Top two destinations if you had the time

[Ontarioflyguy]

What would everyone's top 2 destinations for fly fishing trips be if you had the time to do it? Practical not Fantasy.
When I think of fly fishing I automatically think of trout and salmon but that's just me.

I ask because over the years, that has changed for me. In my younger days I would have chosen first the rivers of Wyoming and Colorado. This was based on articles read from outdoor magazine articles written that I read as a youth. I would still love to but now only if I could get there mid week when most are at work on non crowded spots.

I now want to spend a week or so fly fishing in East Coast of Canada...maybe spent between Labrador and New Brunswick. The next would be a toss up between the West Coast of Canada fishing Steelhead and Salmon or into the north western US states. I know it not far from home but it is my dream.

What is everyone else?

 

[Redrock]

It has been many years since I made the pilgrimage and things may have changed, but I believe the Park in the Fall is sublime. Swing soft hackles in one of the “holes” or hoover one of the road runs along the Madison in the early morning. The Gibbon also has some wonderful holding water. Grab a sack lunch and head over to the Firehole for the Fall Baetis hatch. For a change of pace head down to the RR ranch or fish the Slide area.

 

[Ard]

I have the time but I also have an old German Shepherd that isn't up to the trip but...…………. Someday I'm going to charter a flight to a river over on Iliamna for a drop off then pickup 2 weeks later. I've been there before but was there to work, during the trips I learned the river but had very little time to fish myself. One day I'll set a camp and stay a while. Other than that I'd just like to get back down to Oregon to fish with some friends there. Really like the North Umpqua

 

[tcorfey]

Too many places too little time... but to play along,

Practical destination would be around Yellowstone for a month of hiking and fishing.

Fantasy destination would be the brown trout stream in the video called "Trout Heaven" I believe it is called the river Ätran and is located in Sweden. I would be fishing a bamboo rod during the Danika hatch with Anders as my guide. For lunch we would be eating stream side (hamburgers, with cream buns for dessert) and drinking coffee with the occasional shot after a big fish is caught.

Regards,

Tim C.

 

[dynaflow]

Need to more adventurous there folks! How about a live-aboard week or more to Cosmoledo in the Seychelles?.....or if you must stay in the fresh,the same time in Argentina stalking the biggest Trout on the planet? Both trips are practical...all you need is the MONEY!!!

 

[jzim]

I would choose New Zealand and the Nipigon River in Canada to fish for brook trout. They are massive in that river system.

 

[Redrock]

“Need to more adventurous there folks!“

You are probably correct. In my twenties/thirties a road trip to Montana or the Alaska backcountry was “adventurous.” Russia wasn’t on the radar. South America required more time off than I had.

I like to be able to repeat my fishing adventures. The memories may be new, but the area becomes familiar with a hint of “how will this trip be different, what will this trip bring”. Travel to destinations I can’t readily repeat don’t excite me for some reason.

Perhaps my lack of interest in traveling to more exotic destinations is tied to my aversion to all encompassing package trips. For me a good bit of the fun is the “doing” — planning the trip, learning the water, setting up camp, cooking, etc. Catching fish is important, but how I catch fish more so. I’m older, and it sure is easier to let someone else do all the work, but I feel like a passenger and not a participant.

 

[cwb124]

At this point in my life (early 40s) I am ALL about adventure and isolation. We did a remote drop/float trip in Alaska last year where we didn't see another soul for 6 days. This summer we are getting dropped off in the Frank Church wilderness by small plane at a backcountry strip to camp/fish for a few days.

I'd love to hit some large Canadian brook trout in NewFoundland and also disappear into the Yukon somewhere fishing for large char.

 

[rfb700]

Great Slave Lake trib Northwest territories for Inconnu, the tarpon of the north.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

 

[patrick62]

New Zealand and Patagonia

 

[sweetandsalt]

My entire adult life has been a fishing adventure. My work took me as far north as Brook Trout in Labrador and as far south as Sea Trout in Tierra del Fuego. Now retired I still get to spend a quality amount of time on the great Catskill rivers in May and my favorite Idaho and Montana rivers and creeks in June/July. While I've fished bonefish in Florida, the Bahamas, Mexico and Belize there are two destinations in the Bahamas that require a mother ship...too far from conventional fishing lodges and I fancy two weeks in both locations, one in April the other in October. I have the time but not the money. I've only scratched the surface of the Indian Ocean and far as it is I want more. My salmon and steelhead fishing is in the rear view mirror for me, not that I didn't love it back then and while now is not the time to travel to Russia, there are some salmon rivers at the tip of the Kola Peninsula and some fascinating spring creek steelhead/rainbow rivers in Kamchatka that I wish I had gotten to during my professional journalism days. And, I have never fished the historic Chalk Streams of the south of England, yes, I'm willing to cast my Mayfly (E. danika) upstream.

Unless family and other high priority obligations preclude it, there is no reason to postpone angling anywhere you would love to pursue it. Climatological indications are it won't last forever. Already in my short human lifespan I've been witnessing precipitous decline and it is accelerating. 20% of the planet's coral has died in just the last few years and the seas are rising, desalinating, acidifying and plasticizing. Insects, mollusks, bivalves, crustaceans, amphibians, fish, birds and mammals as robust as rhinoceros are disappearing alarmingly fast. I am an angler therefore an optimist but I don't perceive a scenario where we turn this around...are we rapidly heading toward a world where the green is gone as in the Edward G. Robinson movie, "Soylant Green"?

Go fishing now.

 

[duker]

I'm lucky that I live somewhere with pretty decent fishing, and manage trips to Alaska and BC every year for salmon and steelhead. And thanks to my wife's love for hot weather and beaches I've had some excellent saltwater fishing in Belize and Mexico. Before I shuffle off this mortal coil I'd love to go to Tierra del Fuego for a crack at some sea-run browns, Labrador for some monster brookies, and somewhere for Atlantic salmon (Canada's east coast, Iceland, Russia, Scotland--I'm not fussy).

So much water, so little time. . . .

Scott

 

[rusty 54]

I've been itching to fish the Driftless and western North Carolina for a while. Life keeps getting in the way. Pretty humble compared to many, but those are mine.

 

[big flounder]

Chile and Christmas Island are both on my bucket list.

 

[clouserguyky]

Back country New Zealand, and remote Patagonia!

If those are too over on the fantasy side of things, then probably Alberta and Montana... Cutties, browns, bows, and bulls, but even smallmouth and carp if so desired.

 

[Meadowlark]

Patagonia and Alaska would be my top two destinations I guess but its hard to leave out CI and Seychelles and one can't forget the Baja, Chetumal Bay, and of course the Bahamas and the Keys. Then there's Guatemala for big sails and marlin.

I make it a "rule" to never go to the same place twice but some locations like CI, Patagonia, and anywhere in Alaska are so special they deserve multiple revisits. I've visited the East Cape of Baja 5 times but the rooster fishing there fell off and haven't been back in several years. Likewise Chetumal Bay and Ascension Bay for big Permit. I guess I've been to Alaska on fishing trips about 20 times but not to the same place. You just can't experience all of Alaska by going to the same place....and it is well worth experiencing as much of Alaska as one possibly can.

I used to think that a trip to Cuba would be desirable but that has fallen on my priority list. Its now down to Patagonia and Alaska as top two...and just hope I have a few visits left for those fantastic places.

Speaking of that, time to start packing for Patagonia and big sea run brown trout. Really looking forward to fighting one of those.

 

[Rip Tide]

Fortunately for me, the kinds of places that I enjoy fishing the most are just a short drive away

That said, I'm off from work until mid March.... perhaps a road trip to the Everglades is in my future

 

[marty mcfly]

I had to go back and reread the initial post. If I had to pick 2 practical places to go if time was no object (I assume that means I still had to pay the bill), I would do a saltwater trip down to the out islands of the bahamas, and a steelhead/salmon trip to the Olympic Peninsula or maybe British Columbia.

 

[cwb124]

I make it a "rule" to never go to the same place twice but some locations like CI, Patagonia, and anywhere in Alaska are so special they deserve multiple revisits.

Never quite understood this. I have a buddy who employs this same tactic. I go the other way. I love to really dig into a place and understand the fishery and understand the surrounding drainages and explore untouched waters. I do a trip to Idaho almost every year and while we do try and explore at least one new water every year, we have found that our knowledge of half a dozen rivers/streams makes our fishing experience so much better. Knowing runs, pools, and where you nailed (or missed!) a big fish the last time. Exciting. I suppose if I was employing a guide every time I could get used to new locales each time, but I love and prefer the DIY route.

 

[k_e_v]

As I gratefully sit in an airport headed to Patagonia I would like to do a deep dive of Colorado and the Driftless region. Maybe 20-25 days would do it. Really have the time to explore the nooks and crannies of each. And probably a easier sell with the wife too I think��