Fishing the AT

[Belgarion]

I've noticed some people have asked about fishing while hiking the AT.
Every time I have hiked it whether thruhike or section, I bring fishing equiptment. This is the best way I have found for fishing the AT:
Get lightweight tackle. Pole no longer than 6' and preferably an open face reel. Alot less hassles with one of these. Line weight is 6lbs. To protect my pole I made a carrier that lashes to the side of my pack. You need:
1 PVC pipe:
You want the length to be no more than 1/2" longer than your pole and no larger diameter than 2" (the pole should comfortably slide in it without much movement when it's in it).
2 flat end caps
1 tube of super glue
Some duct tape
Super glue one of the end caps on. On the other end wrap the duct tape around it once or twice. You want the other end cap to fit snuggly but not too tight. Another thing I did to my pole carrier is I drilled a small hole into the tube near the end and one in the loose end cap and tied a knot on one end of a poly rope. slide it through the hole in the tube, put it through the hole in the cap and tied another knot. I don't loose that endcap anymore.

For "bait", I bring a small bottle of Berkley's trout bites. Not the little balls but the marshmallow type in yellow color. It's lightweight, you get alot of bait for the bite and the fish love them. for lures i carry a small six section plano box. I have two 1/8th oz rooster talis, one light color and one dark. One 1/8th oz daredevil, 1 1/8th oz mepps and a couple of weighted grubs. I also carry a bag of Berkley Trout Powerbait worms and a package of #4snell hooks and a small bag of STEEL weights. All of this fits in a 9" sack and sits in one of my outside pockets.

When I thruhiked in 79 I brought my flyfishing outfit with me and I always bring it with me when I do sections. It's now the same lightweight setup as the openface at a 1 to 3 weight in a 4 section rod. I make the same type of pvc travel case only shorter and a little wider to accomadate the sections without them rubbing together. I carry the reel in a hard case. Action is medium because sometimes your fishing fast water sections. I use double taper floating leaders and #3 tippets. For flys I bring a nice selection of emergers, adams, and terrestrials especially ants, bees and dragonfly patterns. I also carry a bottle of trout powerbaits and a small bag of fly hooks. Again all of this, including the reel goes into a 9" stuff sack.

As far as licenses for fishing. When a ranger talks to me he or she asks if i have a license. I tell them that I am a thruhiker on the AT and generally they will leave me alone. The unspoken rules are these:
1. DO NOT TAKE MORE THAN YOU NEED! Three or four is alright, a dozen is too many.
2. RESPECT PRIVATE PROPERTY! Normally there will be signs for private properties. Sometimes the property owners will allow you to fish there if you ask for their permission before the fact.
3. LEAVE NO TRACE! DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING BEHIND BUT GENTLE FOOTPRINTS.
4. When you get to camp be kind to those around you. Do not leave fish guts and waste around for everyone to smell. PROPERLY DISPOSE OF REMAINS. The best way to do this is to have a supply of sandwich size ziplock storage bags with your fishing tackle. When your done cleaning the fish put the entrails, etc in it, gently squeeze all the air out of it and zip it close. Put it in another bag, again squeeze air out and zip it close and roll up and place in your garbage bag that you ALWAYS bring with you to take those things you can't burn or dispose of properly. Next stop in civilization drop bag in nearest proper recepticle. DO NOT PUT REMAINS IN FIRE! First off that's bad manners, second it causes quite a stink.

Personally, for me, I love to get up before sunrise, go to a stream in the area and see if there's any friendly fish. It's a relaxing and very peaceful way for me to start the day. Sometimes you see amazing views and waterfalls that you would never see on the trail and your more than likely to catch a glimpse of some wildlife, just respect the bears if you do come onto one. If you do encounter one SLOWLY back out of the area. If you happen to have fish with you and the bear smells it the best thing to do is lay the fish down on the trail in a smooth and easy manner then gently back away. Once you get out of the sight of the bear you can run, but generally, my experience with them is that if you don't make any rash moves and show that your not a threat to them they will generally leave you alone. The only difference to this is Mother Bear and her Cubs. There is no way to truthfully give advise in a situation like this. It really depends on how dangerous you are to her cubs than anything else. As with any wild animal, they are best viewed from a distance the better.

Enjoy the fishing!
Belgarion

[Max Power]

A man named Domino thru hiked last year and used floss and a hook. He caught fish! Not sure what his bait was.

[KYDave]

Another use for the fish guts is to use it as bait, if you clean your fish near the water just toss it in if you are on a lake or pond, most of it will be gone as soon as it hits the water. Turtles, crawdads, and fish will eat it quick. Clearly you don't want to do that if it is water that humans might drink from such as a stream or spring. Catfish love fish guts and well as many pan fish. I've carried a pole but most of the time I just carry a line, bobber, and hook set up that can be had for under a dollar in most fishing departments of stores. Just tie it to a stick and there you go. I carry a few extra hooks and sinkers and some softbait to catch the first one. Most of the time I just turn over a rock or old log for worms, grubs and other creepy cawly that fish find tasty ... and many are tasty for people too. There are also crickets and grasshoppers that are easily had in warmer months. If you really want to get "back to nature" you can build a fishtrap from items easily found in nature and and catch fish that way too.

Dave

[Burn]

fishing the AT is possible but really not practical. I fished every water hole from damascus to jennings creek, and caught fish every time i stopped. The point is, the fish along the top flats are tini tinyand just plane fun, but more of a harm to the fish, since it isn't even sport. The trout i ate were caught in stocked streams.

i assume you would do yer fishing legally. cost me 63 bucks if i remembercorrectly to get state freshwater, trout stamp, and national park liscenses. also there are all sorts of laws such as single hook lures, no live bait. fines if they do per chance just be there instead of where they normally are steep.

[KYDave]

Oh yes I allow for extra weight for licenses, stamps, permits and the lot. Seriously, most of the hiking I do is in KY or TN in which I carry all that jazz for both states as I'm right on the boarder in FAR Western KY. I've joined here as I plan to get back on the AT sometime in the next couple of years as it has been a long time since I have done any "real" hiking on it. Just a few scattered weekend trips here and there. I'd like to do a hike-thru or at least try to at some point in the next 5 years, but currently life is in the way. Long gone are my pick up and go days of youth. The last time I did any long hiking i.e. weeks or more was back in the early 80's either during or shortly after the Marines. Nowadays it's work, family, bills, and all of that exciting stuff, but I've made the annoucement here and it was made with a house full of blank faces and one "sure Dad" I think the most shocking part of it was that they would have to keep up everything when and if I get time to do it. That was the real troubling news to them. Ok I'm off subjuct, but yes I fish legal, however in most states if you fish a farm pond with permission you do not have to have all the papers.

[neo]

who has time to fish lol neo

[KYDave]

LOL I understand, but its less food to carry, kindly left in the lakes rivers and streams for your dining enoyment.

[squirrel bait]

Here in North Carolina they "generally" give ya a ticket and accompaning fine. Though if by chance your in your home county ya can fish without a license as long as you don't use artificial lures. Also your license is good for the border state of TN, only though along the border.

[dizzyT]

I've got plenty of time for fishing. Not planning on making a race out of it....I'll get there when I get there.

[Green Bean]

I would like the help if i would ever happen to be injured so i will always lend a helping hand to anyone that is injured. When im out on a hike i usually wrap some line around a little stick. I get a couple hooks and a few weights. When i am ready to fish i get my line and tie it to the end of a stick put my hook on the line and a weight flip over some rocks to look for a worm or anything i think a fish would be hungry for. Most of the time i get lucky and catch a fish or two , but somtimes its just a hastle and i just leave my fishing things at home. ~GB

[K-Man]

I might be missing something here, but what does helping an injured hiker have to do with fishing??? I am confused....

[Fiddler]

I might be missing something here, but what does helping an injured hiker have to do with fishing??? I am confused....

Stuck a hook in his finger.

[gargamel]

LOL I understand, but its less food to carry, kindly left in the lakes rivers and streams for your dining enoyment.

To bad cheesburgers don't have fins.

[RockyTrail]

cost me 63 bucks if i remembercorrectly to get state freshwater, trout stamp, and national park liscenses. also there are all sorts of laws such as single hook lures, no live bait. fines if they do per chance just be there instead of where they normally are steep.

I quit fishing over this BS. Seems like they try their darndest to keep you from being a legal fisherman; two or three layers of licenses that have limited jurisdiction and expire oh-so-frequently. Gimme a break!

My son has caught fish with NO equipment; he looks around the bank, finds some old line and usually a hook snagged in a bush (fishermen not usually known for LNT!). Then turn over a rock, get a worm...next thing you know he's got a fish! All in the course of 5-10 minutes. Resourceful lad...

[Belgarion]

The reason for this poll is simple. These are the actual responses I got when I severely injured my ankle coming down Springer approach in 99.

The first couple were men, mid 30s, carrying day packs. All they did was give me a blank stare and say they were going tothe next shelter to get help. The trouble with that was we were only 3/4 ths of a mile from Ami.

The next were a couple of fashion police hiking women. You want us to touch that? (referring to my pack and seeing it was practically empty and maybe weighed 15 pds) was their reply. When I asked them if they could give me a little water (I swear they each had a two liter bottle of water) they said no because it was all the water they had for the next three hours. Now come on, 4 liters of h2o and they wouldn't even give me a cup of it!

Well, by this time my ankle had swelled really badly enough that I had no choice but to take off my boot. Then this big kid (must have been around 250 and at least 6') comes walking by. His excuse? He had to get to Springer and couldn't possibly take the half an hour to help me out. Besides, he couldn't possibly carry my big pack, it probably weighed a ton. When I picked it up by one hand to show him how light it was he said sorry and walked off.

About ten minutes later, with me hopping down the bunny trail, a father and son came around the corner. I could hear some of their conversation, which basically was if you come to an injured hiker you are supposed to stop and give help. Well with the last five bozo's I wasn't in a particularly good mood. When they came up to me I blurted out:

"Nice words, too bad no one around here really lives by them."

The father asked me what was wrong I showed him my ankle. He immediately gave his son his truck keys and had him go down to the approach and get his truck. He took my backpack, slung it on his shoulders and helped me get down the mountain. I never found out what they're names were, but whoever they were, they have my thanks. They are the true walkers of the trail.

The code of the Trail is, no matter what, if you come to a fallen hiker, you render assistance to the best of your ability. These two men restored my faith in that code. The other five are really just a memory of how ignorant and petty a person can truely be and why I love my fellow walkers. Walkers are the real people.

[Belgarion]

1: Sorry, kinda of new here and didn't know how threading worked. Thought they were put on two seperate entries.
2. Didn't know it has gotten so bad with the fishing rules on the trail I was speaking from experiences I have had before 99. Then, at least for me, that was the way it was.

As far as the fishing tackle I brought. The roosters and all other lures I took off the treble hooks and put on a single, barbless hook. I do that with all my lures at home anyway. It's one of my states fishing regs as far as fishing trout streams so it's only natural for me to do that. All together the weight of the equiptment I brought with me was around 1 1/2 pds, which, for me was worth it. It also gave me the added enjoyment on a day away from the trail and fresh fish to eat.

Thanks for the info about the situation as it stands now. I am definately rethinking bringing my rod and reel and just sticking to a drop line and fly. I would definately hate to have Ranger Yogi take away my equiptment or lose valuable money to them.

[heyman62]

Um....It was mentioned above not to put fish entrails into a stream or brook we might drink from. If you put the fish entrails in a lake or pond for the "turtles" to eat fine, but does'nt basically every lake or pond also have an outlet where the water turns into the stream or brook that I'm gonna drink from????.

[KYDave]

but does'nt basically every lake or pond also have an outlet where the water turns into the stream or brook that I'm gonna drink from????.

In a lot of cases yes it does, but it has to do with dilution. While lakes and ponds might overflow into creeks and streams during rainy seasons, one must remember, fish die in those waters as well as drop waste and turtles kill fish as food source pretty regularly ... thus the snapper having the little worm do-dad on their tonguesl By the time the water runs out of a lake or pond it's been pretty well thinned down and then the natural process of filtering begins through the alge, sand, roots and the rest of nature. Think about it, even the water you flush down the toilet ends up back in the stream. Just might take a few 100 or 1000 years to get there.

[mweinstone]

code of thru hiker conduct broken.

[carolinahiker]

In 2004 my oldest son and myself were hiking the lake trail down from Clingmans dome when i hurt my knee we got out to fontana lake spent the night by the lake it was a great spot but anyways the next day a pontoon comes floatin in with Mr yuppie and the clan{his family} I thought no help here my son asked for a ride to panthers landing as id hurt my knee, wellll they carried my pack to the pontoon boat took both us stinky hikers to the landing the husband loaded us in there SUV took us to the arranged pickup point my wife was coming to From Greenville SC by the motel . I was totally in his debt wouldnt take and money just did it cause he said it was the right thing to do so shame on me for the stereotype of pontoon yuppies lol. Rick {Carolina Hiker}