Where to next??

[ruthead]

Wife says we're goin somewhere wadin the summer and it's up to me to figure out where. Both good fly fishermen but not big on long hikes. Have fished Taney, The White, Green River, and in CO, IA,MN,WI. Lookin for that bucket list trip as we're close to 60 yrs old. DO NOT CARE FOR TROUT PARKS OR CROWDS. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Ham]

Tamiami Trail. But I wouldn’t wade there on a bet. 

[Skeeter ZX190]

If you've never been to Montana, then I would highly suggest it.  The beauty is unbelievable. One of the unique aspects of Montana is their Constitution.  If you can legally get into the water, then you can traverse up and down the stream as long as you stay within the high water mark.  So if there is a road crossing the stream, you can access the stream there since it is right-of-way.  Even though the property that the stream travels thru is private, as long as you stay in the stream, you're good to go.  

My favorite stream to fish is Belt Creek which is about 30 miles southeast of Great Falls.  There is the Sluice Boxes State Park which provides plenty of public land, but anywhere from Armington Junction to Neihart, has some good fishing.  The stream itself is probably comparable in size to the Current River.  Very wadable.  There is a good trail system in the Sluice Boxes and if you park at the main gate, it's an easy walk.  

If you happen to go up there, make sure you check out the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls.  It's an outstanding museum.  

The Missouri River runs through Great Falls and it's famous for the fishing, especially south of Great Falls, but it's just too big for me.  I know there are also streams in the Highwoods which is also southeast of Great Falls but I never got up there.  

But the scenery in western Montana is something to behold.  They call it the Big Sky Country and it really is.  I don't know how it's possible, because it's the same sky as here, but it's just bigger.  

 

[Skeeter ZX190]

Here's a picture of Belt Creek in the Sluice Boxes.  This is a little over a half mile hike from the parking lot on a fairly level trail.  

[Skeeter ZX190]

A couple more comments on Montana and then I'll shut up.  The downside is that it's a LONG way up there.  But....., there are options along the way.  I know there are trout streams along northern Nebraska.  I've never fished them but it is an option.  If you go up to I-90 and head west there are the Badlands if you haven't seen them.  Definitely a bucket list item.  Then the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park.  Also bucket list destinations.  Several good trout streams there also.  I fished a couple of them last September and did okay.  

Devil's Tower sits to the north of I-90 in Wyoming.  Pretty cool destination.  After that you come to Buffalo Wyoming which sits at the base of the Bighorn Mountains. If you're in Buffalo you need to walk into the lobby of the Occidental Hotel.  It's like walking into the 1880's.  Clear Creek runs right thru town.  It has public access because a lot of it is on park land.  Tight quarters and trees that like to grab your flies 😀.  Or you could venture into the Bighorns and fish the National forest.  No experience there but I hope to do it sometime soon. Sheridan Wyoming is also worth the drive thru.  Very picturesque downtown.  

Heading on up I-90 into Montana you drive by the Little Bighorn National Battlefield.  Worth the stop.  

Okay, I think I'm done.

Well.......  maybe!  😁

[ruthead]

Skeeter, this is exactly the info I'm looking for. That area is definitely towards the top of the list. Also looking for areas on the way from NW MO to our destination. Only got a week so trying to incorporate spots on the way so it doesn't seem like we drive more than we fish. I'll look up some of your locations you listed. Thanks a bunch.

Would also entertain any other locations any direction but want to keep under 20 hrs away again with spots to fish there and back.

 

Thanks again and keep the ideas coming!

[ruthead]

don't stop Skeeter. ur gettin me fired up already. Just wish we had more than 9 days. We were makin several local trips a year but a stint of unemployment, then in the hospital with covid in 2021 then hip replacement in 2022 and I'm ready to get back after it.

[tjm]

https://www.outdoorlife.com/trout-fishing-driftless-area-midwest/

There are a lot of trout destinations back East and out West and any one or any dozen of them would be fun for me, but if you like being away from the crowds, you should consider that real "trout destinations" are just famous place because millions of people fish there every season. Personally I'd like to fish Pa & NY more, but I'd also like to explore Wi.

From your location though, there may be easier to reach and less crowded, perhaps more challenging  water in the Driftless. It's an area I've only read about.

[Devan S.]

In NW Nebraska on the way to Montana is Fort Robinson State Park....absolutely worth a stop along the way....In that general vicinity you can catch nice cutts, nice brookies, tigers, browns and bows. All with really short hikes in easy terrain. The brush around the streams can be a bear but that is part of the fun. However its fairly popular and I could see it being crowded at certain times. Not trout park popular but you will see people on horseback and camping. 

The mountains in east Arizona are nice. Gila trout in AZ + right across the border in NM within a couple hours. Apaches, Artic Grayling, Brooks, Bows, Browns, cutties, tigers, ect. Lake fishing, teeny tiny stream fishing in open meadows, bushwhacking brush covered streams, little streams, rivers, take your pick all within a very short scenic drive. You will see people but nothing crowded at all. There is a lot of water to cover in the general vicinity and its fairly remote. 

[Al Agnew]

Depending upon how close you live to I-29, you're probably 5 hours closer to Montana than I am when I'm in Missouri, since I'm down in southeastern MO.  It takes us about 21 hours drive time to reach Livingston MT.

We live part of the year in Livingston partly because that part of Montana is gorgeous, partly because there are all kinds of opportunities for fly fishing, and partly because of Montana's enlightened stream access law; if you can legally get on it, you can go anywhere you can reach on it. No other western state offers so much water open to the public; it drives me nuts to go to Colorado and see all the long stretches of private water that I can't fish.  The stretch of I-90 between Hardin east of Billings and Three Forks west of Bozeman gives you easy access to the Bighorn, Stillwater, Clarks Fork, Boulder, Yellowstone, Gallatin, Jefferson, and Madison rivers, along with dozens of small streams coming out of the mountains.  The difficulty isn't in finding a place to fish, it's in narrowing down your choices to a manageable number.  Heck, in Livingston you're only an hour away from Yellowstone Park, with all the terrific streams you can fish within the park.  And that's only one part of Montana; there are others just as good.  My problem is that it's so nice in my area that I don't feel the need to do much exploring over the rest of the western half of the state.

One very important thing to remember...water levels in Montana are not like water levels in Missouri.  I'm constantly seeing people asking about visiting Montana to fish in June.  That is the WORST time to go there.  The spring runoff starts in early May most years, and in most years runs through June.  While you CAN find fishable water during the runoff, your choices are severely limited, because all but the tailwater rivers are likely to be high and muddy.  And for the wading angler, many streams can still be high and difficult to wade even through July.  If you want to have good wading, plan to go in August and the first half of September (and if you don't mind taking chances on bad weather at times, through September and into October, or in April before the runoff starts).  The only thing June has going for it is the salmon fly hatch, which is iffy...on most streams it happens when the water is high, and float fishing is the only way to go.  You can often get a good salmon fly hatch on fishable and wadeable water on the Madison, but everybody and his dog knows it, so it's combat fishing.

On most of the larger streams, you won't really need to worry about bears, but on those streams within Yellowstone Park and the small mountain tributaries, bear spray and PRACTICE USING IT is a very, very good idea.