Looking for advice on October west coast fly fishing trip
I have two weeks in early October to spend on a fly fishing road trip – mix of camping and hotels with the goal of fishing as much as possible. Looking for any advice at all, nothing is set in stone – fishing conditions, where to fish, where not to fish, etc etc.
thanks in advance!
Posted by wuman02
28 Comments
don’t plan on making more than 50 miles in an hour.
Don’t skip Olympic National Park
When you’re in calgary fish the Bow River – south side of the city. McKinnon Flats and Policeman flats are great stops
I’d head over to Eureka going north from SF. It’s got some amazing rivers where you can fish.
The Bighorn over SW of Billings is off your route, but it’s on a lot of peoples’ bucket lists. I set 6 PBs in 3 days.
Go through west Yellowstone to Ennis, Montana. The Madison river is possibly the best trout fishing in the western US.
If it were me and I had only two weeks, I would significantly reduce the amount of driving. Head toward Salt Lake and North to Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana.
don’t get your tires slashed in bozeman at a fishing hole
Don’t miss the McCloud river, the Pit, the Upper Sacramento on the way up the 5. You may not go on from there. Beautiful.
If you’re in northern Utah you’ll probably want to hit the Provo or Weber. Strawberry reservoir is also great for hopper eats around that time if you want to fish still water
More Idaho less Utah.
Coho in the Vedder River outside of Vancouver will be peak season.
Side from my other comment, if you plan to fish in any of the Canadian National parks you need a special parks license and you can’t even think the word “lead” within a quarter mile of a fishing hole.
Railroad Ranch on the Henry’s Fork in Island Park, ID on your way to West Yellowstone
This is a ton of driving for two weeks. Cut back the itinerary if you want to fish as much as possible. Unless as much as possible is just fishing when you stop somewhere.
Might be an unpopular opinion, but if you only have two weeks, shrink your trip down, and enjoy your time in a couple spots.
You’re going to burn all of your time just logging the miles.
I live in Utah but by far one of my most favorite places on earth is Vancouver island. Never did any fishing but I’d look into adding to your trip! You can take your car across in a ferry.
Be prepared for any weather. Have a backup plan.
I’ve done a 10 day trip sleeping in my truck, and I only hit 2 states and I still felt like the driving to fishing ratio was poor (and I was usually fishing all day and driving at night). I would choose one region and really focus on fishing it well, and save the rest for another trip.
Feel free to pm me and I’ll give you some of my favorite spots for Oregon/Cali
You could spend the entire time in East Idaho and not get bored.
I highly recommend the Green River by Flaming Gorge, UT. Some of the highest concentrations of fish per mile
I know an app called Fly Fishing Trails. There are a few spots along this route, but I’m not sure how accurate they are. You could give it a try!
Skip Calgary and go through the West Kootenays in BC and up highway 6 to Revelstoke to re-connect to your original route
Don’t sleep on Vancouver island.
Curious if there’s any specific logistics barriers (licenses, etc) to fishing in Canada as an American? I’m currently in Vermont for a little while and thinking about heading north for a day
To echo other’s comments… Pick a region and explore more thoroughly, maybe put in the work for a steelhead. Just don’t
Henry’s fork of the snake river in Idaho can be world class
Check out Goose Lake, just east of Portland in WA. Beautiful lake with great fishing. Campground is nice too, 1st come 1st served.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giffordpinchot/recreation/recarea/?recid=31764