Hi everyone! i’m going to be leaving for the US tomorrow morning from singapore… i will be visiting California (monterey, San Francisco and paolo alto), Seattle and Vancover… i would like to do some fishing possibly saltwater and freshwater, but am happy to settle for either. please can anyone point me in the right direction for some fishing, and some fly fishing stores. i’ve never been to the California, or seattle for fishing so all help is greatly appreciated!
The closest freshwater fishing is about 2.5 hours north east of San Francisco known as Putah Creek. Weekends tend to be crowded. If you have access to a boat then an hour’s drive from SF are San Luis Reservior or O’Neil Forebay. SLR can be dangerous when the wind picks up. The waves generated are huge. Some of the east bay parks have small man-made lakes that have fishing for stocked trout and bass.
The best salt fishing south of San Francisco is between Half Moon Bay and Davenport (just north of San Cruz) and then again just south of Santa Cruz to Watsonville. Most places just require you to park and walk down to the beach. There are a number of reserves in the area so watch for them. Places like Ano Nuevo and Elkhorn Slough to name two. About halfway between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz is the lighthouse where good fishing can be had at the breakwater which is on the south side of the lighhouse.
I am not familar with saltwater fishing north of SF, but the scenery is spectacular.
if you are driving from SF to Seattle, definately stop above Lake Shasta on the Upper Sacramento River. Good views, great fish. If you have extra time, head east of Redding a couple of hours to the Pit River below lake Britton (watch your step, wading can be challenging here) and Lower Hat Creek. They are not to be missed. Check www.kiene.com or www.flyshop.com for reports/guides/etc.
thank you very much for the heads up! i shall do my best to try the spots, i will be flying up from SFO to seattle, so i doubt i’ll be able to try Shasta… is there an internet listing of all the fly shops in california or seattle? i’m about to look around the house for a map and then try and pin point where the shops are.
Go to the websites for the big gear manufacturers such as Sage, Orvis, Scott, Winston, Abel, Tibor, Ross Reels, G. Loomis, etc and look for there Dealer Locator Pages. Usually can find shops listed by state.
Here is a list of some greater San Francisco Bay area shops. This list is not comprehensive: The actual city where the shop is located is given after the shop name.
Dear all, thank you for the replies! i greatly appreciate the help. i’m currently in Monterey and will visit some of the shops in the next few days! thank you again for all the directions and help!