Home Forums Fishing Flyfishing Brook Trout in New Hampshire adventure

I'm in the planning phases of a small stream blue line fishing trip to New Hampshire / Maine in search of native brook trout. It's always been a goal of mine to catch a brookie from every state from Maine to Georgia in my lifetime. To date, I have caught brookies in Maryland, WV, Virginia, and Tennessee.

I'm targeting the White Mountain National Forest due to its sheer amount of public land and natural features. I've done an absurd amount of internet sleuthing and I've determined that there is limited info out there compared to other states along the Appalachians (ex Virginia or North Carolina). In short I'll be fly fishing only with my Sage Dart 0wt, will only be catch and release fishing, and will likely not go back to New Hampshire / Maine for years or even ever. I plan on camping at one of the campgrounds within the national forest and use it as a base camp.

I was curious if anyone would be kind enough to point me in a right direction of a particular drainage I should explore or a stream that has smaller tributaries to fish. Or is there a particular person or agency (EPA, DEP, game and fish) I should contact?

If anyone would be kind enough to PM me with some starting points I'd be happy to share specific streams I have personally fished in WV, VA, and MD.

Thanks
Ben

Sounds like a fun endeavor. Hopefully someone can point you in the right direction

PM on the way.

What a great trip. Good luck on your adventure. When you’re interested in adding New York to your list shoot me a PM. I live and fish in the Adirondacks.

fshaw,

Thank you for the kind offer. Without a doubt, I will in the future be coming to New York to add your state to my list.

I'll offer the same to you, if you ever head south hit me up, I'll share my knowledge with you

I would contact the North Country Angler fly shop in North Conway, NH. Steve the owner is very knowledgeable when it comes to the blue lines of the White Mountain National Forest.

If you decide to stumble across the border into Maine, I can help you out.

Yep, Steve is a great guy and always willing to help - I intended to be much more informed than I am right now about the blue lines but knee issues (and new house) kept me from doing much exploring last summer. If you get up here to the Whites send me a PM and I'll be happy to pass anything I know (well, except my secret little local one ) or buy you a beer.

GuideGun, do you fish any ponds in Maine? I fished a few in the Jackman and Greenville areas in the fall of 2023. May go back this year. Amazing amount of water available. My biggest brookie in the Adirondacks is just over 3 1/4 pounds. I’d love to beat that in Maine.

Thanks, I'm going to give him a call one day.

I hope to camp at a NF campground close to the Maine boarder, with the hopes of sliding over and catching a brookie in Maine and scratching out 2 states in the same trip. If you have any pointers on some smaller streams just across the boarder, I'm all ears.

Pugs, I'm not looking for anyone's secret spot, I just want to catch a half dozen brookies and see some really pretty scenery. I'd be glad to hear any areas, drainages, or tribs to focus on.

That's OK, I really don't have any hardly and I'd be happy to take folks there - I'll know more in the spring - I'm in Conway as our Market town all the time so happy to get together when you make the trek and most of the interesting spots are north of there.

What better vehicle to transport oneself "far from the madding crowd" than a New England creek full of innocent (but not too innocent) brookies. One day soon I shall avail myself of Pugs' invitation also, now that the dust from my recent move is settling too.