Applachian trail trout

mute

mute

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Has anyone walked hte appalachian trail and fished the mountain streams??
 
Yes, twice, once in Shennedoah NP and once in the GSMNP. Both were failures as far as the fishing is concerned. The problem with the AT is that it tends to follow ridgelines and never gets anywhere near the streams in the vallies. Now mind you, this was in June and July respectively when things are a bit drier. But all those blue lines that look like possibilities for fishing water are just that possibilities and most are dried up to the point you can't even use them as a water source. And hiking is hard work....its very hard to combine hiking and fishing....I would advise having seperate hiking and fishing days and to go slow.
 
I've fished 3 or 4 that I can think of off the top of my head in PA and they were all pretty good.
 
Yep, the lower elevation sections in NJ/PA might be the ticket. I'd be very intereted in that trip report.
 
Shipinfish, how hard is it to find the streams? Me and buddy were planning on driving up in and getting on in about teh middle of the trail in pa. then walking the trail and campnig for about 3 days. And also hopefully coming across some awesome fishing spots on the way.
 
Mute,

In Pine Grove Furnace the AT comes across Toms Creek (ClasssA) and Mountain Creek. And farther north it crosses Clarks Creek below the DeHart Dam.

Thats a start.

Maurice
 
awesome, thank you
 
The biggest problem with hiking the AT and fishing is that the streams come off the ridges much lower in elevation then the trail. The trail off the ridges are rugged and the streams are small. The streams in PA are mostly pretty good, but make sure you're in good shape to do it, and I'd suggest doing it with a friend for safety reasons.
 
In the same area, it crosses Rausch Creek (headwater to Stony Creek). That's one valley over from Clarks.

There are also some small trout streams in Swatara State Park (I don't think the AT crosses them, but runs nearby).

I don't know if any of these spots would be awesome, but they should have water and fish in them. Also, none of them are unknown. The place where Clarks is crossed by the AT is rather heavily fished and has a huge parking lot.

Rausch Creek has a few trout in it, but for the most part, it's heavily impacted by AMD. The DFTU chapter maintains a limestone treatment well on it, but it takes time to drop the pH. So you might have to go downstream a ways before it gets decent.

I had this same idea a while back, and did enough looking into it to convince myself that it's kind of a fool's errand for the most part. Although I guess it's a great thing to say you did... the doing of it may be a bit of a disappointment though.

PS: The AT crosses the upper end of the Yellow Breeches C&R section... speaking of DISCOVERED gems! :lol:
 
Maurice covered 2 of the streams I knew, the others are further south. Chaz makes a good point as well about the the trail being mostly on ridges, but down at pine grove there it actually crosses the stream at Toms Run. I'm sure there are other areas more north in the state that also cover some good mountain streams. Get out a good delmore-like map and just follow the trail and make a list of all the streams you see along the trail along with what counties they're in then go on the PFBC website and pull down the class A list and the natural reproduction list and just go down through and see how many of the streams in your path are those two lists and then just kind of go from there in figuring out which section of the trail to hike. Thats at least how I would go about it. Good luck!
 
After the AT climbs Blue Mt. you can forget about crossing any streams until you reach Hawk Mt. There it crosses Kettle Creek, tributary to Pine Creek, but from there you don't cross another stream until you reach the Lehigh R. From there to the Delaware it doesn't cross any more streams. They are all down slope. The climb down isn't so bad as long as there is a trail, it's the climb up that's a killer, trail or not.
 
There are hiking routes in NC PA that are much more "trouty."
Get the state forest maps for that region, see where the streams and trails are and make your plans.

Try to go after a period of heavy rains, so there is water in the creeks.
 
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