-SA 2.5
The Crooked River tailwater below Bowman Dam near Prineville, which ODFW calls one of the most productive trout streams in Central Oregon, with redband trout and mountain whitefish.
Rainbow Trout
The lower Deschutes at Maupin, a Columbia River tributary that hosts one of the most famous summer steelhead runs in the state, with native redband (rainbow) trout.
Rainbow Trout · Steelhead · Chinook Salmon
The Willamette River in Oregon, with Chinook salmon, steelhead, walleye, and smallmouth bass.
Chinook Salmon · Steelhead · Walleye
Photo: Jsayre64, CC BY-SA 3.0
The McKenzie River at Leaburg, east of Springfield, where ODFW stocks hatchery rainbow trout and the native rainbows are often called McKenzie redsides.
Rainbow Trout · Cutthroat Trout · Chinook Salmon
The Deschutes at Tumalo State Park, less than 10 miles north of Bend, with wild redband and brown trout.
Photo: Little Mountain 5, CC BY-SA 3.0
A steelhead river the BLM calls renowned for salmon and steelhead fishing, with a fly-only stretch and summer and winter steelhead runs.
Photo: Greg Shine / BLM, CC BY 2.0
An Oregon river with steelhead and Chinook salmon.
Photo: Sam Beebe/Ecotrust, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Snake River below Hells Canyon Dam on the Oregon and Idaho line, where ODFW says the river may have some of the best summer steelhead fishing in the state, with smallmouth bass and channel catfish.
Channel Catfish · Smallmouth Bass · Steelhead
Rivers & Streams · Pennsylvania
A popular Lake Erie steelhead stream in Erie County, where the Fish and Boat Commission keeps adding public fishing access.
A large, fertile limestone stream in Centre County and one of Pennsylvania's most popular trout fisheries, where a substantial portion holds Class A wild brown trout.
A fertile limestone creek through State College and Bellefonte with large numbers of wild brown trout, one of the most productive wild trout fisheries in Pennsylvania.
Photo: Dough4872, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Susquehanna from New York, where smallmouth bass and walleye dominate the fishery, to the wide, shallow river at Harrisburg.
A wide, shallow river near Harrisburg where Fish and Boat Commission surveys find a healthy, abundant smallmouth bass population.
Smallmouth Bass · Walleye · Channel Catfish
Photo: Staecker, Public domain
A limestone creek in Cumberland County with brown and rainbow trout. In July 2026 the Fish and Boat Commission removed Section 03, the stretch toward Allenberry, from its catch-and-release program.
Rivers & Streams · Rhode Island
A Rhode Island designated trout water that DEM stocks with trout in spring and with brook and rainbow trout in fall, from the Route 165 check station down through Hope Valley and Woodville.
Brook Trout · Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
Photo: USDA Forest Service photo by Preston Keres, Public domain
Rivers & Streams · South Carolina
A Wild and Scenic River on the Georgia line with delayed-harvest trout water.
Rivers & Streams · South Dakota
A Black Hills trout stream that runs through Rapid City below Pactola Reservoir.
Rivers & Streams · Tennessee
The Clinch River, a smallmouth bass river in southwest Virginia and, below Norris Dam in Tennessee, a tailwater stocked with brook, brown and rainbow trout.
Part of the Clinch River
The Clinch River below Norris Dam, about 14 miles of tailwater trout water down to the Highway 61 bridge in Clinton, stocked with brook, brown and rainbow trout and holding good numbers of large browns and rainbows.
A tailwater below South Holston Dam with very high numbers of wild brown trout.
Photo: Ken Thomas, Public domain
The Watauga River's Wilbur tailwater, about 16 miles from Wilbur Dam down to Boone Reservoir, with a wild brown trout population and stocked rainbow trout.
Photo: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0
Rivers & Streams · Texas
An Edwards Plateau river whose 13.8-mile tailrace below Canyon Dam runs cold and clear, with stocked rainbow and brown trout in winter and Guadalupe, smallmouth and largemouth bass.
Rainbow Trout · Largemouth Bass · Brown Trout
Photo: runt35, CC BY 3.0
Rivers & Streams · Utah
The Green River from Wyoming's Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge below Fontenelle Reservoir, through the Flaming Gorge tailwater in Utah, to Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, where catfish and smallmouth bass replace trout.
Part of the Green River
The Flaming Gorge tailwater, one of the premier tailwater trout fisheries in the West, with an estimated 10,000 fish per mile, mostly brown and rainbow trout.
The Green River at Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, where the refuge says the primary fishing is for catfish and smallmouth bass, with a boat launch a mile above refuge headquarters.
Smallmouth Bass
Photo: outkast9821, CC BY 2.0
The Middle Provo River, a Blue Ribbon fishery from Deer Creek Reservoir up to the Legacy Bridge, with brown and rainbow trout.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout · Mountain Whitefish
Rivers & Streams · Vermont
What Vermont Fish and Wildlife calls one of New England's most iconic trout fishing rivers: an all-wild brook and brown trout fishery through Manchester, Sunderland and Arlington, catch-and-release only below the Route 11/30 bridge.
Brook Trout · Brown Trout
Photo: Ɱ, CC BY-SA 4.0
A 59-mile river running from Ripton to the Connecticut River at Hartford, with brook, brown and rainbow trout in its colder sections and tributaries.
Photo: vastateparksstaff, CC BY 2.0
Rivers & Streams · Virginia
The Clinch River in southwest Virginia, flowing some 135 miles from near Tazewell through Russell, Wise and Scott counties to Tennessee, with good smallmouth bass fishing.
Virginia's largest river, about 300 miles from the Appalachian Mountains through Richmond to the Chesapeake Bay, with smallmouth bass above the fall line and trophy blue catfish in its tidal water.
Photo: Watson Media, CC BY 2.0
Part of the James River
The James at Richmond, the fall-line stretch from Bosher's Dam down to the 14th Street Bridge, where smallmouth bass are the most common game species.
The tidal James below the fall line in Richmond, which Virginia DWR calls a nationally recognized trophy blue catfish fishery, with largemouth bass in its tidal creeks.
Blue Catfish · Largemouth Bass · Striped Bass
The middle James from Bent Creek below Lynchburg to Watkins Landing above Richmond, where Virginia DWR samples smallmouth bass, sunfish and channel and flathead catfish.
Smallmouth Bass · Bluegill · Redear Sunfish
A limestone spring creek through private farmland south of Bridgewater, fly fishing only with a free landowner permit, where stocked fingerlings grow into large brown trout.
Part of the New River
The New River in Virginia above Claytor Lake, where DWR expects high catch rates of smallmouth bass and calls walleye bountiful from Fries Dam down to Claytor Lake.
Photo: Idawriter, CC BY-SA 3.0
The New River in Virginia from Claytor Dam to the West Virginia line, with a flourishing smallmouth bass population and, between Claytor Dam and Radford, some of the best musky water DWR samples.
Muskellunge · Smallmouth Bass
Photo: AgnosticPreachersKid, CC BY-SA 4.0
A scenic valley river whose North and South Forks Virginia DWR calls renowned for citation-sized smallmouth bass, with walleye and musky too.
Smallmouth Bass · Muskellunge · Walleye
The upper James from the Jackson and Cowpasture rivers near Iron Gate about 90 miles down to Lynchburg, where Virginia DWR reports good numbers of muskies and a smallmouth bass fishery on the rise.
Smallmouth Bass · Muskellunge · Bluegill
Rivers & Streams · Washington
A creek flowing into the north end of Moses Lake, open all year for catch-and-release fly fishing from the bank only, where WDFW says to expect plenty of 16 to 20 inch rainbow trout.
The Skagit River at Concrete, part of what WDFW calls a storied river system that was the birthplace of many steelhead fishing techniques, with a July sockeye season and coho in September and October.
Photo: Adbar, CC BY-SA 3.0
A Quillayute system river near Forks with wild steelhead, plus Chinook and coho seasons the state sets each year.
Photo: Jeff Clark / BLM, CC BY 2.0
A trout river whose canyon the BLM calls Blue Ribbon trout water, with a catch-and-release trout fishery open year-round from Roza Dam up to Easton Dam.
Rivers & Streams · West Virginia
A stocked trout river in Webster and Randolph counties, stocked from Rose Run down to Webster Springs, with catch-and-release water upstream.
Photo: NKS22, Public domain
The New River from Virginia, where DWR forecasts smallmouth bass, walleye and musky above and below Claytor Lake, to West Virginia's New River Gorge.
Photo: PumpkinSky, CC BY-SA 3.0
A big, rocky river through the New River Gorge, one of the best known destinations for trophy smallmouth, walleye and musky.
Smallmouth Bass · Walleye · Muskellunge
Photo: Kriz420, Public domain
Rivers & Streams · Wisconsin
The Bois Brule River below U.S. Highway 2 in Douglas County, a Lake Superior tributary that has drawn generations of anglers for its steelhead and lake-run brown trout.
Steelhead · Brown Trout
Photo: USFWS, Public domain
Spring creeks of Wisconsin's Driftless Area around Coon Valley in Vernon County, where Timber Coulee Creek holds an abundant wild brown trout population and nearby streams also hold brook trout.
Photo: Royalbroil, CC BY-SA 3.0
The lower Wolf River at New London, part of the Winnebago System, where walleye angling is often excellent in April and lake sturgeon make their spring spawning run.
Walleye
Photo: USFWS Mountain Prairie, Public domain
Rivers & Streams · Wyoming
The Green River below Fontenelle Reservoir in Wyoming, which Wyoming Game and Fish says produces exceptional rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout and mountain whitefish, much of it through Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge.
Brown Trout · Cutthroat Trout · Mountain Whitefish
Grey Reef and the Miracle Mile near Casper, with large trout and year-round floats.
Photo: Ansel Adams, Public domain
Native fine-spotted Snake River cutthroat trout in the Snake River below the Tetons.
Cutthroat Trout · Mountain Whitefish
