Best US/NA locale for fly fisherman

[greenlander]

Just out of curiosity ....

Hypothetically, if you fly fisherman out there could live anywhere - where would it be? That is to say, in your opinion, what location offers the best fly fishing opportunities based on whatever factors you consider most important?

In the US?
North America?

 

[tabasco_joe]

Probably depends on what you like to FF for. Trout, bass, salt? Personally I am thinking of retiring in the York/Cumberland cty area. Spring creeks, bass on the Susquehanna or several local lakes. Easy access to Central part of the state for more good trout streams. Lower cost of living (I live in the Phily burbs).

 

[pete41]

Depends on how much money you have.
Lots-Bozeman,Mt. area would be hard to beat for trout.
12 months a year and fine fishing.
Smaller bankroll-Helena or Great Falls Mt.
Fish the Missouri .At places its a huge small stream where you can dryfly or nymph like Pa. but for bigger trout.
I am sure there are other great places but I never lived there so let others handle that.

 

[tomgamber]

There was an article on just that subject last year in one of the magazines...now It might have been best ffing place to retire but i'll find it.
Personally, Boise Idaho, followed by State College, Boulder Co.

 

[greenlander]

My personal preference is trout/salmon - though I'm just getting into saltwater and have never fly fished for bass, pike, musky, walleye, etc.

On the trout salmon, I'm curious where people think the "ideal" places in the US/NA are .. i.e. PA/NY vs New England vs Pacific Northwest, etc etc ...

And other species as well.. more of a "where would you live if you could fish every day" hypothetical discussion than one based in reality.

Always looking to learn more about the fishing opportunities out there ...

 

[tomgamber]

Here's the Retirement City Article

No surprises...but a few omissions in my opinion.

 

North Idaho Panhandle...........hands down.
Cheap real estate, gorgeous country, large lakes, small lakes and more streams, rivers and "criks", than one can even FIND, let alone FISH, in at least the 16 years I lived in that area!
Every place, has its own "down side", and this area of course, is no exception. Winters can be worse, than "brutal", as when I left, on Jan. 13th, '93 it was minus 30 below and no wind. (thus, a true temp, not a wind chill temp).
But, I also learned I could "set my watch" by the seasons............. never snowed, before Thanksgiving Day.. stopped the cold and the snow, never later than the end of March. Rains, off and on, until the middle of May, then a long, beautiful, summer until late October!
Hunting for elk, deer and pheasant, etc. was never more than a tank of fuel away, (that's round trip!), and fishing "Blue Ribbon Waters", was only a day trip, at best. 90"% was less than 50 miles.
If you get into the "political side" of things, the "Liberal Front arguments", "Radical Thinkers"...then yes........ Idaho has "It's own problems", but I think a place to live, anyplace you choose to retire, and/or, move to........is going to have it's distractions and problems. You just have to sort of; "Weigh what you're after-versus what you're wiling to put up with to be there"!?

 

[Chaz]

Pennsylvania, You can fish for wild trout in every type of water imaginable, you can fish all year, for any species you can imagine, and the climate isn't so bad as to make winter fishing dangerous.

 

[CAMBYSES]

I would head out to the state college area, maybe Greenwood Furnace, or Mcalvery's Fort. Some where out that way. Real Estate isn't that bad and the opportunities for wild trout are all around!

I really like Laurel run up there, its a beautiful stream with a lot fish


Bob

 

[RLeeP]

I'd have to agree with Chaz, at least to some extent. Pennsylvania doesn't have the very best of any one type of fishing, but it may well be unbeatable when you look at the variety, quality, climate and seasons as a package.

But I'll tell you... I've not found better small to medium stream wild trout fishing better anywhere than I've found in Wisconsin. And that includes everywhere I've fished out west, which while not exhaustive is fairly extensive.

I think if I had to pick 2 places to live, the first would be in southern Warren County. Not that the fishing right there is so great, it isn't. But it's reasonably good and such a location would put me within decent range of both NC PA and the Blair/Centre/Clinton limestone-freestone mix as well as within decent range of all the warm water fisheries I grew on in Erie and Crawford Counties. You can't beat that part of the state for largemouth and panfish. And the smallmouth fishing can stand with any place in the state, IMO.

The other place would be equidistant between Madison and LaCrosse. There's good fishing for just about anything I'd want and especially trout. And I'm starting to get interested in Pike on a fly rod. They're fun and I don't need my Flip-Focals to tie a pike fly to my leader. Lots of good Pike water in this area..

I used to think I'd want to live around Bend. Not so much any more. When I get to be an old fart, I see myself getting a little boat and bringing home a mess of crappie once a week. Can't do that in Bend. But I could do it in Meadville...

 

[ryanh]

Oh come on guys!!! dream a little. From my experiance I would RATHER LIVE IN PA than ALASKA for flyfishing. Hows that for a statement. The season is too short up there. You will run out of flies to tie by december and still have 5 months of winter to kill. That is about the time I stopped keeping a journal. A three day bender in Feburary produces some strange fishing essays in the great white north. :lol:

I would say California. As I have said before it is the most underatted state for fishing. The Sac delta is a world class striper fishery. Every unobstructed river gets runs of Shad, Stripers, Steelhead and Kings. Not to mention an extensive tail water system. Then there are virtually endless miles of mountain streams and high alpine lakes.

The climate is all in where you go. You can fish in shorts 12 months a year or in snow 12 months a year.

"The west is the best"

 

[buckbarrett]

I lived in S. Cal for a while and had the best of all worlds. Mountain streams, lakes, and the Pacific in minutes from each other. Why'd I come back here??

 

[ryanh]

Buckbarret
Same reson as me probably....Real estate....

 

[pete41]

No disrespect guys but if trout fishing is your ``bag'' you need to spend at least a year in Montana.....Co.,Idaho,Wyoming,Alaska not bad but Montana is top dog.Not many browns in Alaska.
The scenery is awesome.The fishing is great,you have read about it in books and mags.
The weather is the cincher.The Drier Big Sky air makes waders comfortable even in August when the humid East is a Killer.Same with January or Feb..
One area where the east excells.Fly choices-you can feed you need to carry boxes and boxes of flies in your filsons.In montana the choice is too simple to be fun.Stone fly nymphs and Salmon fly or grasshopper dries.Fits in one little plastic box.No challenge to a serious `gear is everything'' type.
Just teasing but go West young man and treat yourself.

 

[greenlander]

Well, one thing I'll say for the east is that I don't mind the wader situation. As soon as that weather warms up, I can't wait to wet-wade - so waders in August have never been an issue. By June my waders are in the closet.

 

[tabasco_joe]

I'll throw one other area in that I am considering but wasn't mentioned; western North Carolina. Lots of mountain trout streams, moderate temperature, and close to Carolina coast. Not my first pick but it's on the list.

 

[tomatocan]

You can remove merry ol' new england of my list, after living there for almost 7 years I almost quit trout fishing. I lived in both VT/NH found most of the trout fishing put n take. You can have the upper CT, the white river, the battonkill et. al. to me there is no comparison to Stony, Clarks, the Quitty, Penns, Erie tribs or even Valley Creek. If people think that new england is an idyllic rural yeoman farming paradise its not, VT/NH are filled with flatlander birkenstock wearing, latte sippin' volvo drivin' yuppies building their castles in choice habitat. Occasionally you woulld bump into a born n raised vermonster or new hampster and they would almost be worth all wading through all the flatlanders. Almost. The ONLY thing I liked was that nothing was posted (except for the aforementioned yuppies property) Access for bird hunting was everywhere and the partridge hunting could be terrific. IF PA could ever get back to its glory days of pheasant huntign ( 1 million a year harvested) then you would have paradise. Sometimes you have to leave PA to appreciate it.

 

[VTPAangler]

I'm one of those born and raised Vermonters that you speak of. Comparing the Upper Connecticut River to the Quitty or Stony is like comparing filet mignon to spam. I spent the first 23 years of my life fishing in Vermont and the last 9 years of my life fishing in Pennsylvania. I appreciate what both states have to offer, but I'd choose Vermont if I had to pick between the two. Here I have to drive an hour to fish a good stream, and 3-4 hours to fish a great stream. In Vermont I had to drive 10-20 minutes to hit a great stream (no matter where I lived in the state). In PA I almost always have to compete for water with other anglers, in VT I had a hard time finding other anglers on the water.

There are a lot of put 'n take streams in Vermont, and as many or more that have a solid head of wild fish. What Pennsylvania has that Vermont doesn't have is some decent year round fisheries. The winters in Vermont are too intense for fishing. I'm sorry to hear you almost gave up trout fishing in Vermont. You really missed out unfortunately.

 

[Padraic]

Michigan has terriffic trout, salmon and steelhead fishing. Plus you can get Vernor's!

 

[tomgamber]

pete41 wrote:
No disrespect guys but if trout fishing is your ``bag'' you need to spend at least a year in Montana.....Co.,Idaho,Wyoming,Alaska not bad but Montana is top dog.Not many browns in Alaska.
The scenery is awesome.The fishing is great,you have read about it in books and mags.
The weather is the cincher.The Drier Big Sky air makes waders comfortable even in August when the humid East is a Killer.Same with January or Feb..
One area where the east excells.Fly choices-you can feed you need to carry boxes and boxes of flies in your filsons.In montana the choice is too simple to be fun.Stone fly nymphs and Salmon fly or grasshopper dries.Fits in one little plastic box.No challenge to a serious `gear is everything'' type.
Just teasing but go West young man and treat yourself.

Montana is great if you like your outdoors paved and private. National park is another way of saying Paved. There is probably more posted water in Montana then there is here in PA. Its Donny Beaver heaven.

Idaho has 9 million acres of roadless area that is still pristine and fishable. Countless lakes, rivers and Streams that fish as good as or better than they did 100 years ago. And not a single National Park. Think of all the concrete they're saving for all that work on the turnpike. Montana was great when it was MacLean's world...but not since it's been Turner's world.