I need YOUR help to plan my "bucket list" 2011 road trip!!!

[Fishfreak911]

I need YOUR help to plan my "bucket list" 2011 road trip!!!

So I am in the very early stages of planning a road trip with my BFF next year. We wanna fish epic waters of the West. Our goal: Simply drive a rental car and fish whenever and wherever we come to water! I need your help though.

I will tell you what I kinda loosely have in mind and I would appreciate any and all feedback, comments, suggestions, or ideas.

I am currently thinking a late May departure would be best to avoid the crowds and kids.
We'll rent a (minivan?) in SoCal, drive up thru So. Utah. I may or may not hit waters in Northern New Mexico and Western Co. Then we'll head North to Wyoming, Mo., and Idaho. Maybe even Oregon. So this would be a giant loop. That's a lot of miles (2,500-ish), so I want to focus on a very fishy path that minimizes time on the road, and maximize fishing time. I think I really wanna fish Montana/Wyoming/Idaho the most. Here is a pic of one possible path that is 2500 miles.



If anyone can reply with links where others have done trips like this, that would be helpful.

So the questions I pose to you, my friends, are: Where would you fish if you could, and when?

Thanks in advance to all who reply.

BTW, I typed this all up once, then fat-fingered the wrong button and POOF! Gone. I know better too-WRITE IT IN WORD FIRST. THEN COPY/PASTE

[Fishfreak911]

Duh, you are absolutely right Wildfly! Runoff would be an issue. Ok, so I need to def. rethink the date. Maybe this is a late august trip????

[tenandtwo]

Just did that trip (almost) in August went to Yellowstone, I only fished in YNP and that was between all the sightseeing and family activities, quick casts here in there as I could. Did drive through some beautiful country and a lot of good looking water, Northern Utah has lots of rivers and and streams coming down beginning around Provo or so on north on the E-side of the 15. It would be a long first day maybe 10-12 hrs from So-Cal. Coming back from Yellowstone went south through the Grand Tetons/ Jackson Hole along the Snake river and cut back through rural Idaho (26-34-30)to the 15, some real nice looking roadside creeks and rivers around almost every bend. I would definitively cut over to Oregon on the 84, then down the 97 to the Bend/ Deschutes area, from there you can take the 395 on down and hit all the great E-side Calli water, the Pit, Truckee, Walker, HC, LO, or head down to Redding and do the West Sierra. Hey! that's my dream trip too, just as soon as I get about six weeks of vacation time. A lot of miles! Good idea with the rental car. Runoff might be an issue and it is still really cold! We had frosty nights in August! Sounds like fun.

[WanderingBlues]

Even without a flyrod, that would be one of the epic trips of all time. Just by way of adding some unique flair, I'd get the Annual National Parks Pass and try your luck within the various National Park borders. I have enjoyed some time in Yosemite, Lassen, and Redwoods with some nice fish caught and a chance to experience some of the finest scenery in the world.

*Added bonus. If you get the NP Pass, you don't have to purchase an adventure pass for the locals.

[planettrout]

Fishfreak911,

Let's see now...Hmmmm...I would stop somewhere around F and fish Southern Montana for, say about 3 1/2 months...something I have already done, more than once...I will post a slew of links when I return from work and get on my other computah...Hmmmm...June through October sounds just about right...I like to get intimate with water when I go...

Here is one to get 'yas started thinkin':

http://www.bigskyfishing.com/River-Fish ... ishing.htm



PT/TB

[rayfound]

Well, looking at that map, and considering you're planning on focusing on WY, MT, ID.... I think you need to consider flying to SLC, renting the car there, and basing your trip from there... rather than spending 2 days driving there.... that being said, you could easily drive that in a day with 2 drivers, so maybe its not a big deal.

If I was doing a trip like this, I think I would do everything I could to talk to the locals while there to find the smaller, less frequented rivers, do some hiking to get off the beaten path, and consider a vehicle with more ground clearance than a minivan.

[midger]

I'd definitely not go in May unless you plan on doing mainly lake fishing. August is also a busy time, tourist-wise, and fishing can be problematic if we have a hot, low water summer. September, however, sees cooler temperatures, fat fish, and fewer crowds in the areas you plan to hit.


Ray had a good idea about flying into SLC, but the downside of that is the limitations on the gear you can take unless you preship things to a drop point--such as a flyshop or guide service. Personally, I have made the trip from SoCal a number of times, and with 2 drivers, we've been postured to float the Green below flaming Gorge in about 13-14 hours driving time. I'd drive it, but I want all my "stuffs" with me (including the fly fishing drifter I haul).

Unless you have a lot of time, limit the travel you have to do. You can burn up a lot of fishing time by trying to drive great distances between the areas you'll fish. What we do is fish all day and drive all night when we have to preposition to another area, such as going from the Green to Jackson Hole or Yellowstone.

Have a good one.

[briansII]

I'd definitely not go in May unless you plan on doing mainly lake fishing. August is also a busy time, tourist-wise, and fishing can be problematic if we have a hot, low water summer. September, however, sees cooler temperatures, fat fish, and fewer crowds in the areas you plan to hit.


Ray had a good idea about flying into SLC, but the downside of that is the limitations on the gear you can take unless you preship things to a drop point--such as a flyshop or guide service. Personally, I have made the trip from SoCal a number of times, and with 2 drivers, we've been postured to float the Green below flaming Gorge in about 13-14 hours driving time. I'd drive it, but I want all my "stuffs" with me (including the fly fishing drifter I haul).

Unless you have a lot of time, limit the travel you have to do. You can burn up a lot of fishing time by trying to drive great distances between the areas you'll fish. What we do is fish all day and drive all night when we have to preposition to another area, such as going from the Green to Jackson Hole or Yellowstone.

Have a good one.

This!

Taking a week, two weeks, a month to complete this trip? Your route looks like a good one, but if you don't have enough time, you're going to feel rushed to get to the next destination. JMHO, but if I had 2 weeks to do a trip, i'd fly to my main destination, then possibly drive home and fish a few places on the way back. 1 full week, just for the Yellowstone area. Fly into SLC or even Idaho Falls(fish Henry's Fork on the way to West Yellowstone). 3 weeks, I can see doing a big loop. August is still a busy month. Mid to late Sept for less crowds. Might get some shots at big, lake run fish too. Don't forget(if time allows) Nor Cal on the way home.

Again, JMHO, but the allure of making a banzai run, and fishing as many rivers as you can possibly fit in, may not live up to the hype. Then again, it might.

briansII

[beachbum]

There's so much water to fish between here and the Yellowstone area you could spend the whole spring and summer and not fish it all.

Of all the spots, I really like the area around Yellowstone National Park. We usually camp around the Henry's Fork (my favorite dry fly river), and fish the area from there. There are also some good camping in the park at Madison Junction.

Have fun planning!! That's something to really enjoy.

[RubiKinda]

My vote is always more south-east of the norm...The Ozarks are a bit of a drive, but well worth it. Different style of fishing & always the potential of hanging a fish the size of your leg.

[Rockstar Fisherman]

Don't over look fishing in Utah, and I'm not talking about the Green River either. There are lots of good places I've READ about that I'm dying to fish one day. But if your destination is Wyoming, Montana, Idaho area, Salt Lake City is a cheap flight away from all SoCal airports. Only problem is how to pack so the airlines don't bend you over for luggage prices.

[planettrout]

Here are some links which may be of assistance. They cover a wide gamut of good sources of information on some of the places I have been in MONTANA:

SHOPS

http://www.frontieranglers.com/home41/frontier-anglers

http://www.depuyspringcreek.com/

http://www.trouthunt.com/fly-shop

http://www.mrfc.com/MadisonRiverMontana ... fault.aspx

http://www.parksflyshop.com/shop.htm

http://springcreekspecialists.com/

http://www.blue-ribbon-flies.com/

http://beartoothflyfishing.com/

http://www.gyflyfishers.com/

BLOGS and General Information

http://blog.blueribbonflies.net/

http://montana-riverboats.com/index.php?layout=flows

http://www.slimytrout.com/

http://flyfishyellowstone-flies.blogspot.com/

Depends on where one wants to go...I like the Southern tier of water from the Big Hole all the way across to the Big Horn. I don't stop anywhere on my way there. Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, New Mexico and Oregon are all locations in which I spend time on separate trips...BUT, when I head Northeast...it's ALL MONTANA...



THE ROAD KILL CAFE on the BOULDER RIVER

PT/TB

[Rockstar Fisherman]

One more thing to add to my earlier post. One river that was fantastically awesome when I bait fished it with a bobber (yes I was not a fly fisheman then and very upset about that the whole trip) is the Gallatin River near Bozeman. Don't remember where we were at exactly but it was near a bridge and it was off the hook fishing, and they were BIG, and also at least 3 different species were caught in one evening.

The one place on top of my list for Montana to go to is the Gallatin again for what it's worth, and that's from personal experience 13 years ago.

[NorcalBob]

Sorry, I can't help you out, because Alaska is too far to drive IMNSHO!

[Benny]

Greg, I did a similar road trip back in August 2009. It was a unplanned road trip and we (MK4) and I sort of just took off.

The areas we fished were primarily in Southwestern Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. That area is just choked with some prime waters. During this trip I was sort of limited due to knee surgery, so it was a bit tough for me in terms of getting off the well beaten path so to speak.

We made our way up Interstate 15, straight shot with really no breaks in driving. If I can recall correctly, it was about a 16 hour drive from LA, with only the occasional stop for coffee and the bathroom breaks, it is a long drive...

A few questions,
How much time do you plan to spend on your road trip?
If you are limited on time, it's going to be difficult to try and fish all the areas mentioned.

These are some of the river we fished, the Henry's Fork in Idaho. We had a stellar evening on this river, insane hatches going off, with bugs crawling into every orifice of your head. Lots of fish in this river, we didn't get any of the bigger models, but we did get lots of fish.

The Madison river, big browns in this river and lots of them, be prepared for the big guys in term of tackle, 5wt or 6wt rods IMO.

The Yellowstone River, great river with beautiful Yellowstone Cutthroat. When we were there the river was flowing fast, I'm not sure if that was a normal flow or not, be careful wading this river, the water flows super fast!

We also fished on the Gallatin River, but we did not fair well on this river for whatever reason. It's a beautiful river though, from others info it's also a must fish river.

Will you be camping on this road trip?
Camping is the way to go, you'll need a camp stove, plenty of propane and a big cooler to hold plenty of beer and food. You need water for drinking and cooking, we took a 5 gallon water container for a week and that was just enough.

If you are going to be there for a only a week, plan to fish only a few rivers that way you could work the waters throughly and spend more time fly fishing and not driving.

A high profile vehicle, a truck preferably, would be a major plus. You could store all you gear in the back, it's quick and easy. The high profile vehicle will get you onto the many many back roads that lead to rivers.

Have fun and plan well in advance.