Coolest Trout Stream You've Ever Fished

[ozark trout fisher]

Well, some folks have been complaining about the argumentative/non-fishing nature of some of the threads here, so here's one that's a little less likely to go that way. What's the coolest trout stream you've ever fished (or smallie stream, or anything else). Not necessarily the most productive water you've ever fished, but the one that was the most unique and interesting to fish.

For me, I'd say the Boquet River in the Adirondack Mountains-a stream that not hardly anyone, even the locals, seem to think of as much of a trout stream. It's a stream I've fished several times over the past few years when I've been up that way, and it's just an incredibly cool little stream. Fishing-wise, it's really nothing all that special, but I think it is the prettiest river that I have ever run across. The first time I saw the river was three years ago on my way to head down to fish at an a public access on Lake Champlain. Where I first saw it, it was flowing through a tiny town called Wadhams, where it flowed over a ten foot rock ledge waterfall. When I saw it, I forget all about Champlain for the day, found a place to park, and started fishing right below the waterfall. The river was small there, maybe about the size of the upper Current around Montauk, but it was a raging, deep, dangerous looking pocket-water river that you wouldn't want to get cross-ways with. There was no wading there unless you had a death wish-just hopping from bankside boulder to bankside boulder. Among the super fast water, there were really large, slow pockets below the larger boulders, and I was able to catch a bunch of brown trout that while small, fought harder for their size than any others I encountered.

About a week later, I decided to try the North Branch of the river, way up in the mountain headwaters. At the pull-out there, it looked totally unfishable, flowing incredibly fast over a smooth shale bottom. But when I got up stream about a quarter mile on the rough trail that followed the stream, this raging little mountain creek opened up into the deepest, greenest, most luxurious pool that I have ever seen on any stream. The kind of pool that just has to hold an eight pound brown trout, no matter how unpromising the rest of the river looks like. Well, there were no eight pound brownies at least that I found. But there were pretty much unlimited numbers of native brookies-small and stunted but jewel-like, and that was almost as good. After I caught and released plenty of fish in that pool, I went upstream looking for another pool like it, walking for almost a mile. In that distance, it never opened up into any kind of fishable water again, except in one other pool almost identical to the first, where I caught about the same number of brookies about the same size. Those were the only two pools in any otherwise long and completely barren stretch of river, but they were just full of fish... Weird. Here is a picture of the pool (this is not my picture, but it is the same pool... I found out later that the pool where I caught all those brookies is kind of a famous swimming hole locally)

http://webbox.lafayette.edu/~reiterc/hikes/adir/2006/06/wpict1587_1591_trim.jpg

I fished the Boquet again several times last year when I was up there, but my little secret trout stream just wasn't the same. The water was just too warm, and even though I fished some of the same places, I never caught a thing. But I'll never forget my time on the Boquet three years ago, and I sincerely hope I get the chance to hit again someday when it's on.

[Thom]

Great story.

I had nearly the same experience in Wyoming on the wind river. In the upper reaches just out of Dubois I fished almost every morning before chores on the Early Ranch there where I traded 2 weeks of wiring cabins and repair the water system for free acess to the 20 + horses and Wind River access just a short walk from the Kitchen and morning breakfast.

That end of the Wind was full of small brookies that were very picky and easily spooked in the clear water riffles and holding pools along the stream. I believe that they were stalked by mt lions and other preditors and that was the reason for having to be very careful wading and stalking the fish. Some mornings I would bring a 3 or 4 of the 8" brookies to the kitchen and the cook and I would share them for breakfast.

I also had access to a deeper section of the Wind on the Indian reservation nearby. The property was just outside of Indian territory and owned by a friend of Early dude ranch. Thatr section of the Wind held 14 to 16 inch browns that were a challenge due to the fast current there and large bolders. I managed to wade and jump across the bolders of the stream there and with long drifts letting out line managed to bring several large Browns upstream against the current and release them back into the river.

I had a ball those two weeks and met same great wranglers and vistors from around the world.

[jdmidwest]

Montana Creek in Alaska. 1 mile hike thru some bush in bear country off a beaten gravel road. Found the stream, banks covered in moose droppings. Felt the need to use a 5 wt that day, it was a small creek, right. 15 inch trout were stream born and well trained in the art of the fight. I learned that day what a drag and backing were for, all the while waiting for something big to come crashing out of the 12 foot high brush that lined the stream bank.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Actually this one is in the state of Missouri. I will not name it as it is has a very small population of forgotten self sustaining trout. It is well off of the beaten path and far from any other trout waters. There is really nothing special about the place or the trout but it is the feeling you get while fishing it.

After parking on a secluded dirt road, I begin my hike, albeit somewhat short, of about a 1/4 mile down a dry creek bed. Slowly and steadily though, more and more water comes almost without notice out of the gravel. Before you fully realize it, there is a good steady flow. Every increasingly, you suddenly find yourself in some of the most beautiful water like an oasis in the middle of the desert. A spring that boils out water at about the same rate as Roaring River is at this point.

I have never fished this spot on a sunny day. Not that it was planned that way, it has just always been a cloudy, overcast day that when coupled with the deep winter, looks as if you are on some great water deep in the Black Forest of Germany. One person that has fished it with me says it has the feel of a Blair Witch Project to it. And I agree. It has a very eerie, mystical, medieval aura about it. Visions of Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Robert Plant's fantasy sequences in the film The Song Remains the Same vividly come to mind.

[duckydoty]

It is hard for me to pick just one. To me, they are all cool in thier own way, each stream producing it ownd unique personal experience. I use to think, when I was 10, that Montauk and the Current River was the coolest river on earth. I cut my trout teeth there in the early 80's. I've had a passion for Lake Taneycomo since about the age of 15 or 16 afer reading and article in one of those outdoor magazines. So much of a passion that I moved to this area to be closer to Lake Taneycomo. Growing up, and even in middle age, I found other wonderful streams in Missouri to fish that have all produced fond memories, such as the 5 pound small mouth I caught in Patty Creek as a boy scout, fishing on NFoW with Randy Hanner and Brian Wise was a spectacular day, stalking McClouds on Crane Creek, C&R season with friends at Roaring River. Then, I made my first trip to Alaska. Alaska is cool in it's own way. Not being the top of the food chain puts a new perspective on fishing. At first the bears were intimidating, but not so much anymore. There have been several times while fishing in the Bush of Alaska that I have come face to face with brown bears. I have a great love for the Naknek River in Alaska. I caught my first of several 30 inch rainbows on the Naknek River with the largest being 36 inches caught last year. There are several other streams and rivers in Alaska where the scenery is spectacular and the fishing is even better. The Kulik River is a small river only about 1 1/2 miles long in the mountains connecting two lakes and holding schools of rainbows unlike I have ever seen before. Each school will hold 200-300 fish that will be 25-30 inches long. The Ugashik Narrow is another wonderful place where you can catch Arctic Char up to 36 inches long all day one after another. Brooks Falls is, of course, a wonderful experience. Battle River, where I once counted 59 brown bears coming through a 1/2 mile section of the river in one day. I also caught a 22 inch greyling there along with all the 25-27 inch bow you could shake a stick at, along with dolley varden and even a Lake Trout.

Like I said, it would be tough for me to pick one particular "coolest" stream.

[Outside Bend]

There's a couple streams I sometimes wind up dreaming myself back to...

There's one in Montana I fished one day on a whim- 60 or so miles down a gravel road, banks thick with grass and willows in an area known for moose and the occasional grizzly. But it also held one of the few remaining populations of fluvial grayling in the US, which made it completely worth it. Caught a handful of grayling and camped at a nearby lake, where I caught a mess of stocked rainbows with only three other anglers around- an otter, a tern, and a heron. That night I listened to gray wolves howl, and it was probably the loneliest I've ever felt, knowing the next living soul is miles away. I still have dreams of that place, and big sail-backed grayling.

There was another small stream in Montana I happened upon, as it ran through an underused Forest Service campground. In most spots it was maybe five feet wide, but walking along it long enough I found a pool about the size of a kiddie pool, and wound up catching a half-dozen 12 inch Westslope cutthroat on dry flies. And another creek in Idaho where I caught what seemed like a hundred cutthroat under 10 inches, and a half dozen cutthroat over 15 inches, but nothing in between. And another creek in Wyoming well off the beaten path, about the size of the Current at Tan Vat, where I caught a solid number of big dumb cutthroats over the course of a day, and had a very close encounter with a young bull moose.

The Gibbon River, in Yellowstone, is one I always seem to gravitate towards, even though I've never done terribly well. It's a big, windy stream with enormous cutbanks in a huge valley, an absolutely gorgeous stream. Upper Slough Creek is similar, full of native cutthroat, and definitely worth the walk.

And back home, I'm always willing to hit up the NFoW!

[Wayne SW/MO]

For me it would have to be the Deschutes river in Oregon for the wild Redbands and Summer Steelheads

[Al Agnew]

I just don't have one...I've fished too many great streams.

Upper Slough Creek has already been mentioned, but it's the best native cutthroat stream I've ever fished. Several hours on horseback to get back there, camped out for four days and only saw three people outside our own party, 14-18 inch Yellowstone cutthroats on dry flies all day long, and if you got tired of catching them on dries you could catch just as many on streamers.

Fished a tiny creek in Idaho one fall while on a bowhunting trip. The kind of fishing where you don't cast, just be sneaky and stick your rod through the brush to drop a fly in the pockets. Jewel-like westslope cutthroats, none bigger than 10 inches.

Best float stream...maybe the Big Hole in Montana. Big brown trout whacking streamers on fast-moving, rocky tannin-stained water, where it's tough to keep making quality casts as you drift downriver. And a chance to catch a native fluvial grayling.

Best "well-known" stream in Missouri...the upper Jacks Fork. Spectacular bluffs, narrow canyon-like valley with little or no sign of civilization, challenging little rapids here and there, exquisite fishing water.

Best pure smallmouth fishing river--probably the St. Regis in New York. 16-20 inch smallies until your arms get tired. Not great scenery, though. Best pure smallie stream with spectacular scenery--John Day River in Oregon. And most purely different smallmouth stream I ever fished--a little river on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, where I caught a smallmouth within sight of the open ocean.

[Zach Bearden]

The Arkansas River around Vail, Colorado. Tons of fish that are eager to eat, but that can be a real pain sometimes. Midges, caddis, mayflies... You never know what they'll want and where they'll be. It was fantastic. In fishing that river only a few times during competitions I've learned something each time. Learned to fish the "margins". 6" of water can still hold fish too

One that will forever hold my heart though is a little muddy stream in the Czech Republic. I caught my first grayling in this little stream, I barely knew what I was going to get when I saw my line slow down and then tick. A few moments later I held a grayling of around 14" in my hand. Had to have been one of the most beautiful fish I've ever seen.

[ollie]

All those far away spots sound great, but alas my favorite is no more for awhile. Little Missouri down in Arkansas holds dear to me. Gin clear water with rocks and boulders everywhere! First time down there I landed a couple of smallies in the 16" range within minutes of each other, not to mention a hold over trout. Very wild and remote down there and beatiful as well. Use to take my boys for an all boys camping trip every year and they always had a blast. One of the boys was on fire catching smallies one evening. Gave him a Case Hellgie and "BAM" the smallies were coming out from the rocks to just hammer his tube! Great fun and fishing I will always remember.