Best Flyfishing spots in the US?

[smmokan]

Shred- yeah, he typically comes out here every year. He loves the South Platte down around Deckers, but all the other spots he's hit (Big Thompson, Boulder Creek, etc) are too crowded.

The Yellowstone area sounds like it could be the winner here.... someone said fly into Idaho Falls, but where would you base out of? Same spot for 5-6 days, or move around to a couple different areas?

[TNKen]

If not now, he does need to come up to hit the Holston and Watagua. He could make that a ver nice little two day trip from SC.

http://ourguitars.homestead.com/sout...ivertrout.html

[flatNshallow]

For trout, The Holy Waters on the Au Sable in NE Michigan. Dry fly only, catch and release only. For Steelhead, the Muskegon, Big Manistee, Betsy, Grand - Basically any decent sized river in NW lower Michigan.

Yeah, yeah, Western bias blah blah blah... People come to these spots from around the world... Probably won't make the finalists on your list but these should be bucket list spots for any fly fisherman and if you're ever in the area you owe it to yourself to wet a line on them.


Tight lines...

[neckdeep]

Shred- yeah, he typically comes out here every year. He loves the South Platte down around Deckers, but all the other spots he's hit (Big Thompson, Boulder Creek, etc) are too crowded.

The Yellowstone area sounds like it could be the winner here.... someone said fly into Idaho Falls, but where would you base out of? Same spot for 5-6 days, or move around to a couple different areas?

I suggested I.F. because its cheaper than Jackson but Jackson works too. If he's a self-starter, don't try to prebook stuff to suprise him. Plan it with him. There's probably local waters on his to-do list or famous hatches he wants to experience. The answer to your question as to where, however, depends on runoff timing. Early season, the lower elevation waters outside of the park and the Firehole in the park are prime and then by august, the streams draining the highest elevations are at their peak. Stonefly and mayfly hatches are heavy june through july. The key thing is to come back here in early April and ask where our snowpack is at and decide when his trip is. Then we can give you some useful suggestions as to what is likely to be prime. You can get lodging inside the parks or in the gateway towns like Jackson or West Yellowstone. Excellent fishing and cheaper lodging abounds outside the parks but its a shame to come all that way and not see a bison or some geysers.

[schwerty]

Flying into I.F. is likely a little cheaper than Jackson or Bozone. 5-6 days isn't enough time to have him moving all around the region unless sightseeing is as important as fishing. Nailing down the time will be critical to in making a decision where he should fish. Another important thing for you to think about it how comfortable/adventurous he is in regards to traveling into the bc to fish solo.

He will need a car if he is not doing the guided thing. If it was me on the trip I would base out of West Yellowstone. He would be close enough to the big rivers to grab a guided float or two and still have more walk/wade options than he could hit within an hour or so from home base.

[KenJongIll]

I was going to suggest the same. Of course anyone would like a trip west to fish, but for something close, E. TN would be great. And even closer, lots of trout fishing in NC.

If he is after trout, come to the Holston and Watagua rivers here in East Tennessee. Holston sports about 5-6,000 fish per mile at the moment, and has become one of the premier trout streams in the East. Few big ones thrown in as well. Watauga isn't quite as good, but near.

There are stripers as well in the lake below. He can hit a guide for about $300 for an all day float trip, about half of that for a wading trip. Hell, if I'm not working he can go with me, or we can go in the afternoons after work. He'll have to leave the whipping stick at home and fish with hardware!! I actually allowed someone to put one in the boat the other day though, but wouldn't let him use it.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Foggy_Goggles]

So many different fly fishing experiences that are so cool and so different. I'm I correct in that you are looking for wade access public water? Yellowstone is probably the ticket. Is he camping or moteling it? Colorado has some sweet fishing up just like our skiing, all the easy access spots thick with fish are crowded. This is especially true of tailwaters with wade access.

[LeeC]

Just going to throw this out there..
I am not sure where you would fly in, maybe ABQ..then a 3-4 hour drive..Well worth it though.
GREEEAT flyfishing, and the best trout guide I have ever seen..He will hook 25-30 trout a day..many of them monsters.. I love this place.
Motels within a few miles of the fishing, not fancy, but adequate. Everything you need to fish is right there at Abes.
Look at some of Andy's video's, I swear this fucker is a trout whisperer.
http://www.fly-fish.com/
http://www.youtube.com/yspecial1#p/u
http://www.sanjuanriver.com/

[NMmatt]

Regarding the San Juan, it's definitely a great river, but uncrowded it's (usually) not... There are a hell of a lot of large fish. Don't stay at Abe's IMO - there are better options. Guides / floats are an option but certainly not necessary, wading is often more productive if you know what you're doing (as I think your Dad does). Often this is micro-midge fishing at the extreme, but streamers/dries can be productive too. However, when they're not, size 22 and smaller is mandatory. It's a tailwater, and while it's pretty, it's not nearly in the same league of other things to do than the options above.

The biggest draw is you CAN catch a lot of fish, they fight extremely hard given they have probably been caught 15+ times already, and when things line up, it's a special place. The average size fish you catch there will be something like 18" (unless you get into a pod of dinks, then you need to move). You can catch fish every day of the year, but it can get technical as hell.

I'd be happy to provide any details if you go this route. Prepare to buy a grip of micro midges.

[gretch6364]

I love the San Juan, but I would not put it above Yellowstone, South Western Colorado, or the upper mid-west for a trout fishing vacation destination. It is more of a 2 or 3 day trip kind of thing. The town is small, and there is only one river with good fishing near by...granted, it is probably in the top 3 in the US...but I prefer the variety and multiple rivers and streams that some of the other places offer.

[NMmatt]

That's what I was hinting at... Much better said Gretch.

On the other hand, if you're an old fart and all you want to do is get up early, eat a green chile breakfast (Fishheads), drive 10 minutes, stand in a river all day potentially hauling in large trout hand over fist, and get back to bed by 9:30, it's a winner. I guess it depends on your priorities. A week seems like a long time to me, but I have floated that river 5 days in a row and had a blast, so...

This is a swanky-ish lodge that could make things seem more vacation-like: http://www.soaringeaglelodge.net/

And Andy Kim is a ninja trout whisperer, no doubt. He ties very good (and expensive) flies.

[LeeC]

I met Andy when he was sleeping in his car( a little Datsun no less), and all the other outfits were trying to freeze him out of the business..Didn't work.
They hate him, because he is so fucking good, he can catch right beside them, while they aren't catching anything.
I am trying to get my girls on a trip up there, and he is the only one that will touch their poles..including me.
My first trip with him, he guaranteed 24 fish a day, or your money back..Plus it can be split up to 3 ways.
On his guided trip flies are free, but you can buy what you want
I Don't necessarily think the OP will pick this spot, but anyone coming this way should take note..It would be worth your time.

[gretch6364]

Not sure if this belongs in a different thread as I don't want to hijack this one, but what caused or would casue the hate toward Andy?

I will admit his cockyness about the S. Platte put me off a little...but that would nto make me hate a guy.

[LeeC]

Its simple..Competition.
Here is some asian dude, not from around these parts, and he is better than we are, charges less, and does a better job. Makes the other outfits look bad. Abe's hated him. Everyone of them fought him from getting the permit to guide. I think it has calmed down a bit now, but he had to fight his ass off to get the permit. I was there, and saw it myself. I even would ask about him at the flyshops to see what they would say about him, and everyone of them would hammer him.
Andy refused to guide under some else, he did not want to split his fee's, and wanted to be on his own. They wanted apiece of his action.
What they don't tell you is that during the week when most clients are gone, he books the other guides. They want to know what he knows, but knowing what he knows, and doing it are two different things.
Andy will not win any personality awards, but he does treat his clients good, but gets really pissy when people follow him around trying to figure what he is doing, and why he is the only one catching. When I am the paying customer, it irritates me too, when you have 6-7 people shadowing you.
I have a lot of respect for him, since I got to see what he went through, and how tough he is to do it his way.
I was one of his first 10 clients, and how he got me was the guarantee. I had nothing to lose. Since then, I have sent alot of people his way. He loves teaching, and this the reason I want my girls to fish with him.. I am not so good of a teacher.
OP sorry for the hijack
Sorry for the length..I have no affiliation with Andy, other than a satisfied customer.

[molson14]

I know you were looking in the U.S. but this would be easier to get to than Alaska I think. I have read and watched stuff on Iceland's Brown Trout fishing which looks pretty incredible. The fish are big, been around since the ice age and the surroundings are incredible. If I had a once in a lifetime "east coast" trip this would be it.

[adipose]

http://www.dunoirfishing.com/guides.html

[steved]

One day guided, next day by himself....sounds like maybe an easy multi-day stay at lodge somewhere in the Rocky Mtn states....Montana(lots of water...somewhere he wasn't previously), Idaho, Colorado...? Main thing would be to coordinate his stay with one or more heavy hatches of the picked area...
$.01

[45hill]

If it were my 60th I would want to go to the Wind River Range and catch a big Golden.

[neckdeep]

What they don't tell you is that during the week when most clients are gone, he books the other guides. They want to know what he knows, but knowing what he knows, and doing it are two different things.
.

What's so hard about the SJ? Seriously, as a guide? 18,000 to 24,000 trout per mile in a smallish river, packed into the upper three miles below the dam, living off a diet of small nymphs that forces them to feed all the time to fill up and they are so habituated to people that the fish barely spook until you step on them! I've been there and frankly, day in, day out, its a cakewalk compared to guiding the south fork or henry's fork. Those systems are huge and have so much more variation. SJ, yeah you pretty much know where you'll be going on any day but a guide up here has to start his day deciding where he goes in the 50 to 100 miles of rivers he is expected to be up on. Some summer days on the South Fork or Snake, its hard enough just to find the dang fish in all that volume. I'm sure theres slow days but, compared to say, the Madison, another nymphing oriented river, isn't the SJ sort of like a 3 mile long fish tank with all the brush and grass trampled off the banks by the thousands of texans packed into a limited space (between the dam looming above you, nearby gas wells humming along, ever present people instead of wildlife and all the hammered out paths everywhere, well, scenic it is NOT unless the last scenic thing you saw was at a mall in Houston.) For me, it was a fun two weeks well spent and it is a great destination when the rest of the Rockies are encased in snow and ice. I was getting around 15 nice fish a day just by tossing a #22 flashback PT or Johnny Flash under an attractor nymph (SJ worm, egg, red hot or OJ) into any ol' piece of green water I walked up on. And casting to the same spot over and over and over and over and over and over cuz there was almost always someone else above and below me. Could I offer a 25 fish or money back? Nope. Not with anglers set up on all the good spots by mid-morning. I thought it was crowded and I was there in late february but I guess thats gonna happen when everyone from Dallas wants to fish the same three miles.

[NMmatt]

Point taken about guiding choices. Frankly, there are more than a few really good guides on the San Juan. However, the river is very changeable (as all rivers are) and it's funny to me when people tell me that they went, slayed fish and don't understand what the big deal is. These fish are educated beyond anywhere else I've ever seen for all the reasons you stated. When they collectively decide to clam up, even great guides have a tough day, especially in a boat. Tough days can stretch into weeks. Like any river. But consider all the flies and nymphing techniques that came out of this particular river, that are now turning all the other tailwater fish into tight-lipped SOBs.

I think as a guide the only real problem would be the high expectations of all those Texans, etc who think they are going to catch 50 fish a day, all over 20 inches. And because the SJ is so small, there is always somebody right next to you hauling in pigs even when nobody else is. And since you can see the 18,000 fish per mile right there, why can't this goddamn guide catch them for me?? Plus having variation in your choices really is a good thing, when 50 boats decide to put into Texas Hole, you gotta be thinking that you need to reevaluate a few things in life. I have observed most of the guides pretty close, and I wouldn't want any of their jobs. Yours, however...

There is wildlife - you can hunt ducks, geese and turkey right off the river. I've seen several deer swim across right in front of the boat. And the SJ isn't just 3 miles. But granted it isn't as charismatic as what you have up your way. Then again, the wildlife is less likely to eat you if you pass out by the campfire with a half eaten hamburger.

[NMmatt]

Back on topic, I personally like basing out of Pinedale. You've got the goldens (which are probably a big commitment backpacking-wise), but for the self-motivated, there is the Green, Gros Ventre, Hoback, etc... Some of my favorite fishing (and nicest fish) has come from exploring this area. Again timing is the thing, but it's definitely more off the beaten path than Jackson / Yellowstone. Combine it with a float down the Green below Flaming Gorge and you have a very memorable trip.

[2nd mate]

I am only targeting one species, but Beverly mass on my secret flat must be up there. I cant believe I used this beach with family for 30 years before I started fishing there on a hunch. Sight fishing for stripers with consistent fish and guaranteed sightings from 20-100 ft depending on clouds. Depth of water from inches to chest as tide comes in. 4-5 hours of amazing sight fishing and more on the big minus tides. As close to tropical sight fishing for bones as I will get without leaving for the keys or resuming the undisclosed location fishing log.

[Troglodyte]

Back on topic, I personally like basing out of Pinedale. You've got the goldens (which are probably a big commitment backpacking-wise), but for the self-motivated, there is the Green, Gros Ventre, Hoback, etc... Some of my favorite fishing (and nicest fish) has come from exploring this area. Again timing is the thing, but it's definitely more off the beaten path than Jackson / Yellowstone. Combine it with a float down the Green below Flaming Gorge and you have a very memorable trip.

I agree. The whole West Yellowstone/ Bozeman/ Island park scene is a bit over rated especially the Henry's which is nothing like when I fished it in the 70s. I hit the gulpers this summer at Hebgen which was ok but the fish were much smaller than I remember from 15 years ago. If you're used to catching redfish on the flats......then to step up you need to go Tarpon or maybe even Guatemala for sails on a fly. Never fished it but have heard the Green below Fontenelle has some hawgs.

For pure beauty, the Winds around Pinedale are hard to beat.

My bro kicks ass on the steelhead runs around the Cleveland area......

For a self guided trip in Yellowstone I would head directly for Slough Creek........then maybe hit the Bighorn for some tailwater stuff.

[yellowstoner]

I'd definitely recommend the Lamar over slough unless you're going to the third meadow. Those cuts are some of the pickiest fish I've ever fished for...but every one of them is 16" it's like catching clones. There are some hot spots in yellowstone and when you hit one its as rewarding as any fishing anywhere.

[Troglodyte]

I'd definitely recommend the Lamar over slough unless you're going to the third meadow. Those cuts are some of the pickiest fish I've ever fished for...but every one of them is 16" it's like catching clones. There are some hot spots in yellowstone and when you hit one its as rewarding as any fishing anywhere.

Yeah you're probably right. I haven't fished Slough in a decade and they were pretty finicky then but definitely would eat. But I noticed the lot was full now so the pressure is probably way up.