Need Help: Planning A 2009 Summer Trip To Wyoming, Idaho, Montana

[Mark]

A buddy and I are planning a couple week excursion out west next summer in mid July and need advice/suggestions on several fronts;

#1)A couple friends will fly in and join us for 4-5 days. We would need a place to stay within an hour of an airport, but off the beaten path with good fishing closeby.

#2) We're country boys - we don't need much except place to cook, shower, and sleep. Don't want a resort, hot tubs, restaurants, daily room service, etc. A simple cabin in the country would be perfect.

#3) We're not fly fishermen, basic rod and reels. Mostly fish with powerbaits, minnows, shrimp, etc.

#4) We don't care about trophies, but like seclusion. We just like to catch enough fish to keep us entertained. We prefer stream wade fishing to lake fishing, but would rent canoes or boat if necessary.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as we are all unfamiliar with areas.

Thanks, Mark

[Andy & JoAnne]

When you say West, how far west? I live about as far west as you can get without getting you feet wet (Seattle). If you thinking this far west I could do a little research for you.

[catman]

Riverside, WY, you my be suprised by this place..

Google ---> Wyoming Carbon County Riverside

[Mark]

I checked it out on internet. Looks like ideal for what we are looking for. Any more suggestions are appreciated. Only going as far as Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana.

[flyfishmaster]

Mark,

Here is a link to the Rocky Mountain Fly Forum. The guys on this site will help you out a lot in your trip planning. Just don't ask them for exact locations on where to catch the fish. Some of these guy can be a bit rude when it comes to that.

I hope it will help you out.

later,

FFM

[Gavin]

There is a lot of great fishing in that area but airfares to the smaller airports can be trip killers. I'd shop for cheap airfares and car rentals before I investigated the fishing and lodging opportunaties. I usually fly to Bozeman and rent a car, but you might want to check out the fishing around Missoula or Kalispell if you want more seclusion. Cheers.

[Mark]

Great point Gavin. Would the Bozeman area suit our needs?

[HeavyC]

First off, I am a Colorado boy so I will steer you to wyoming too... LOL I am just kidding. Seriously though, the fishing and seclusion is ten fold in Wyoming so I too, frequent some areas more often than I do Co. Not much help on other states, never have needed to travel any further than my good neighbor to the north!

I can second the Riverside recomendation. However, not sure you would really get any seclusion. That area is rather 'touristy' any more, and quite frankly is still too close to Colorado so you will get plenty of us guys crashing your party. The west central, western, north central and northwestern sections of the state are BY FAR better IMO. I have fished the Encampment and the North Platte around the Saragtoga area and it can be great, just gets ten times the fishing pressure as other areas further away.

"#1)A couple friends will fly in and join us for 4-5 days. We would need a place to stay within an hour of an airport, but off the beaten path with good fishing closeby."

A) This will be your toughest one! Not sure where you are flying from, but there are only a couple of airports in all of Wy that have acceptable schedules and can land aircraft of any size! Cheyenne, Jackson Hole, Laramie, Casper, after that?????

To be closer to some of the best fishing, I would suggest Jackson Hole. As it is much closer to more great fishing than Cheyenne or the others. No problem sticking within an hour away, but that is really not far at all in Wyoming terms, and you would still be in the middle of another very touristy area with it being so close to Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, the Green & Snake Rivers. Still by far my best suggestion on airports, since within 2-5 hours in any direction from there you can literally disappear into seclusion if you so desire!

"#2) We're country boys - we don't need much except place to cook, shower, and sleep. Don't want a resort, hot tubs, restaurants, daily room service, etc. A simple cabin in the country would be perfect."

A) Not a problem. ... Unless you are close to a real touristy area, you are not really going to find the resort type places, only the cabins and mom and pop motels anywhere else, at least no resorts in any kind of numbers. My suggestion would be to head back east a little to areas like Dubios, Lander, Riverton, etc... You will then be right smack dab in the middle of some world class trout fishing (walleye too at Boysen Reservior near Shoshone and in the Wind River) I am actually a camping type guy, so don't have much info on accomadations there either, sorry!

"#3) We're not fly fishermen, basic rod and reels. Mostly fish with powerbaits, minnows, shrimp, etc."

A) Luckily in most places in Wy the Artificial Flys and lures regs are not as widespread, so those are some fine choices. I would also suggest some hardware like some spinners, Kastmasters, Little Cleos and the like. (I actually sware by Mepps #2 Red & White spinners for Wyoming brownies!) Salmon eggs and egg sacs work wonders, and never overlook the trusty nightcrawler!

"#4) We don't care about trophies, but like seclusion. We just like to catch enough fish to keep us entertained. We prefer stream wade fishing to lake fishing, but would rent canoes or boat if necessary."

A) Ok, the tricky one! Well, I guess I would truly need to understand your definition of seclusion as mine is "Not seeing a human being the entire trip after I turned off the highway", which I have been able to do on many, many 1-2 week excursions.

Choice #1. The Wind River Valley - Much of this area is included in the Wind River Indian Reservation and where I personally like to spend the majority of my time due to the lack of pressure and the seclusion. It is an incredible area and holds vast amounts of opportunity for big numbers as well as big trophies! It is a seperate permit than the state and can be purchased by the day, [7] day or annual. [7] day is usually the best bang for the $$. On this reservation it holds not only the Wind River, but the Popo Agie and Bull Lake Creek which are my two favorite haunts. Those are a few of the major drainages, but there are many more. The Popo Agie has endless miles of access and holds some enormous brown trout, including very good numbers. The Wind River is in another league by itself. It has reletively no pressure at all in and around the middle areas of the reservation and holds incredible brownie fishing, along with some great walleye/sauger fishing. Then when the river dumps out of Boysen Reservior into Wind River Canyon, it definately turns into some world class fishing, but is pretty tough access to some of the better pools and runs. Canyon wall climbs down and up, but well worth the effort. It travels somewhere around~7-10 miles in the canyon while on the reservation and then turns amazingly into the Big Horn river (yes, the infamous one everyone goes to!) at "The Wedding of The Waters". From then on and into Montana it is state permits required, and more pressure at any of the public access areas.

Choice #2. Sinks Canyon - (On the Little Popo Agie) This is kinda southwest of Lander, and also an area with unlimited access to tons of fishing and some seclusion. FYI... if you happen at all to be in this area, it is absolutely worth while to deviate even hours to see this:

http://wyoparks.state.wy.us/Site/Video.asp?vidID=25

Some of the brown and rainbows in here are 4' long and 30-40 pounds! can't fish it as it is protected, but just to see them is incredible!

Plenty of other great streams in the area though and the Little Popo Agie is still a great river in this area. I actually love to drift Paultske's Balls-O-Fire in this river and tend to do great with them!

Choice #3. Riverside/Encampment Wy - To add a little to that area, it is still a great area and at times you can have very little pressure from other anglers. I truly wish I could help more with a cabin. I do know that the gas station at the intersection of Hwy230 and Hwy70 right there in Riverside has some cabin rentals. We used to get one called the "Green Mountain Cabin", and it ws like $20 a day and can sleep about [8] or so! As mentioned before, the North Platte is prominent in the area and some 60 miles or more is classified as gold medal waters and has tons of public access so you really cannot go wrong. Do not overlook the Encampment river though, as it too holds some great fish and large numbers.

I could go on and on, but you get the jist. Endless opportunities abound and everywhere you turn. .... Now if you happen to want hike-in areas, let me know. Those are truly the best places, but you will surely earn your take if you choose to take that mission!

Hope it all helps, and remember to save up for the bear spray! They are expensive and everyone should really have it with you at all times. It is grizzly country still , and more and more are ranging far from the Jellystone area. The wolves are going nuts too and the folks in charge really need to get some controls in place! I would hate to run into a 250 pound wolf about as much as I would dislike sneakin up on a big sow w/ cubs. (of Course nothing like the Bill & Phil Show Alaska! LOL!) Either way, notihng to mess with fo sho!

Check these fat boys out!

[HeavyC]

My Bad if the pics offend anyone! Not my intention at all. Just a little warning that they are spreading further and faster than the powers that be can keep up with!