Fishing? Realistic?

[Lowrie]

I am starting in a week from Georgia and hopefully going as far as I can up to Thanksgiving...Is there much fishing to be done along the trail? I'd like to fish for food and also just for the fun of it. I have a minicast telescopic rod/reel, weighs maybe 12oz. I'm just wondering if there are enough good fishing opportunities along the way to justify bringing it and some tackle along. Thanks

[Slo-go'en]

Not really. In that time frame you will be mostly in NC and there are maybe 2-3 places suitable for fishing. And since the days are getting short, you probably don't want to waste time trying to fish in the few places you can anyway!

[heyoka87]

I can't help you with the Southern portions of the trail however I have sectioned all of Maine and can say that there were ample spots, stream and lake, to fish there. The best damn fish I ever ate were brook trout caught in a stream at the bottom of Old Blue Mt. in Me. Cooked over a open fire on a stick. Worth the extra weight if you want to enjoy casting a bit at the multiple spots you come across. The AT caretaker at Horns Pond a few years ago encouraged my son and I to go and try and catch her a trout for supper when we stopped there-no luck that time though.You could probably do bit of onlne research and find out if there are any prime spots along the trail where you will be hiking. Good luck !

[Colter]

I guess it depends on your priorities. There is some fishing along the trail, but for me, there wasn't enough to justify bringing fishing gear. In my experience fishing rarely is worthwhile as a food source while long distance hiking. The catching and cooking takes so much time the food value of the fish might not make up for the extra time spent on the trail and the extra food it requires.

[max patch]

If you really want to fish, then spend a day at 3 Forks in GA (mile 4). Check the regs, you'll need fishing license, trout stamp, barbless hooks (I think), artificial only, 16 inches to keep.

I guarantee you won't catch anything, but its a beautiful spot to fish for trout in an unstocked stream. Nice places to camp by the stream, also.

Then when you get to Neels Gap (mile 30) mail your fishing gear home.

[Reid]

If you really want to fish, then spend a day at 3 Forks in GA (mile 4). Check the regs, you'll need fishing license, trout stamp, barbless hooks (I think), artificial only, 16 inches to keep.

I guarantee you won't catch anything, but its a beautiful spot to fish for trout in an unstocked stream. Nice places to camp by the stream, also.

Then when you get to Neels Gap (mile 30) mail your fishing gear home.

Seems like you'd need a license for every state you go thru.

[paradoxb3]

I love to fish and i love to hike, and it seems only natural that the two outdoor activities should combine. I tried it once. I agree with Colter on this one if for nothing more than the simple fact that hiking involves traveling and fishing involves staying still. It just doesn't work for me. YMMV.

If you still want to give it a try, Max Patch offers a good suggestion for fishing GA. Noontootla Creek at 3 forks is a beautiful place but because of the strict regulations on that stream, I've never fished there. My suggestion would be, if you dont mind to walk or hitch a few miles off the trail, continue past 3 forks to hightower gap. about 2-3 miles to the left on FS42 at hightower gap you will find Rock Creek Lake. 3 or 4 more miles down the road and you start hitting car camping sites, great places on the creek to do some fishing, and a rainbow trout hatchery. Rock Creek is stocked seasonally so you'll probably catch something, but dont really expect anything over 15 inches. Rock Creek is a year-round stream, no size limits, no bait type restrictions, and only regular GA trout rules apply -- daily creel limit 8, no night fishing, license and trout stamp required (and you MAY get checked there being that close to the hatchery), and most likely single barbed hooks -- i'm not sure but thats all i've ever used anyway. If you decide as I did that fishing and hiking dont mix, as Max Patch said, mail the gear home at Neels.

[fiddlehead]

I remember a state park in GA that we blueblazed to and spent a morning swimming.
I think you could fish there.

Also, there used to be many people fishing at the outlet to fontana dam (below the dam) and of course in the dam itself.
I would head over to the north side and follow the road straight a bit further where the AT cuts of to the left for it's ascent up Shuckstack. And try that area. I've seen locals fishing there.

NOC about 20 miles before Fontana is another big stream that should have fish.

But most of the AT is on the ridgetops where streams are non-existent or tiny.
There are a few though.

Good luck and have fun.

[Panzer1]

If you do fish, you will need a fishing license for each state you fish in.

Panzer

[Nearly Normal]

Blue blazer, cool.
Check regulations.

[Tinker]

I used to be an enthusiastic fisherman (fly fishing). Now that I work more and my personal time is taken up by church activities, I find that my hiking doesn't include fishing (never did, really). I hiked Georgia in 2006 and didn't see many streams worth fishing in. Most were extremely small and would probably yield only a few small brook trout. Not worth the extra carry weight, in my opinion.
Maine is an entirely different story. I section hiked all of it in the past 9 years and there are abundant lakes and streams in which to fish. Even so, I enjoyed them for the swimming. While I'm hiking fishing takes too much time. My priorities have changed considerably over the past 20 years.
Hike the way you want to, though. I'm just weighing in on what I saw in Georgia on the AT.

[Tin Man]

gotta ask yourself, do you feel lucky punk, well do ya?

decide if you are hiking or fishin and leave the other poles home

[Lone Wolf]

I am starting in a week from Georgia and hopefully going as far as I can up to Thanksgiving...Is there much fishing to be done along the trail? I'd like to fish for food and also just for the fun of it. I have a minicast telescopic rod/reel, weighs maybe 12oz. I'm just wondering if there are enough good fishing opportunities along the way to justify bringing it and some tackle along. Thanks

yes, realistic. plenty of fishin' in the south. when you get to damascus i'll show ya. plenty of fish at 3 forks too regardless of what that dude says. one year maineak had a bunch of trout at hawk mtn. shelter that he caught there

[Hoop Time]

gotta ask yourself, do you feel lucky punk, well do ya?

decide if you are hiking or fishin and leave the other poles home

I don't think you necc. have to choose one or the other. But you do have to be realistic about how the fishing will impact the hiking. If your goal is to explore different fishing opportunities while working your way down the trail, you can do that. You just have to decide which is your priority. Do you stay and fish if you are in a spot where they are really hitting? Or do you have a hiking schedule you need to stick to in order to get to a particular place at a particular time?

If you want to cover longer distances, leave the fishing gear at home. If the hike is just your way to get from fishing hole to fishing hole, take the gear and enjoy.

Some very good fishing in Pa. along the trail if you should make it this far. Particularly the Yellow Breeches in the Boiling Springs area and Clarks Creek, between Peters Mt. and Rausch Gap. But Breeches is mostly a fly fish only stretch near Boiling Springs and you would encounter Clarks in the midst of what is likely an 18-mile day, so how much time will you have to stop and fish (and keep in mind most of the best trout fishing is early morning or in the evening, adding to the time-related challenges in trying to fish Clarks). There is some good bass fishing in the Susquehanna River around Duncannon/Clarks Ferry area, too.

Of course none of this solves the fishing license situation some have already mentioned in this thread.

[Tin Man]

If you want to cover longer distances, leave the fishing gear at home. If the hike is just your way to get from fishing hole to fishing hole, take the gear and enjoy.

.:agreed:.

[Jaybird62]

yes, realistic. plenty of fishin' in the south. when you get to damascus i'll show ya. plenty of fish at 3 forks too regardless of what that dude says. one year maineak had a bunch of trout at hawk mtn. shelter that he caught there

Hey man, when i section down there i hope that you could show me some spots wolf....I wanna take my time,low mileage days, and do some fishing/off trail exploring.....getting miles under the belt tends to mean less to me these days. I love to really explore the areas I'm in

[sloopjonboswell]

jug fishin on the creeper trail is a nice way to pass the time.