Rainbow trout, painting
Painting: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (public domain)
The species collection · Field guide

Rainbow trout

Rainbows, including redbands, in tailwaters, freestone rivers and Alaska's salmon rivers.

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Destinations for rainbow trout

37 destinations list rainbow trout, in the Northeast, the Rockies, the Pacific NW & Alaska, Canada, the Southeast, the Southern Hemisphere, the United Kingdom and the California. A guided day for two anglers runs $331 to $880; the middle price is $565. The months named most often are April, September and October. 22 are good for fishing on your own and 24 have good public access.

Showing 37 of 37 destinations

Find your kind of water

Original watercolor painting of Arkansas River, Colorado
Trout

Arkansas River

Salida, Colorado · USA

Fly into COS, 2 hr

Guide, per angler
$375
Public access
Good
Crowding
Medium
Illustration of Beaver Kill · Catskills in November
Trout

Beaverkill & Willowemoc

Roscoe, Catskills, New York · USA

Fly into EWR, 2–2.5 hr

Guide, per angler
$225–263
Public access
Good
Crowding
Medium
Original watercolor painting of Big Flat Brook, New Jersey
Trout

Big Flat Brook

Stokes State Forest to Walpack, New Jersey · USA

Fly into EWR, 1.5 hr

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
Original watercolor painting of Bighorn River, Montana
Trout

Bighorn River

Fort Smith, Montana · USA

Fly into BIL, 1.5 hr

Guide, per angler
$363
Public access
Moderate
Crowding
Medium
Original watercolor painting of Bow River, Alberta
Trout

Bow River

Below Calgary, Alberta · Canada

Fly into YYC, 20–45 min

Guide, per angler
$282
Public access
Moderate
Crowding
Medium
Original watercolor painting of Alagnak River, Bristol Bay, Alaska
Trout

Bristol Bay

Naknek, Alagnak, Iliamna, Alaska · USA

Fly into ANC

Guide, per angler
Lodge only
Public access
Limited
Crowding
Low
Painting of an angler tying a fly beside a wooded limestone creek in spring
Trout

Central PA Limestoners

Spring Creek, Penns Creek, Little Juniata · USA

Fly into MDT, 1.5 hr

Guide, per angler
$250
Public access
Good
Crowding
Medium
Original watercolor painting of Deerfield River, Massachusetts
Trout

Deerfield River

Charlemont, Massachusetts · USA

Fly into BDL, 1 hr 15 min

Guide, per angler
$238–300
Public access
Good
Crowding
Medium
Original watercolor painting of Derbyshire Wye, Bakewell, England
Trout

Derbyshire Wye

Bakewell, Derbyshire, England · United Kingdom

Fly into MAN, 1–1.5 hr

Guide, per angler
$166
Public access
Limited
Crowding
Medium
Original watercolor painting of Upper Esopus Creek, New York
Trout

Esopus Creek

Big Indian to Phoenicia and Mount Tremper, New York · USA

Fly into SWF, 1 hr

Guide, per angler
$225–375
Public access
Good
Crowding
Medium
Painting of an angler in an autumn pool on the West Branch Farmington River
Trout

Farmington River

Riverton, Connecticut · USA

Fly into BDL, 40 min

Guide, per angler
$300
Public access
Good
Crowding
High
Painting of a clear mountain stream running over boulders under hardwood forest
Trout

Great Smoky Mountains

Townsend, Tennessee / Bryson City, North Carolina · USA

Fly into TYS, 45 min

Guide, per angler
$188–263
Public access
Good
Crowding
Medium
Painting of a green river winding through a red-rock canyon
Trout

Green River

Dutch John, Utah · USA

Fly into SLC, 3.5 hr

Guide, per angler
$350
Public access
Good
Crowding
High
Painting of a rainbow trout
Trout

Guadalupe River

Canyon Lake tailwater, New Braunfels, Texas · USA

Fly into SAT, 1 hr

Guide, per angler
$225–300
Public access
Limited
Crowding
High
Original watercolor painting of Henry’s Fork, Idaho
Trout

Henry's Fork

Island Park, Idaho · USA

Fly into IDA, 1.5 hr

Guide, per angler
$398–425
Public access
Good
Crowding
Medium
Illustration of Housatonic River · Connecticut in November
Trout

Housatonic River

Falls Village to Cornwall Bridge, Connecticut · USA

Fly into BDL, 1.25 hr

Guide, per angler
$300
Public access
Good
Crowding
Medium
Original watercolor painting of Kenai River, Alaska
Trout

Kenai River

Cooper Landing, Alaska · USA

Fly into ANC, 2 hr

Guide, per angler
$330
Public access
Good
Crowding
High
Original watercolor painting of Lehigh River, Pennsylvania
Trout

Lehigh River

White Haven to Jim Thorpe and Walnutport, Pennsylvania · USA

Fly into ABE, 45 min

Guide, per angler
$313
Public access
Good
Crowding
Medium
Original watercolor painting of Little Lehigh Creek, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Trout

Little Lehigh Creek

Allentown, Pennsylvania · USA

Fly into ABE, 15 min

Guide, per angler
$200
Public access
Good
Crowding
High
Painting of a rushing river in a basalt canyon with sagebrush banks
Trout

Lower Deschutes

Maupin, Oregon · USA

Fly into PDX, 2 hr 15 min

Guide, per angler
$325
Public access
Moderate
Crowding
Medium
Original watercolor illustration of Lower Sacramento River · Bend area, California
Trout

Lower Sacramento River

Redding, California (Keswick Dam to Red Bluff) · USA

Fly into RDD, 15 min

Guide, per angler
$300–325
Public access
Moderate
Crowding
Medium
Painting of an angler wading a broad river at dusk below low mountains
Trout

Madison River

Ennis, Montana · USA

Fly into BZN, 1 hr 15 min

Guide, per angler
$400
Public access
Good
Crowding
High
Original watercolor painting of Missouri River, Craig, Montana
Trout

Missouri River

Craig, Montana · USA

Fly into HLN, 45 min

Guide, per angler
$370–395
Public access
Good
Crowding
High
Original watercolor painting of Musconetcong River, New Jersey
Trout

Musconetcong River

Hackettstown to Bloomsbury, New Jersey · USA

Fly into EWR, 1 hr

Guide, per angler
$225–275
Public access
Good
Crowding
Medium
Original watercolor painting of Mataura River, Southland, New Zealand
Trout

New Zealand South Island

Otago, Southland, Fiordland, Nelson · New Zealand

Fly into ZQN, 30 min–2.5 hr

Guide, per angler
$210
Public access
Good
Crowding
Low
Original watercolor illustration of Toccoa River tailwater · Blue Ridge, Georgia
Trout

North Georgia Tailwaters

Chattahoochee (Buford Dam) and Toccoa (Blue Ridge Dam), Georgia · USA

Fly into ATL, 1 hr 15 min

Guide, per angler
$263–300
Public access
Moderate
Crowding
High
Original watercolor painting of Chimehuín River, Neuquén, Patagonia
Trout

Northern Patagonia

Junín and San Martín de los Andes, Neuquén · Argentina

Fly into CPC, 30–45 min

Guide, per angler
$280
Public access
Moderate
Crowding
Medium
Original watercolor painting of San Juan River, Navajo Dam, New Mexico
Trout

San Juan River

Navajo Dam, New Mexico · USA

Fly into DRO, 1 hr 15 min

Guide, per angler
$313–338
Public access
Good
Crowding
High
Original watercolor painting of Ken Lockwood Gorge, South Branch Raritan, New Jersey
Trout

South Branch Raritan River

Califon and Ken Lockwood Gorge to High Bridge, New Jersey · USA

Fly into EWR, 1 hr

Guide, per angler
$225–275
Public access
Good
Crowding
High
Painting of anglers in a drift boat on a wide river framed by autumn aspens
Trout

South Fork Snake

Swan Valley, Idaho · USA

Fly into IDA, 45 min

Guide, per angler
$440
Public access
Moderate
Crowding
Medium
Original watercolor painting of South Holston River, Bristol, Tennessee
Trout

South Holston

Bristol, Tennessee · USA

Fly into TRI, 30 min

Guide, per angler
$288
Public access
Moderate
Crowding
Medium
Original watercolor painting of Swift River, Belchertown, Massachusetts
Trout

Swift River

Belchertown and Ware, Massachusetts · USA

Fly into BDL, 1 hr

Guide, per angler
$238–263
Public access
Good
Crowding
High
Original watercolor painting of Tulpehocken Creek, Berks County, Pennsylvania
Trout

Tulpehocken Creek

Blue Marsh Lake to Reading, Pennsylvania · USA

Fly into ABE, 45 min

Guide, per angler
$188–238
Public access
Good
Crowding
High
Illustration of Delaware River · New Jersey in November
Trout

Upper Delaware

Hancock, New York / Pennsylvania · USA

Fly into EWR, 2.5 hr

Guide, per angler
$275
Public access
Moderate
Crowding
Medium
Painting of an angler beside boulder-strewn Adirondack riffles on the West Branch Ausable
Trout

West Branch Ausable

Wilmington, Adirondacks, New York · USA

Fly into ALB, 2.25–2.5 hr

Guide, per angler
$300
Public access
Good
Crowding
Medium
Original watercolor illustration of White River · Cotter, Arkansas
Trout

White and Norfork Rivers

Cotter and Mountain Home, Arkansas · USA

Fly into SGF, 2.5–3 hr

Guide, per angler
$275–300
Public access
Moderate
Crowding
Medium
Painting of an angler on the Lamar River in a broad Yellowstone valley
Trout

Yellowstone National Park

Lamar, Slough Creek, Firehole · USA

Fly into BZN, 1.5–1.75 hr

Guide, per angler
$395
Public access
Good
Crowding
Medium
About these species records

Local-water cards link to the evidence supporting the species record and the river on its state map. Records do not establish current abundance or catch rates. Historic records are labeled separately. Check the fishing rules before targeting a species.

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