Why American River Fishing Exists

    American River Fishing was created to promote warmwater river fishing across the United States. By warmwater, we basically mean everything other than trout. Not that we have anything against trout, but there are a gazillion trout fishing websites out there, and just as many devoted to reservoir and lake fishing, kayak fishing, and saltwater fishing. Until now, there has never been a website devoted to all the different types of fishing found on our nation's warmwater rivers and streams.

   Fact is, there are more square miles of warmwater rivers in this country available to the public than all the trout streams, lakes, reservoirs, and private ponds combined. Yet the majority of the angling public is hardly aware of the fantastic fishing opportunities that are available just minutes away from 90% of those who live in the lower 48. Almost everybody has a river or creek nearby that is loaded with bass, catfish, walleye, panfish, carp, or any number of other fish species. The real shame is that many of these same people drive over these waterways daily without once considering the recreational opportunities that lie beneath their wheels.

    You don't need a $20,000 boat or $4oo waders to enjoy rivers either (although both can make certain days on the river rather comfortable). Many anglers enjoy tremendous success armed with nothing more than a fishing pole and a pair of old sneakers.  River fishing can be as simple or gadget-intensive as you care to make it, but once you get the hang of it, river fish are generally much easier to catch than their lake-bound cousins. Why? Because river fish are dumber than fish found in other places. Why? Because everybody drives over the river on their way to the lake or trout stream, and the fish in the river get ignored!

    The goal of American River Fishing is to get more good people out there enjoying your state's rivers in a responsible manner. We hope to accomplish that by informing people about the great fishing opportunities in their local rivers and streams and creating communities of like-minded fishermen and women from your state. Ultimately, your state's message board will be the place where you make new friends, learn the most, and spend most of your time away from the water. Once your state's message board gets a solid core of participants, you will find yourself accomplishing less and less at work and around the house. We promise.

    We strongly believe that getting more good people enjoying our rivers now is the key to making sure that bad things don't happen to our rivers in the future. While ARF is not an environmental advocacy organization, we think it's a pretty positive step to have a forum where river fishermen from all across Virginia, for example, can keep one another informed about possible threats to our waterways. We feel that by increasing the number of people who love our rivers, we will increase the number of people willing to protect them when the need arises.

    The ARF communities also serve the purpose of teaching newcomers to river fishing proper sportsmanship and ethical behavior. A newcomer to any ARF community will quickly learn that respecting limits, practicing catch and release, and picking up trash along the riverbank are good things to do.

    It is true however: More people on the river means the fish will get smarter. If that trade-off means greater river protection and a louder voice for river fishermen, then that's a trade we are happy to make.