Warm Water: Usualy it’s a couple miles(lousy fishing) but sometimes 15 to 20 for better waters.
Good trout waters are three to four hours away.
Greg
Warm Water: Usualy it’s a couple miles(lousy fishing) but sometimes 15 to 20 for better waters.
Good trout waters are three to four hours away.
Greg
Greg the closest lake being worthy of Bass is about 3 hrs away but if i want to catch River born Striper is 12 hours and well worth the trip
I have four excellent trout rives between 15 minutes and 1 hour away. Bass/warm water ponds 15 minutes away and a Bass/warm water river 5 minutes. I’ll travel several hours to fish the salt and that’s about it. But whenever I travel I try to fish from New Foundland to Mexico. That is different from traveling for fish, that’s fishing while travelling. My wife does not fish, but any time we vacation fishing does enter into the equation.
Fortunately, where there are fish there are birds and the natural world which is what she likes to see.
jed
I am fortunate to live on a 50 acre lake that has a very healthy population of nice bass and bream and very little fishing pressure. I just wheel my kayak down to the water and hop in. If I want a change of scenary, there is a wildlife management area about 35 minutes from my house that has 23 lakes that vary in size from 3 acreas to 110 acreas and they are all good fishing. If I want to chase trout I can get to decent river fishing in an hour or travel another 45 minutes to the mountains for a very nice selection of smaller stream and ponds. Saltwater requires a bit more travel, around 4-5 hours drive to the coast for redfish etc. All-in-all, Georgia offers very good fishing without too much travel.
Jim Smith
Conyers, GA
Anywhere from 3 miles to 50 miles.
While there are both trout & warm water within a few miles of K Falls I usually travel from 50 to 150 miles one way to fish.
Tim
My decent trout fishing begins about 1hr away. Some marginal warm water fishing can be had 20minutes away.
On average, anywhere from two minutes to two hours for warmwater fishing and all of it pretty decent. For trout I drive most of a day to get to my favorite places, but I’m usually there for a week so it’s worth it.
Oh you folks make me want to move! It is six hours to GSMNP in Tennessee and 7 or 8 hours to Rifle River or the AuSable. We have a few trout in the Brookville Tailwater about two hours away and the Little Elkhart River about three hours away. Warm water fishing is available but, in Indiana the landowners have the access rights so it is difficult to find streams to fish and near impossible to find streams with trout. Or, I need some help finding good places in Indiana because I’m fairly new to fly fishing.
When we moved back to Missouri from Wyoming, (still not sure of the intelligence of that move), I chose the Rolla, Missouri area based partly upon that very thing. That, the hunting is good, (out my back door, literally), and it’s close to where I grew up, my aging Father and in-laws. I can be on good warm water in 7 minutes. Several good trout waters are within 1/2 hour and if you care to count the parks, which I don’t, one is 20 minutes away and two others are within an hour. With our fine church family, a fairly stable economy and the hunting and fishing life is good!
Vic
It’s all warm water here, the river is 2 blocks, but is hard fishing. There is an embarassment of riches in the 10 to 15 minute range. Lots of urban fishery lakes and a county lake with fair to good chances. Two fairly large resevoirs with an hour. Trout only in the winter with a permit in limited spots. Some people complain about Kansas fishing, but if you make an effort there are lots of oppertunities.
I hate to admit that I’m 2 minutes away from a private pond on my golf course that is only fished by me and one or two other guys that live out here. Bass and bluegill are sizable, abundant and most eager to beat the crap out of your fly wen they find it in the water.
I hear (but haven’t yet gone) about trout fishing 3-4 hours away that is incredible in SE Oklahoma, and that’s on my wish list for later this fall or next spring.
Salt water is 7 hours straight down in the gulf by Galveston and I have yet to chase Redfish down there, but it’s on my “to do” the next time we visit in June of 2011.
I live in New York City, which may be the very center for fly fishing. I can take public transportation to fish for trout, bass, carp, pike, panfish and salt water fish. I rarely need to travel more than an hour to find cold water, warm or salt water. In fact NYC has more than two dozen lakes and ponds open to the public for catch and release fishing.
Bill
As far as necesary.
Warmwater…I drive about 15 miles & fish 3 ponds within 1 mile (that’s ALL of 'em!) that have all given up ‘gills between 10" & 11" this year. Another pond is 15 miles out & the owner has me working on “upping” the average size…Last year was 5’-6"…This year it’s a solid 7" & saw some 8 inchers during the spawn.
Coldwater (trout)…30 to 60 miles for trout, some of which exceed 20", although my largest is 17".
Steelhead…45-100 miles, & well worth the drive.
I am blessed.
Mike
I walk out my back door, take about 40 steps and I’m in a great trout river. If I want to really stretch things out, I have the choice of several other premier streams/rivers within 25 minutes… Best Regards…
you suck ; ). the closest trout water for me is about 2 1/2 hours. the closest good trout water is about 4 1/2 hours. there are very good warmwater fisheries anywhere from 20-60 miles away that i do fish on a regular basis. the furthest i have ever traveled to fish is the sierra mountains and the bighorn river. the bighorn was definitely worth the trip and i will make that trek again someday.
Within roughly 5 blocks of my house, there are 11 city-owned warmwater public ponds…and at least 3 other retention ponds in townhome developments that nobody cares if you fish. Despite their proximity, I haven’t even fished all these ponds yet. Some are still relatively young, so I’m giving the fish time to grow.
Within 15-20 minute drive, I can get to a small lake the DNR stocks with trout in the Fall/Winter/early Spring…and also a warmwater river that has produced walleyes over 10 lbs, smallmouth bass over 20", wipers (hybrids) over 18 lbs, plus white bass, the rare musky and pike, largemouth bass, crappies, carp, buffalo, sheepshead…you name it. Within that range are also a good-sized federal flood-control reservoir, and a state-owned 800+ acre lake. Some years, fishing can be poor (especially after the floods we’ve had the past few years), some years it can be really good. Its nice to have choices so near to home.
So, the answer to the question…I PREFER to fish as close to home as possible. Time spent driving is time NOT spent fishing!
Even so, I have a small group of guys that I fish in Canada with every-other-year…which is about a 13-hour drive. I’ve fished in Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. I would really enjoy fishing S. America for various freshwater species we don’t have here in the U.S.
About 700 miles for the MIFI.
Ed
What is MIFI?