I would go back 130 years and fish the west before we ruined it with rainbow trout.
I would go back 130 years and fish the west before we ruined it with rainbow trout.
I have always dreamed of FF for large Tarpon. As for where, I don't care. Or maybe Peacock Bass in South America. I am from up North and have fished great Small Mouth waters,Large Mouth, Blue Gills, Crappie and Browns. I also live near the James River in Virgina which is famous for it's Small Mouth.
Patagonia....
I just got back from my "Bucket List " trip. I went to Chile / Patagonia for 2 weeks.
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" Reserve me a spot on the Aaro and if you don't mind I'd like first crack at "The Platform of Despair". And since I don't have the proper equipment, set me up with a 15 foot cane rod of your choosing, a six inch Hardy winch,and please have tied up for me to local specifications a dozen 5/0 Toonder and Lightning.
I'll only need one fish, maybe a twenty pounder. Forty would be nicer but I'm sure I can live with a twenty.
I don't drink much Whatka, but I'm gonna need it back at the Hotel so that I can fortify and record the story of the days catch for the cowboys back home. Your selection would suit me since your experience with Whaka is much more developed than mine. "Sk?l" ! What week is available for fishing?
"You say my deposit is $30,000."
"Pat..shut the alarm off will ya. I was having one hell of a ........"
"As far down the river as he could see, the trout were rising, making circles on the surface of the water, as though it were starting to rain."- E.H., The Big Two Hearted River
For fly-fishing, it would be hard not to choose Florida for its freshwater AND saltwater species diversity.
Dreams are good!
For me, its not so much the "where", as it is the species.
I've slowly whittled away at my "bucket list" fish, and I add to the list as time goes on, too.
Roosterfish was on my bucketlist. I caught one last Spring, although not on fly gear. I'm satisfied for now. Common Carp, Grass carp, peacock bass, oscar, and gar on fly gear have also been on my list in recent years...and have all gotten the "checkmark". Walleye, brook trout and redear sunfish are still on the list. We'll see what can be checked off this year.
Tarpon are on the list for the future as well.
David Merical
St. Louis, MO
every summer, Best Fishing Buddy and i pick a dream and go do it. this year it's steelhead in Oregon, via a high school reunion. we have very small dreams, easily achieved.
my REAL dream? to arrive at the stream to find that The Hatch That Everyone Talks About has begun, the flies i tied work, and the camera never runs out of juice...haven't done all three of those yet!
fly fishing and baseball share a totally deceptive simplicity; that's why they can both be lifelong pursuits.
My dream trip would be two weeks by myself paddling on remote lakes in the Adirondacks, camping each night, with no cell phones or computers. I long for solitude, but with a wife I love dearly, a job I loathe, and two kids in college right now, solitude is rare and brief.
A right emblem it may be, of the uncertain things of this world; that when men have sold them selves for them, they vanish into smoke. ~ William Bradford
I finally realized that Life is a metaphor for Fly Fishing.
There a number of trips I would like to take and most are doable as I get closer to retirement. The first one that pops into my mind was started by a website article a few years ago. I can't find that article anymore and would love to find it again so I could actually do it with my fishin buddy. It involved going to northern Wisconsin or the UP, getting on a train for about 60-80 minutes. The train enters Canada then stops in the middle of nowhere, you get dropped off and guy then picks you up and takes you to an isolated trophy northern lake. The article talked about 20 fish per day with many of those being well into the lunker category. It's catch and release. After four or five days they take you back to the railroad where the train takes you back from where you started. I'd love to find that article again, any help out there?