thrashers.wheat
New member
Just curious as to which state is the most highly regarded amongst fly fisherman, barring Alaska?
My guess would be California?
My guess would be California?
Give us a try!
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Which state harbors the best fly fishing?
- Thread starter thrashers.wheat
- Start date
I'll give the Zen answer - wherever you are fishing.
Live in the moment!
---------- Post added at 02:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:38 PM ----------
I think the answer is is tougher than you think. In August I would most definately pick MT over NJ; but in February my answer might differ. Those Rocky Mtn fishing spots sure have a long winter and a short ice free season. Plus, the Western states are so much larger than the Eastern ones maybe there ought to be a size weighting. For example, CA has good fishing spread out over a 1000 miles. Should you then compare CA to all the middle Atlantic and New England states put together? Finally, I like the East for density of streams. Once in Wyoming I heard a guy say he was in the middle of great fishing - there was one stream 60 miles away on each side of him. Laugh if you want, but with 55 inches of rain a year in Hackettstown I have the Musconetcong 200 yds from me, the SBR an 8 minute ride away and the Pequest a 15 minute ride. Centre Co PA, the Catskills, the Adirondacks, CT all have a wealth of streams reasonably close together. Out west you may have to drive further to go from stream to stream.
Live in the moment!
---------- Post added at 02:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:38 PM ----------
I think the answer is is tougher than you think. In August I would most definately pick MT over NJ; but in February my answer might differ. Those Rocky Mtn fishing spots sure have a long winter and a short ice free season. Plus, the Western states are so much larger than the Eastern ones maybe there ought to be a size weighting. For example, CA has good fishing spread out over a 1000 miles. Should you then compare CA to all the middle Atlantic and New England states put together? Finally, I like the East for density of streams. Once in Wyoming I heard a guy say he was in the middle of great fishing - there was one stream 60 miles away on each side of him. Laugh if you want, but with 55 inches of rain a year in Hackettstown I have the Musconetcong 200 yds from me, the SBR an 8 minute ride away and the Pequest a 15 minute ride. Centre Co PA, the Catskills, the Adirondacks, CT all have a wealth of streams reasonably close together. Out west you may have to drive further to go from stream to stream.
coolkyle
De nalgas!
I'd take Montana over anything if all I did was fish. Yes, the freestones suck December through February, but that's what the Bighorn, MO, and spring creeks are for. The march brown and skwala hatches are great action before runoff, then runoff coincides with iceout, so you got alpine lakes to hit. It's year-round fishing if you don't need fingers, toes, or testicles. You definitely put mileage on your rig out there, but you can go 85 without getting a ticket.
Catskill Mountain Man
Explore, and implore to explore
hands down, ny
Rusty Spinner
Active member
Florida, hands down. No place else you can catch an enormity of species on the fly 24/7/365. No place, at least in the US.
Now if you said "for trout" that would have been a different answer. But "which state" has to be Florida. CA doesn't have 1/1000 of the species that FL does. Same for any other state.
Now if you said "for trout" that would have been a different answer. But "which state" has to be Florida. CA doesn't have 1/1000 of the species that FL does. Same for any other state.
Rusty Spinner
Active member
List all the species you can catch on the fly in NY state (or any other state) and then against those species you can catch in Florida. Then we will have our true answer
Don't get me wrong, if I could move just because of fly fishing, it would likely be to MT, OR, NY or some such state as that, but for diversity of native species from tiny to ginormous, it HAS to be Florida. Hands down. Don't you love subjective posts like these? :dizzy:
skipper3245
Barbless Hooks save lives
The only big streams that Ice over at all are the Yellowstone and gallatin, boulder, and once in a while Lower Madison. All winter you have the Bighorn, Beaverhead, Bighole, Upper Madison, 4+ spring creeks and that is just in the Bozeman Area. Have you ever fished in Yellowstone National park? You can fish the Yellowstone, soda butte, lamar, slough creek, blacktail deer creek, Madison all in one day with ease.
In my Opinion, i would say Percentage wise NY, NJ, PA, CT have the best fly fishermen. You have to work a lot harder to catch a fish out East.
Where else? I'd say NH or ME.
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NJpatbee
Can be found on NJ/NY/PA waters!
I have only fished the Northeast, so my opinion is biased based on my limited exposure. For my type of trout fly fishing, PA gets my vote. The West Branch Tailwater, the classic fresstones of the Poconos, the limestoners in the Lehigh and Cumberland Valleys, and the awesome North Central area freestone and limestone waters, make PA the best all around trout fishing in my book. I am also taking into account the weather, which is more moderate than spectacular waters in the White and Green Mountains I have fished. I pretty much hate the winter, but even I have been known to fish the Little Lehigh or Letort on winter days above 40F. NY is also great, but has a shortened season in many areas, and living in the middle of NJ's relatively small trout area, NJ has the best trout concentration of small to mid sized streams that few seem to know of.
