Fly Fishing Road Trip West

[Elevated83]

So after some thought, I have decided to plan a 28 day road trip to fly fish in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and maybe a quick stop in Colorado. I will be traveling from Pittsburgh, PA westward to West Yellowstone for the mid trip stop.

I plan on self guiding the waters but I might do a day here and there with a professional guide. I will be wading all the time unless I pick up an inflatable pontoon raft.

I'm currently trying to decide the best areas to entertain. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I plan on taking I-80 out rock springs then cut up to West Yellowstone and as for the return trip I will be taking I=90 back. With that route I can stop by the northern part of Colorado, Then up through Wyoming, Idaho to West Yellowstone. Starting the return trip around day 16-17 will allow me to stop at places like Bozeman and Billings.

The only guaranteed stops will be Jackson Wyoming, West Yellowstone, Bozeman Montana.

Dates I have decided is last 2 weeks of August and first 2 weeks of September 2015.

 

[Mucka]

No tips to offer up but boy am i jealous.. Enjoy

 

[Millsertime]

My western experiences have mostly only dealt in Colorado. I would throw out the idea of hitting Iowa/Wisconsin driftless region on your way there or home though. My brother in law just fished northeast Iowa and loved it. Wild trout in farm country. Crazy!

 

[Chaz]

I just took a trip to Yellowstone, and stayed in West Yellowstone, I didn't like it, too many tourists both in and out of the Park. When I do Yellowstone again It won't be to West Yellowstone, it will either be Gardner or NE Yellowstone.

 

[gfoledc]

I am with Chaz West Yellowstone that time of year will be like Atlantic City too many tourist Gardner or out towards Cody Wy. Would be a better choice. When you are in Colorado if you are near Steamboat Springs the Yampa River below Stagecoach Reservior is the best river I ever fished. If you get anywhere near the Frying Pan River that is also real good

 

[bikerfish]

great time of the year to be out west, in fact, I'll be out there somewhere also. FWIW, I'd skip Yellowstone, unless your dead set on seeing the tourist stuff. I went through there 2 years ago in September and was STILL stuck in traffic jams.
The tetons are awesome, well worth the time to do some hikes.
also, IDAHO, and not just the henry's fork, there are tons of streams in Idaho, and few tourists.
good fishing in the wind river range also, to the east of Jackson.
Montana is simply terrific, trout rivers everywhere, you can do the well known ones, but the ones that aren't as popular are worth fishing also, and chances are you'll have them to yourself.
oh yeah, don't forget to do the beartooth hwy, and yes, there are trout in all those little streams you will be passing over.
bottom line, you can't go wrong, lot's of options, and you have a good amount of time, so you can move around in case of bad weather and such.

 

[dano]

Your trip almost mirrors mine except we're starting the first week of Aug to catch Sturgis ND.
To beat Yellowstone tourist we usually get up early and head out while most people are still asleep. Once we're on a particular stream, we're there for the day.
The Montana portion includes Big Horn River and Missouri River. Both are tailwaters and are easy floats.

 

[Elevated83]

Thank you for the responses everyone. I have just started doing some research and I have never been west of Ohio yet. I've fished up and down the east coast states, time to head west. The stop at west yellowstone will just be a base camp of sorts. the towns I'm looking at visiting are the following. Lander, Pinedale, Jackson in Wyoming then West Yellowstone, Bozeman, Livingston, Ennis Montana. I will be purchasing a annual license for both wyoming and montana so I figured between those 2 states I have plenty of water to fish. as for the tourist Im sure I will get annoyed with the traffic but I will be on the water to see the sun rise and not leaving the water till a couple hours past dark depending on the regs of the water I am on.
I'm stopping at some towns because of the history surrounding them in the fly fishing community. best part of driving, camping or hotels is that if I don't like the scene I just pack it up and go somewhere else. I figured a budget of $5k for the trip but hopefully return with at least 1k but if I don't its not a big deal.

 

[Rolf]

We're planning a similar trip at roughly the same time. Regarding expenses, do a rough route via Mapquest. They give you the mileage and an estimated fuel cost which was a surprise to me. Round trip for gas, not even while out there was about $1300.00 each way and we live in the Philly area.Good Luck!

 

[Elevated83]

I'm debating on doing a blog for the trip along with taking a go pro on a chest harness to record my catches. I might even try to do Wyoming's cuttslam challenge.

 

[Elevated83]

Rolf. I have already done that and have figured 13 tanks of gas total at 14 gal per tank. I have a 2013 Subaru Impreza Sport with the cvt transmission. I bought the car mainly for fishing trips since it claims 36mpg on the highway which I have currently reached 32 combined hwy and city driving. Here is the link to my route.
https://roadtrippers.com/trips/5341e739856583ba34000354

 

[sandfly]

I did it in 2004 with my astro. remember Yellowstone has its own fishing license too. I went to Idaho and Oregon more than Wyoming and Montana. less people and big fish. fished the Deschutes, salmon areas. great trip.

 

[pete41]

Go to Montana mid sept-to mid Oct.-far less people fishing then[huntin season,tourists gone-guides lost] and the big fish are on the move.30 years of living out there and no one listens-everyone wants to go during the slowest fishing dog days when the guides are BSing them how great it is.
Oh well,I tried .lol

 

[Elevated83]

 

[Elevated83]

Pete, I was planning on hitting the water's with hoppers. Since you have lived out there for 30 yrs, any "secret spots" to visit. I also am going at that time because thats when I have the time to go. Wish I could push it back 4 weeks and hit end of sept and beginning of oct.

 

[pete41]

fish high-elevation that time of year-
been back East for 15 years and things change-
but you want to go high and hopefully they will have had a couple of hard frosts-[cold nights]
This clears up the rivers and its natures signal to the browns to do their thing-when the big spawners start moving[at night] this shakes up the status quo so you can get a shot at more trout that are in new spots but you will still find the best fishing when the sun is off the water,that time of year.