North West America - Where To Start?

[FlyFanatic]

Hello All,

My wife and I are heading to North West America for a month, beginning at the end of July, and I need some advice please.

We are landing in Portland, then travelling East to Yellowstone then North to Banff and then west to Vancouver then home.

My aims for this trip are:

1. Not get eaten by a Bear.

2. Not get eaten by a Mountain Lion.

3. Not get eaten by a Hill Billy.

4. Fish as much as possible.

As such, I was wondering if anyone could point me towards a few must visit fishing spots around that part of the world? Especially within or around Yellowstone.

Primarily I plan on targeting trout on fly and spinner, but am very much open to other types of fishing on the trip.

Also I thought I would share (brag about) a picture of a Chinook Salmon I caught over in that part of the world a few years back on a work trip . It went 24lbs and was caught on cured salmon eggs. Hopefully this trip will produce at least some type of similar results!

Cheers,

FlyFanatic

Edited July 6, 2010 by FlyFanatic

[taloyoak]

Hi Fly Fanatic,

Sound like a good trip. I lived in Canada for the last 9 years, just moved to alaska last year.

I haven't fished much down South, just up in Nunavut and NWT and Yukon.

Summer will be good this year. If you have a spare few days, and some extra $$$, it would definately be worth getting upto Lake Athabasca in Northern Alberta to fish for Lake Trout. You can drive from Banff ( Calgary) up to Ft McMurray and then fly in to Ft Chipewyan and get a guide to take you out fishing there. Guaranteed to catch big fish- I lived there for 2 years.

Or... there are plenty of good ooptions around Calagary/Jasper/Rocky Mountain House region.

I will call some friends in Calgary tonite and see what they recommend.

If you need some phone numbers or email addresses for guides etc just let me know.

My honest opinion is that if you want giant fish on fly then go North. You'd be surprised. If you can afford the flights, then heading to places like Kuguluktuk in Nunavut ( also called Coppermine)- you can catch monster Arctic Char up there like being in heaven. Flights from Calgary/Edmonton or YVR ( Vancouver) to Yellowknife then out to the communities. check First Air and Kenn Borek Air.

Also...

Bears are not an issue so don't worry. The chance of getting attacked is extremely remote. Don't bother with stupid bear spray/mace or bells etc. Just make nise and don't sneak around in closed forest. You can tell anyway if bears are around by seeing their scat and if there are berries around then most likely there ae bears around. they are more scared of you that you are of them. Same for the Mtn Cats. Hill Billies- sorry- Calgary is full of them, called rednecks or Trailer trash in Canada.

fish as much as possible- well I guess it depends on the ball and chain.

Other spots in Canada that are easily reached by plane or long drive from Vancouver or Calgary are Great Bear Lake in NWT. Lake Trout, Pike of jurrassic size up there. If I was you, then head North.

But.... I also have a good mate that lives in Kamloops and is a big fly guy like me, so will email him today and see what he recommends as he knows the Rockies really well and lives right amongst them.

Cheers,

Matt

[taloyoak]

Hey Champ....

Here are some pics to entice you to |"go North my young man"...just like Amundson or franklin

[taloyoak]

Some more pics to entice you North