About

Who runs it

wheretoflyfish is made by Nevel Trade Inc. It started as the spreadsheet we wanted when planning trips: guide prices that can be compared side by side, with a link to where each one came from.

Questions, corrections or a river we should add: info@neveltrade.com, or the suggestion form.

No paid listings or rankings

• No outfitter, lodge, guide or brand pays to be listed, to rank higher or to be described a certain way.
• Gear lists may link to shops that pay us a small commission if you buy, at no cost to you. Each of those links is labeled "Paid link" next to it. Commissions don't change what we recommend, the order of results or any rating.
• There are no ads.
• There's no overall score. Lists are sorted by what you pick: in season now, fishable now, price per angler, 3-day trip cost, crowding or name.
• Outfitters are named because their published rate is the source for a price, not as a recommendation.

How guide prices are compared

Outfitters quote a guided day in different ways: per boat for one or two anglers, per angler, a price for one angler plus a smaller add-on for a second, 6 hours or 8, in US or Canadian dollars. Side by side, those numbers don't compare. So every destination shows one price in the same unit:

Per angler, for a full guided day, with two anglers sharing the guide or boat. In US dollars, before the tip.

The outfitter's own quote is shown next to it on each destination page, with the arithmetic and a link to the rate page. The rules:

• Per boat or per guide (the usual "1–2 anglers" price): divided by two.
• Per angler: used as it is.
• One angler plus an add-on for a second ("$400, plus $50 for a second angler"): the total for two, divided by two.
• Other currencies: converted at 0.704 US$ per CAD, 0.561 US$ per NZD, 0.00822 US$ per ISK, 1.3249 US$ per GBP (rates of 2026-10-15). We update them when they move by more than a few percent.
• Short days: a trip under 7 hours isn't scaled up to a full day, because nobody sells that day. The price stays as quoted and is labeled with its hours.
• Where several outfitters or trips are listed (wade and float, peak and off season), the price is a range from the cheapest to the dearest.

57 of 60 destinations have a guided day rate; the rest sell guiding only inside weekly lodge packages, and their package prices are shown as published. Prices are from outfitters' own rate pages, or a booking site where noted, and each destination shows the date they were last checked (latest: Oct 2026). After 12 months a price is marked as old. Tips (15–20% is usual), tax, licenses and lodging aren't included.

Trip cost

The "3-day trip from" figure on each card is the total the trip calculator on the destination page starts with, for two anglers: guided days at the full-day rate, plus the cheapest fishing license that covers three days for each angler (license prices checked 2026-10-13). Guided days: one for water marked DIY-friendly, all three elsewhere. It leaves out lodging, flights, food and tips, so it is a floor, rounded to the nearest $50. The calculator adds lodging at your nightly rate and driving at the IRS mileage rate ($0.70 a mile).

Ratings

• Difficulty (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced) is how hard the fishing is for a visiting angler with a guide: casting distance and accuracy, wading, how selective the fish are.
• Crowding (Low, Medium, High) is how much company to expect in the best months, based on the fishery's reputation.
• Public access is how much of the water you can reach without a boat, a lodge or a private beat.

These are editorial calls, not measurements, and anglers who fish a place every year know it better. Every rating and price on a destination page has a Wrong? link next to it.

Local fishing spots in the trip planner

Besides the destinations, the trip planner suggests 1,749 local trout spots for a day trip from 29 cities (New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, DC, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Hartford, Providence, Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Chicago, Minneapolis, Charlotte, Atlanta, Nashville, Knoxville, Denver, Salt Lake City, Boise, Bozeman, Albuquerque, Seattle, Portland, Oregon), in New Jersey (112), New York (153), Pennsylvania (259), Connecticut (50), Massachusetts (64), Maryland (58), Vermont (56), New Hampshire (140), Virginia (40), West Virginia (41), Ohio (7), Michigan (53), Wisconsin (53), Minnesota (25), Colorado (121), Montana (69), Wyoming (36), Idaho (89), North Carolina (71), Tennessee (74), Georgia (28), South Carolina (12), Washington (74) and Oregon (64). A spot is one public parking area and a legal walk from it to a public bank of that stream. It isn't a claim that the whole river is open.

• Each one is checked against public sources before it's listed: that fishing is allowed there (a state fishing-rights easement, state forest, park or game land, or a town park whose own rules say so); that the parking comes from an agency record or a mapped public lot; and that the walk to the water stays on public land, a marked trail or the road, with no fording and no private drives.
• When in doubt, it's left out. Town parks that publish no fishing rule, lots belonging to schools or businesses, and launches where the banks aren't public are not listed. A wrong "you can fish here" is worse than a missing spot.
• Which trout: only species that a state stocking record or fish survey names for that water. If no source does, or sources disagree, the spot says "species not published" rather than guessing.
• Kept current: every spot is rechecked against its sources, and it drops out of the planner if it hasn't been confirmed for 90 days. Drive times are worked out from each city ahead of time.
• See every water: each state's planner coverage page lists every trout water on its map and whether it has a checked spot, was checked and not confirmed, or hasn't been reviewed yet: New Jersey · New York · Pennsylvania · Connecticut · Massachusetts · Maryland · Vermont · New Hampshire · Virginia · West Virginia · Ohio · Michigan · Wisconsin · Minnesota · Colorado · Montana · Wyoming · Idaho · North Carolina · Tennessee · Georgia · South Carolina · Washington · Oregon.

Posted signs, closures and seasons change. Check them, and the state's current regulations, before you fish. If a spot is wrong, closed or posted, tell us on the suggestion form or at info@neveltrade.com.

Corrections

Corrections go to a review queue, not straight to the page. We check them against the outfitter's or agency's own page, and the destination's "checked" date moves when a price is confirmed or changed. A link to where you saw the new price makes it quick.

Other data

• River flows are from USGS gauges, compared with the normal flow for the date; forecasts from the National Weather Service and MET Norway.
• State trout maps use each state wildlife agency's own data, linked on every map. Always check the current regulations before you fish.
• Every destination, price and source is also in a public spreadsheet.