Aroostook (The County)
Waters we guide:
The Last Fly Frontier
Aroostook County, known simply as “The County” to Mainers, is as close to wilderness as you can find in the eastern United States. Stretching from the North Maine Woods to the Canadian border, it’s a landscape of vast forests, cold rivers, and quiet ponds where fly fishing still feels like exploration. With more than 2,000 miles of waterways, this remote region offers some of the best opportunities in the Northeast for native and wild fish.
The Aroostook, Allagash, and Fish Rivers anchor the region’s freshwater fishing. The Aroostook itself holds healthy populations of wild brook trout and landlocked salmon, while the upper Allagash system, connected by a chain of lakes and wilderness streams, remains one of the most intact coldwater fisheries in the country. Anglers who paddle the Allagash Wilderness Waterway can cast to trout rising in the evening light with nothing but loon calls for company. In the northern reaches, the Fish River chain, including Eagle, Square, and Portage Lakes, offers a mix of trophy brook trout, salmon, and lake trout, especially in early spring and late fall.
Many of these waters benefit from limited fishing pressure and careful management by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. Conservation efforts, such as road restoration and culvert replacement projects, have improved fish passage and helped preserve native brook trout habitat. Local sporting camps—some of them operating for more than a century—continue to provide access and deep local knowledge for anglers willing to travel off the beaten path.
Aroostook County isn’t just about solitude, it’s about authenticity. For fly anglers in search of America’s wildest waters, The County is the ultimate destination.
