As a group, anglers are a lazy bunch. (I bet that caught your attention).
They (meaning anglers other than you) choose the path of least resistance, opting to drop a line in water closest to the road, the trail, the campground or parking lot.
Even the more industrious anglers don’t walk far enough away from public access points, giving up to the lure of the water after only 10 minutes of walking. This gives you your first few identifiers for a secret trout hot spot.
If you want to get away from the crowds and find your own secret spots, all you need to do is combine a bit of studying with a willingness to do a bit of exploring. It all begins with maps.
So get out a national forest map and a topo map, spread them on the table, and get ready to discover your own secret trout spot.
Mapping the Water
I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve pored over national forest maps, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) maps, and topographic maps in search of that one stretch of river that most anglers perceive is either too high up or inaccessible.
That chore is made easier nowadays since topo maps for any section of the United...