[mfick]

Finally talked the old man into taking a camping trip out west, for the purpose of flyfishing. Starting from scratch on this, could anyone help me figure out the best time of the year, locations, rivers, ect... Probably do a guided trip on the first day and then just wing it the rest of the time. All help is appreciated!

Thanks guys,
Mike

[flyfishingwright]

How far west?

[CaddisCowboy]

Hey Mike,

I may be a bit biased, but my first suggestion is to get your butts out to Colorado! We have over 9,000 miles of trout streams in our backyard and some of the most beautiful rugged country in the nation. In Colorado, an angler can choose his fishing opportunities like a fine wine. You can fish high country creeks for wild cutthroats one day, and be hauling in 25" tailwater trout the next. The variety of water is infinate. The Gunnison Country of Western Colorado, in particular, holds some of the most unspoiled trout water in the state and is host to a dense population of trophy fish.

I personally guide for 2 different operations here on the West Slope, and would love to have the opportunity to guide you and your father on some of our local waters. If you're interested in a bit more information, feel free to shoot me an email at evan.koster@western.edu or give me a call at (970) 216-1712.

Tight lines,

Evan

[mfick]

I was thinking the Montana region. To be more specific the Yellowstone area. We are aiming at doing some rugged camping, ideally on the water if it is possible.

Would also look into colorado or wyoming

[Cheri]

Mike if you can get a copy of the dvd The Hatch (drooling) on Gunnison, it is 17 mins of WOW! You will be packing, planning and tying monster dry salmon flies. It is my dream trip for next year.

[masterbaetis]

I was thinking the Montana region. To be more specific the Yellowstone area. We are aiming at doing some rugged camping, ideally on the water if it is possible.

Would also look into colorado or wyoming?

The first question would be when? What time of year you come will change where you might want to be.

What are you looking for? Yellowstone can be pretty crowded on the well known waters, or you can get off the beaten path and have it all to yourself.

What species are you after?

River, stream, creek, lake?

Don't count out Colorado. Everyone deserves a float down the Black Canyon of the Gunny at least once in their life, and if your timing is June then you will have a good chance to fish the mother of all salmon fly hatches.

Lots to think about - but it's all good!

[Cheri]

evan.koster@western.edu or give me a call at (970) 216-1712.

Evan, I will be calling!!

[Floyd]

You can get lots of information on the Yellowstone area by signing up with http://www.blueribbonflies.com/ and start getting their newsletter. You can check out their past fishing reports. And it's the best fly shop in West Yellowstone I think.

[flyfishingwright]

I'm planning a trip to Yellowstone in June. I'm pretty stoked. It will be my first time out there. I hope to learn from the responses to this thread as well. From what I've heard so far, there will be something fishing well at all times during the spring and summer. If you have something specific you are looking for, like the Salmon flies, then try to plan for it. Otherwise, just go and stop into a fly shop and find out what is going on at the moment. I can't wait to see what it's like.

[buggybob]

If you are fairly flexible in when you can go Yellowstone or Colorado are great. Just remember that snow runoff happens in June and sometimes into July depending on the final snowpack in your chosen destination. Standing next to a blown-out river is not that fun.

As others have said, there are many possibilities depending on the type of water you want to fish. I've fished the Yellowstone area every year for about 30 years and every year is different so when someone tells you the stoneflies or what ever always come off on a certain date, they are blowing smoke. If they give you a broad range of when the hatches come of you are probbly getting good information. I can tell you that I no longer try to target the giant stonefly hatch, but I've been into it at least 10 of those years and one of those years runoff happened about a month before they came off. There are a lot of good hatches that come off all summer long, so be flexible if you can.

[mfick]

I am planning on going out during mid July to avoid any runoff situation. I would love to fish the salmon fly hatch but with my luck I would miss it by a week and the fish would have lock jaw. So mid july it is.

Also would like to avoid the crowds if at all possible, while still getting on some fish.

As far as species.... Good sized rainbows and browns would be ideal, might spend some time going after cutthroats as well, just to enjoy a gorgeous fish. Grayling would be cool but beggers cant be choosers. So I will stick with the Bows and Browns.

Mostly looking for a wilderness situation with lots of fish and wildlife, keep getting excited just thinking about it......

[Pat M]

How long are you planning for your trip? Endless possiblities. So many rivers out this way.

[David Legg]

Well, if you add Colorado onto your trip, we have a couple of nice pieces of grayling water. We mainly have rainbows, browns, brookies, and cutthroat. We have some lakers too, and some hush hush Arctic char, but we don't like to tell people that. And we have some kokanee.
But Yellowstone is ok. J/K... Yellowstone is awesome too.

[Voodoo]

Only a few miles north of Montana you can find the Bow river in Calgary. This is a great access point to the mountains where cutthroat and bull trout have grown large and strong.

[mfick]

Does anyone know specifically of a primitive or wilderness camping experience, on the water, in this region? There are so many rivers it can be intimidating sorting through all of the material.

Here is my ideal trip:

Find a secluded wilderness camping spot (will spend half of a week here and then half a week at another spot), on a small to mid sized stream that we can wade/fish and maybe even find some good sized rainbows in. On first or second day we would take a guided trip on a larger river for browns/rainbows. Spend the rest of our time exploring and maybe fishing a smaller feeder creek, or chase cutthroats. Halfway through the week we would probably look to find another similar camping spot on another probably similar stream, and spend the second half of the week in a similar fashion.

Any help pointing out campgrounds or parks that fit the bill would be very appreciated. Even pointing towards a specific region would be awesome.

Thanks guys!