The west is the best.

When I really think about it, this shouldnt even be an argument, I mean come on think about it, out west they have those things called the ROCKY MOUNTAINS. As for the people who said that out there you have to drive great distances between good streams, are you guys out of your mind! I went there as a kid to Glacier, Yellowstone and the Grand Teton National parks, and I swear, every stream and pond or lake I saw (I saw a ton) was supposedly a good trout water. I dont think you can say the same thing about pa. I guess when you talk about which side can you catch the most species in, the east would probably win, but we are talking about trout right? This is a great thread by the way. As far as people who like the brookie fishing here in the east, out there from what Ive read and heard they do much better out west than they do here, in fact Ive heard that they do so well out there that it isnt uncommon they are the ones who take over streams once inhabited by other native trouts. If that isnt a sign of unbeleivable habitat than I dont know what is!
 
The West is great to visit for ffishing maybe 4.5 months a year, depending on snowmelt. When the bugs are out, the trouts often chow down like crazy, maybe because many of them don't eat much till tourist season. Here I get on the water every month of the year, and ffish 99% dries.

If you want to learn how to deal with wind (even cast), the West is best. If you want to get really good at presentation, drift and microdrag control, PA will teach you. The late Ron Koenig and I, in the early days of the Internet, would make acquaintances with Western guides (research and good will development for field trips later), who were excellent in the wind, from boat, heavy wading, heavily weighted nymphs, and streamers, and sometimes even small dries on spring creeks there - every one of them had a miserable time here in PA when we showed them our secrit spots. And this was not even bushwhacking, which I personally don't like to do.

A good or even semi-good PA flyfisherman tends to have a field day with Western trouts, especially with dries.

Another mythbuster - one day I was flying back East through Minneapolis. I sat next to a young guy who was a full time guide from MT. I asked if this trip was family or biz - he said his whole fambly was MT grown. He was here to catch his big browns for the year - a busman's holiday.

On or maybe just off Salmon River in Pulaski (back in the day). He probably goes to Erie now.

tl
les

PS I love the West, including CA, OR and WA - not just the Rockies. The first place I ever dipped a line was Yellowstone, as a clueless kid, but that inspired me to choose a high school based on its ffishing opportunity. And since the 70's, I go out there several times a year. Lately I've settled into a pattern of spending 2 weeks at a time - gotta get rid of the jet lag, doncha know. :-D
 
That would be "He took a MACE from the ancient gallery and he..."
As for fishing the west and whether east or west is tougher, I have no opinion after fishing in WY, MT, CO, OR, ID, and CA, on about 20 different streams. It's comparing apples to oranges, both are sweet, both they aren't anywhere near the same. I did love fishing both the Sac. in CA. and Horse Creek in OR and CO.
 
>>That would be "He took a MACE from the ancient gallery and he...">>

It would, huh?

Well, maybe you got the only copy of the recording where that's the case...

On mine and on about 9 consecutive lyric sites I just checked, it's "face".

Frankly, I think we're both too old to know for sure who's right....:)
 
The east just does not have the same wildness about it. Perhaps its the constant fear in Alaska that something is going to come lumbering out of the bush and eat you that makes it so surreal.

PA is great. I have caught my biggest trout here. The one thing that the west has HANDS DOWN is still water fishing. Virtually every pond above 8 thousand feet is full of trout.

I have been back home 5 years now and my float tube has not seen the water. It just aint the same floating for bass.

I do love PA and have really tried to relearn it since moving back from out west. Here is what I concluded;
-PA Limestone is the most fertile fisheries that I have encountered.

-There is something absolutely magical about a heavy evening hatch.

-PA is relatively small. If you are willing to drive, then you got the world by the gonads.

- In marginal areas like the Laural Highlands you have to explore every stream and every hick town to unlock its secrets.

-There is infinately more water out here in the east.
 
There have been some very good points about the way things are in the west and back in good ole Pa. Someone mentioned small streams. I was surprised that very few of the Montanans I know spend much, if any, time on small streams. I grew up fishing brookie streams that you could step across, and still love small streams. I have to twist arms and buy all the beer to get some of these guys to go on a small stream. It is not a good idea to fish many of them alone.

The wind is another thing. When I was back fishing in central Pa with an old buddy last spring I found myself casting into a wind that was not there. I also cupped my hands around the lighter to light a cigar, out of habbit. My buddy is an amazing caster, he breezed through the FFF certs. Any way, as I am casting my 4 wt with a 12 foot leader into an imagined wind (most of my fishing is chuck and duck here) I kept hearing Eric laugh. He had to remind me that the wind was not blowing 20 mph.

It is strange that the fish in Depuy's and the other spring creeks are not that spooky compared to many Pa waters. Here is one theory that I agree with. Many of the fish that are caught in Depuy's and Armstrongs are there from the Yellowstone. Many of them are also Cuts. When I am guiding on the spring creeks I tell my guys that the fish you do not see are the resident browns and bows. When no one else is around the resident fish move into feeding lanes in the afternoon and these guys are very spooky.

Montana, and the rest of the west, is an amazingly beautiful place. The fishing can be great too. However, the scenery is always amazing. If you can you should make a trip here. It does not need to be expensive. There are places in Paradise Valley that you can stay for less than $100.00 a night. There are also many camp site along the river and back in the hills. You do not need a guide, but to fish the big rivers a boat helps a heck of a lot.

If anyone is headed this way give me a yell. I do not need much on an excuse to go fishing and if there is an empty seat in the boat just bring some beer.
 
flybop - I like your point about the 2 pops of trouts on Armstrongs, etc. I first learned this on the Lil Lehi and Beaverkill, where the trouts you see easily are the stockies, usually of recent origin.

If you stay stealthy and don't crash around too much, the alpha resident wild and holdover trouts will get back to thinking about feeding. Particularly on the LL Heritage Stretch, the wild trouts will be in lies that are very tough to cast to, given that no wading is allowed. This forces learning about tricky casts like curves and the like. And if you are targeting individual trouts (as opposed to being content to pound up the one gullible trouts amid a flock, and going from flock to flock with spinning, nymphs, streamers or whatever), yes, you even have to learn those tiny mini-video-worthy :lol: flips of the line to control microdrag, if you hope to have any percentage in tagging that particular target.

Also PA has loads of brush and trees, something you don't even have to think about on a lot of bigger Western streams. Let's face it, even without the tailwaters phenomenon, a lot of the West isn't far from being desert, with rivers being an hour apart (and I drive at 70-90 mph). The lines of trees that signal moving water are not much to worry about in terms of backcasting room by comparison.

Just the way I like to sharpen my techniques for the hungry trouts, whether here in the pounded East or on the spread out but magnificent waters of the West.

tl
les
 
Don't forget to stop at Strozzi's Bar in West Yellowstone.

Usually some hot bartender's and the pizza is not bad.

You can't sit in a hot spring that enters into a productive river and watch trout rise very close by as you soak.(in the east)

Good time at a bar in Gardiner too; but I was pretty drunk so I can't remember it's name. Now that I think about it I have had a good time at all the bars I visited on trips.
 
As you discuss the merits of east vs. west, check out the following article from Bozeman!

Bozeman Chronicle
 
jerseygeorge wrote:
As you discuss the merits of east vs. west, check out the following article from Bozeman!

Bozeman Chronicle
Click to expand...


"Rogers - who caught the trout on a streamer pattern -...."
 
albatross wrote:
Don't get many of these back East...
Click to expand...

Albatross,
OK, where was that cutthroat caught? Give it up! I've developed a technology to deliver the bamboo slivers under the fingernails treatment via computer.
 
I'm heading out there this summer for three weeks of fishing the SW Montana/Yellowstone/Cody WY area. I've done a lot of research on rivers, lakes, hatches etc etc.

I just hope it's half as good as I'm anticipating. I know the scenery will be fantastic based on a too-short couple of days last year.
 
Another good bar near Yellowstone is "Miners" in Cooke City. Damn good pizza and they say they have the best damn fish taco anywhere!!

As for is the West better then the East? I don't think so, I'll fish anywhere and enjoy it! Does the South have better fishing than the North?

JH
 
There's no place like home.
 
Pa is not shabby at all. I grew up on brookie streams and still love it. All the peace, quiet and beauty one could ask for.

We've been out west a number of times. My wife and I mostly camped and hiked. I fished as much as I could--that is--as much as my wife would patiently put up with. Loved it so much we bought (just a 1.5 acre building lot) land in Idaho. Was a whisker away from quitting work and moving--so we were. But decided we would miss family. So, sold the lot and stayed in Pa.

Anyway--Me thinks that there is a special and very different beauty in both Pa. and "the west". They are both so very different landscapes that one cannot compare the two.

My definition of the "best" place is the one where I find the most peace and contentment The "second best" place is the one I look forward to visit.
 
Ah, the other side of the state...don;t have much experience there..
 
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