Fish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $225–300
- Public access
- Limited
- Crowding
- High
Where to take a first fly fishing trip
A first trip goes best on water that forgives a rough cast, with a guide for the first day and public water to keep fishing on your own afterwards, at a price that doesn't make a slow day hurt.
What makes a good first destination
- Book a guide for day one. You'll learn the water, the flies and the cast in a day. Two anglers sharing a guide halves the cost; prices here are already shown per angler that way.
- Pick water with public access. After the guided day you can fish the same water on your own, which is where most of the learning sticks.
- Go in the best months. More fish willing to eat makes up for a lot. Each card's strip shows them.
- Skip the most crowded rivers. Elbow-to-elbow water is hard on anyone still learning to cast.
Practice your knots before you go
Tie on a fly, add fresh tippet, or make a leader loop. Start with what you’re connecting, then follow each move at your own pace.
Rated beginner (2)
SteelheadSteelhead, lake-run brown troutFish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $300–325
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- High
Good first trips on intermediate water (10)
Rated intermediate, with good public access, not among the most crowded, and a guide at $350 or less per angler for a full day. Cheapest first.
Rainbow troutRainbow, brown and native brook troutTrout
Great Smoky Mountains
Townsend, Tennessee / Bryson City, North Carolina · USA
Fly into TYS, 45 min
Fish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $188–263
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- Medium
Brown troutBrown, rainbow and brook troutFish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $225–263
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- Medium
Rainbow troutStocked rainbows, browns and brook trout; some wild brook and brown troutFish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $225
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- Medium
The posted rate is one shop's New Jersey wade rate; it doesn't name the Flat Brook
Rainbow troutWild rainbows, browns, native brook trout in the headwatersFish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $225–375
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- Medium
Rainbow troutStocked rainbows, browns and brook trout; some wild browns and brookiesFish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $225–275
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- Medium
Brown troutBrown, rainbow and brook troutFish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $238–300
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- Medium
Trout
Driftless Area
Spring creeks around Viroqua and Westby, Wisconsin, and southeast Minnesota · USA
Fly into LSE, 1 hr
Fish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $250–325
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- Medium
Brown troutStocked and holdover browns, rainbows; smallmouth bassFish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $300
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- Medium
Brown troutWild and stocked browns, rainbowsFish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $313
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- Medium
RedfishRedfish, spotted sea trout, black drumFish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $350
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- Medium
Difficulty is an editorial rating (how we rate). If a river here is harder than we say, or one we rate higher is a fine first trip, use the Wrong? link on its page. To filter every destination by skill level, use the finder.