Vote here for best fishing spot in USA

DaleDor · 07-29-2002, 02:46 PM

Cast your vote here for the fishery that you feel, at it�s PEAK, is the most productive in USA.

I�m not talking about how it fishes year-round, just how it fishes during that magical peak week of the year when the conditions are usually at their best.

Mention how many fish experienced fishermen catch and release per day, or mention that �it�s often a fish every ____ cast.� Also mention size.

MY vote goes for the Columbia River where experienced boat fishermen catch 90+- three pound American Shad per day the week of June 14....the peak of the run. This is close to a fish per cast.. Fish are 3lb. average. Also, the John Day River in Oregon can be 60+- smallmouth caught and released per day for experienced fishermen the last week of May, but they only average 1lb. This is roughly a fish every other cast.

07-29-2002, 05:23 PM

Sitka, Alaska
Something good year round.

Trick · 07-29-2002, 05:24 PM

Does this include Alaska also?

If your talking mass #'s of fish this could include any species of pan fish. I've had 100+ days in the past with bluegill, crappie, perch, etc...Some days on trout stocked ponds and lakes I've put up high #'s catch and releasing hatchery mush-bellies.

I'm still a quality over quantity kind of guy.

I have really only fished Oregon and mainly the NW corner at that. I've spent a little time fishing trout in Colorado and Washington. My first browns and brooks came from CO.

I just don't have that broad fishing experience to know what the most productive spots in the US are. I had some really good Springer fishing this year. After the river closed I landed and released 9 in one tide trying to find a steelhead, which was the best Salmon catch and release day I've ever had. This was on the Columbia in late May.

DaleDor · 07-29-2002, 05:38 PM

Trick, thanks for the post.

In answer to your question....yes, let's consider Alaska. I got a 47lb. King my first trip up there, so I love the place.

A few questions for you, if you don't mind:

1. Where have you had your best luck on panfish, and what week of the year do you find is best?

2. Best hatchery-trout lake (my little nephew, especially, likes catching these less-educated fish.)

Thanks.

Hogmaster · 07-29-2002, 05:48 PM

Sure, the Columbia Shad are fish that immensely plentiful. But quality needs to come into play here too, right?...

My vote would have to go for Toman's King Camp on the Nushiak River out of Dillingham Alaska. The tent camps were extremely well organized, the grub was plentiful and great, and the King salmon fishing was ridiculous!

We were fishing 4 + a guide in flat bottom jet sleds, and I am not kidding that if we went 15 minutes without a take down there was something seriously wrong! For 5 days!

Think about this. Get up leasurely about 7:30 or so, maybe even hop in a quick shower. At 8 the breakfast bell rings and the entire camp eats full breakfasts till it is time to go fish - about 9ish. Get in a sled, drive between 50 yards and maybe a mile or two and start fishing. Use plugs (wiggle warts) so you don't have to mess with baiting. Fish for about 1-2 minutes before your first take down! Fight a 15-40 pounder, only to release it to keep fishing. At 9:05 after you just landed yours, your buddy's rod goes down. And so on.

At 1 you take a break and drive back to camp to eat a catered lunch, and by two you're back out again. You come back for toddys and dinner at 6. By 8:30 you get back in the boat and fish until 10:30 or 11, when it is time to return (it is still light and all), have a nightcap or two and turn in.

Your catch is cleaned and frozen for you, you don't actually ever have to touch a fish if you choose not too...

Not only that, but they have rods for your use at the camp should you not get your fill. We even caught fish before and after breakfast waiting for the others! I even tied up a yarn fly and promptly started hooking Sockeye. Some of the camp help were catching voles and putting hooks on them and casting for big Pike in the backwater.

I do not work for Bob and I do not get a commission for all of this. And his camp is not cheap. But if you want an unbelievable fishing experience while being treated with kid gloves, his camp is primo! A true lifetime type experience!

There are other quality camps up there as well, but they are limited in capacity by regulation and tend to get filled quickly.

I am saving for another trip!

DaleDor · 07-29-2002, 05:59 PM

So far, Hogmaster, your spot is the best! (If I had the money I'd probably go up there all the time and, well, have to find a new wife and kid because I'd be gone so much.)

Hogmaster · 07-29-2002, 07:11 PM

DaleDor,

I certainly haven't fished everywhere, but I have been lucky enough to have fished the Kenai and Sitka among other spots in Alaska. No offense Keta, and I've had a great time with some good people up there, but the "dude ranch" feeling of Toman's Camp was really special.

It wasn't without hijynx or adventure, either. When my buddy and I landed in Dillingham we found our way to the Charter service that was to fly us out to the camp. We had to wait for a hour to catch the Float plane (which was a WWII vintage dual engine Grunman Goose, not just a Dehaviland single engine Beaver), so we were instructed by the nice lady at the counter to "Take the Ford pickup in the lot and drive into town to pick up 5 dozen eggs for camp. Here's a $20, the keys are in the truck, and there's only one road and one market, you can't miss it." Wow! Only in Alaska! :smile:

As far as Oregon itself goes, my vote would be last year at Buoy 10 and on out to the CR Buoy. That was as fast for action as the Nushiak - doubles and triples for three rods were the norm, but alot more work.

Yeah, if money were no object the King Camp would be one regular stopping point that's for sure!

Gone Fishin · 07-29-2002, 07:37 PM

I have to agree with you Hogmaster, the Nushagak has to be THE BEST king salmon fishery in the USA and the world! I was upriver from you about 5 miles at the Fins-Furs and Feathers Camp, and if I had to rate the camps on the river, ours and Bob's are TOPS!

Excerpt of my Journal:

Tuesday, July 2nd:

Took the crew, Mark and Liz Johnson and son Mark down to the "flats" where we landed 28 fish before returning for brunch keeping a chromer of 25 pounds. After brunch we headed back downriver and the action continued with 40 more fish to the boat for a total of 68 !!! We kept one of 33 and a whopper of 39 pounds, they were bright and beautiful and filled our limit for the day. Young Mark had the hot rod for most of the day but all had their share of the action! I only ran their 3 rods as I was to busy running the boat and un-hooking fish, it was an awesome day. Alot of bigger fish are showing up and we released a buch of dandy kings.

It don't get no better than that!

-Marty

Trick · 07-29-2002, 07:48 PM

I have always enjoyed fishing the Brownsmead sloughs, east of Astoria, for panfish. Access is OK from the bank, but a small skiff will allow you to fish acre after acre of fish filled waters. Took the kids a few days ago and caught over 50 bluegill, perch, bass, etc...in a few hours. Had one bass that was well over 3 lb's.

I watch the stocking schedules in the spring and pick local spots based on the ODFW listings. Trojan ponds on Hwy 30 and Salmonberry lake above St Helens are close spots for me and can provide excellent fishing if you time it right. Oregon and Washington are full of 1000's of lakes and streams. Picking one that's best at any given time would be a difficult task.

I still prefer salmon and steelhead fishing, but I will fish for anything that swims and enjoy the outdoors most of all.

Hog, roughly how much does that trip run you total from the time you walk out your front door till the time you walk back in? Maybe when the stock market turns around someday I would like to take that trip.

Hogmaster · 07-29-2002, 08:05 PM

Trick,

OK, I was afraid someone was going to ask that! :smile:

And Marty, I will not go back and edit my spellings away from phonetics and more toward the proper spellings as you have. Its just nobody seems to pronounce it right if I spell it that way. And I will speak in general terms in case your camp is having a sale! :grin:

The airfare to Dillingham is in the 4 to 5 hundred range with enough advance notice. We booked though Alaska and had some Frequent Flyer miles (Tip: Always save those for Alaska - flights to Vegas are cheap, right Jenn? :grin: )

The camp itself was about $2500 for 5 days, including the float plane, processing of the fish, licenses, and of course all the food and gear. This was 2 summers ago now, but I doubt it has gone up much if at all. Marty, is that about the same for yours?

Save for it anybody, you will not forget it!

Trick · 07-30-2002, 06:07 PM

That isn't as much as I had expected but still out of my budget. Maybe when all the kids get a little older and my wife quits spending so much...yeah right!

Sounds like an awesome trip.

Thanks

DaleDor · 08-04-2002, 09:07 AM

A few other great spots, mostly from what I�ve heard, are:

The White River in Arkansas (allegedly twice as many trout per mile as any stream in Washington, Montana or Oregon, for example.) Particularly in the catch and release sections.

Swiftsure (Bank) SW of Bamfield in British Columbia, in the ocean for lots of different species. Summer when the salmon are in, especially.

Vedder River in SW British Columbia in October for Kings, Coho, and Chum. I�ve caught (& released) 25+ salmon per day, and so have plenty of other people.

Any other incredible spots, guys!?

Thanks.

troutguy04 · 08-04-2002, 09:34 AM

I'm with Keta on this one. You cant beat Sitka for numbers of large salmon or halibut. Best catch rates in Southeast Alaska. Caught and released 34 silvers between 12-15 lbs in two hours last August.

Stz ll · 08-04-2002, 01:11 PM

I love Alaska. The Columbia is also one of my favorites. However there is nothing quite like the Kona Coast on the Big Island of Hawaii. Lots of fish and warm tropical sun.

ps. To bad Cabo San Lucas is not in the US. :grin:

fishbait · 08-04-2002, 02:50 PM

A couple of our own coastal river the day after they go dewn from 6 ft for the first time in the fall. Have had many 20+ chinook days over the years, and my last time , it was a Wednesday about 3-4 years ago, we didn't see another boat until we had over 20 fish to the boat and released.

High water steelhead on the Clack and Trask, another sore arm trip.

The Kuskitan in AK for Silvers, and the Chewit for Kings, last fly in trip I went 17 casts for 17 nookers landed, missed one cast then went 13 fish for 13 casts, this river is about the size of the Kilches, so it's great fun except for the Brown Bears

Sprague river in the spring just after high water, I hve never caught so many nice 14-20 inch trout any place else, easily 30-40 each (2 guys) in the AM bite and close to that in the evening.

Un-named small tributary of a large coastal river for winter Steelhead. Usually dont see anybody else, sometime one other rig, and always catch nice fish averaging 3-8 per trip, but have had some 10 and three 20 fish days there over the years. Just love the coastal forests that time of the year.

OK, thats it for me, got to go tie gear for 5 days in Astoria in a couple of weeks chasing a few of the 700,000 kings that are headed in.

Hogmaster · 08-04-2002, 03:30 PM

fishbait,

How do you get to fish all the rivers right on the drop like that!????

Seems like that always happens on Tuesday!

Good luck with Mr. and Mrs. 'Nook.

fishbait · 08-04-2002, 03:37 PM

Hogmaster,
It's simply a matter of paying a price. How bad do you want it.
Remember you are talking to someone who moved his wedding due to a particular fishery. Told the bride to be that I would make the wedding but would miss every anniversary, we moved the wedding.
Also, I schedule vacation (I have flexale work days) to try to be at the coast when the first storm hits. Over the last 25 years or so, I get it right about 1 in 4 years.