From his youth, Burroughs was an avid fly fisherman and known among Catskill anglers. Although he never wrote any purely fishing books, he did contribute some notable fishing essays to angling literature. Most notable of these was Speckled Trout, which appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in October 1870 and was later published in In The Catskills. In Speckled Trout, Burroughs highlights his experiences as an angler and celebrates the trout, streams and lakes of the Catskills.