Bucket List Fly Fishing Destinations...

[Poopdeck 0]

Cold, I just spent 9 days in Arizona and didn't even think of packing a rod. Spent the time hiking and didn't think about fishing nor did I regret not fishing. Your sentiments about out west echo my sediments for the world over. I have plenty of places I want to see but none I care to fish at. In fact I have no bucket list since I can do as I please anytime. Guess that makes me the odd man out, the runt of the litter, the black sheep and "that guy." Sorry I could not help your list but I would like to suggest for you to enjoy and appreciate what you have in your own backyard.

[mikechell 0]

Guess that makes me the odd man out, the runt of the litter, the black sheep and "that guy."

Not really, PD. There was another "bucket list" thread not too long ago. In that one, I (and a few others) said that we are quite happy in our own waters. But then, a bucket list doesn't really mean you're going to go there ... just fishing that would be great if Jack Nicholson offered to take you there.

My response on THIS thread was facetious ... if you didn't get that joke.

[Cold 0]

To be fair, if I went to the western US, I'd definitely want to fish it. I'm a fisherman, it's what I do. But as lifetime destinations go, the western states hold little appeal to me on that scale, being thrown in the mix with so many other locales. Honestly, I like to at least try to fish anywhere I go. If it's lousy and I catch nothing, at least I've tried it. And unless the trip was made for the express purpose of fishing, I'm disinclined to hire a guide. With my personality, I'd rather fail through my own efforts than succeed through someone else's. As long as the fishing method is reasonably similar to what I do (most of the salt fishing is not), I want to do it myself.

[JSzymczyk 0]

I have no bucket list since I can do as I please anytime.

 

wow, that's cool.

[FlatsRoamer 0]

no kidding

[Bryon Anderson 0]

 

1. New Zealand

 

After that, in no particular order...

 

British Columbia (Steelhead)

Bighorn/Montana

Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec (Atlantic Salmon)

Frying Pan, Colorado

Kamchatka (Steelhead)

Green/Utah

Labrador (Brook Trout)

Beaverkill/NY

Iceland (Atlantic Salmon)

Fantastic list Bryon, I can tell you are either well travelled...or put a lot of thought and research into your recommendations. Sadly, the Green River in Utah is the only destination I can check off of your list.

 

Definitely the second one--I am patiently waiting for retirement (it's going to be a long wait) so I can become well-travelled...for now, I just read a lot of fishing articles. I did have a chance to fish the Frying Pan a couple of summers ago, but spent all my time on the nearby Roaring Fork and one of its feeder creeks that flowed through the property where I was staying. Years ago, I took a trip to Utah and booked a day on the Green with a good guide, but when I got there, the river was several feet over flood stage. I ended up fishing a feeder creek that time, too--Jones Hole Creek, which turned out to be fantastic. That was my first time fishing out West, and I remember being seriously "wowed" by the scenery and the dry fly fishing, which worked exactly like the books I'd been reading (being a newbie fly fisher at the time) said it would. Of course, it probably didn't hurt that Jones Hole Creek happens to be the site of a huge trout hatchery, which keeps it chock-full of big, innocent trout.

I did have a week in Montana--not the Bighorn, but we did hit the Madison and the Lamar in Yellowstone Park, and did a full day float on the Yellowstone with guides. We also hiked up to Slough Creek. The only place I caught fish was the Yellowstone, and then because the guide was basically floating my nymph directly into the fishes' mouths. The rest of the places we fished were drop-dead gorgeous, but I was too busy looking over my shoulder for bears to pay attention to the fishing. Dumb, I know, but there it is.

Luckily, I live in a great fly fishing state (Michigan), with a several world-class fisheries and a whole bunch of less-than-world-class but still very pretty and productive ones. There's a statistic that gets quoted here a lot, something about how you're never more than 5 miles away from a river or lake anywhere in the state. I find that comforting. As others have said in this thread, it's great to get out and see the places that get written about and put on calendars, but having good fishing that you can access on any given day--for my money, that's really where it's at.

[Dorado 0]

Nice post Bryon! Never fished Michigan, but you have only validated what I have heard and read about...it being a fishing paradise.

[troutinturnie 0]

Northern Manitoba (Canada) for monster Pike and 40lb lake trout

[Dorado 0]

From Abrams Creek in the Smokeys, to the Kamchatka in Russia, to the Seychelles Archipelago, and numerous other destinations, it's now been over a year since this dream list was created... so of the 30+ folks who contributed to the list, has anyone actually checked anything off their bucket list? If so, was it everything you imagined it to be???

[Meeshka 0]

Has to be Iceland for monster browns - and I just might be able to go next summer!

[Sandan 0]

New Zealand

Patagonia

Seychelles

[spiralspey 0]

I've fished several of the places on my bucket list; Yellowstone NP (Lamar, Firehole), Henry's Fork (railroad ranch), N Umpqua, lower Deschutes, and Russian R (Alaska). They've all lived up my expectations, and in some cases far exceeded them. I've found other places, not as well known, with better fishing and that are arguably better experiences, but every place on my list that I've visited so far is worthy of being on anyone's bucket list.

Other places on my list

Dean River

Belize

Christmas Island

[Guest]

+1 Henry's Fork of the Snake River Idaho and visit Yellowstone......good ole USA!

 

 

[DrVette 0]

I just want find one good size (3-4lbs) golden trout taken from Colorado waters...I have been trying to figure this one out for about 12-15 years now. So far the best (and only)plan is to stock some in some high inaccessible waters...But that is bad on MANY levels...and i doubt anyone sells fingerlings of golden trout.. i never looked because i might get more tempted. So if anyone has caught a golden trout in Colorado PLEASE tell me where...I just need a pic of a nice one before i send it back to swim on.

But that bison...looks like dinner on the hoof to me.

[Dorado 0]

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