I am sorry, if a river is crowded , I am all set . I would rather catch one trout on a peaceful river, than fifteen with people spread out every 10 yards. The best is combining hiking and fishing. Most people are lazy and won’t walk more than a mile.
Agreed, we have state parks that breed trout and stick them and people are always there… unless you take like a 10 minute walk then you can catch monsters all day by yourself 😂
just last week I took a 12 hour bus and train ride to yosemite, hiked in 9 miles to spend one day alone fishing a half mile of river. caught a couple dozen wild rainbows and one massive brown. hiked out the next day, took another 12 hour bus and train ride. totally worth it.
Thank you for the list. My left arm is paralyzed so I no longer fly-fish, but I hope to fish (ultralight spinning gear) on every one of these rivers at some point.
Come float the San Juan with me this fall. We will target large fish on 6x tippet with size 22-24 dry flies. Not arguing for a specific rating but you need to experience the “juan” one day!
You completely left out the superb trout waters of the Southern Appalachia area from Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia. My personal favorites are the Oconolufte, Ocoee, Little Tennessee, Tuckaseegee, Little Pigeon, West Prong Little Pigeon, Laurel River, Clinch, Nantahala, Hiawassee and Watauga. Yes most of these are in East Tennessee or Western North Carolina but they definitely are great for Rainbow, Brown and Brook Trout with an occasional Golden and Tiger in the mix. Wonderful hatches, good for streamer and nymphs and lots of access for wading and plenty of water.
I fish and love those rivers as well but I couldn't in good conscience put any of them ahead of his list. They are all fantastic rivers but not quite epic status like the ones listed.
You guys are awesome!! One note of constructive criticism, if you added in "Untangled" in with the EP number it would make finding these much much easier.
Thank you for your explanation of water temperature relative to fish recovery. I had a general idea of water temperature having an impact on fish activity, but your detailed answer was very educational. I learned something new. Thank you.
Fun episode! I'll be on the Green next week, and I can't wait. I was surprised you didn't mention the San Juan. I live in NM, so I am definitely biased. But it is truly a great river.
You're gonna love the Green! I've never fished the San Juan....always so far out of the way for me. I don't have anything against it, I'm just not sure where it would fit on the list...maybe take out the Firehole for it?
@@SpencerDurrant I have only been to 2 of the rivers you mentioned, so I can't say confidently which river would get left out. But when you finally make it to the San Juan one day, I am confident you would include it on this list! Put it on your to-do list!
The green is a great river but it’s inconceivable to me that the green is 1st and the SJR doesn’t make the top ten! I️ lived in Vernal and have fished the green plenty and have nothing negative to say about it.
Hey Spencer, piggybacking off the question about tying off the bend vs the eye of the hook. I listened to Tom Rosenbauer’s podcast titled 7 deadly sins of nymph fishing with Josh Nugent, and they talk about this exact question. It’s at the 50 minute mark exactly where Josh talks about why he ties both knots to the eye of the hook for a dry stopper rig. He actually uses a non mono slip knot to tie both flys from the eye as he believe the knot strength of a clinch knot off the bend loses a lot fish. He also claims the bend of the hook acts as a rutter, and doesn’t allow the dry fly to spin or drift more naturally. I did try this out and was pleasantly surprised that the point fly seems to drift okay with eye to eye. But, I’m not sold on the idea of tying two non slip mono loop knots when I’m in the river. I still find myself tying off the bend of the hook as it’s much faster for me, and seems to work just as well. Thought I would share this if you wanted to listen to the timestamp for his perspective.
Good words! My two cents: 1. Hopper-dropper? Tie dropper off the bend of the hopper 2. Double streamer? Tie lower fly off the bend of the upper fly. 3. Double nymph rig, tie tippet and 2nd fly off the eye of the first fly. Same with two droppers off a larger foam dry.
one of my favorite rivers to fish is the truckee. it is notoriously one of the tougher rivers to fish, but it produces some of the largest trout ive seen
I used to teach a Monday Fast Water Clinic on the Truckee in the Glenshire Bridge area because it had all the water types you'd want to demo and have students fish dries, varius nymphing techniques, and steamer fishings as well as teach wading fundamentals, and taking stream samples to see which bugs were close to hatching that day. It had runs riffles and pools and after explaining holding and feeding areas, we'd have the students start fishing. This was after doing a 3-day fly-casting school at Donner Lake Resort. I think 1990 was the last year we offered that though because the drought caused water levels so low that shallow water running over rock bottoms caused water temps to hit 70° by 1PM. You certainly don't want to be stressing rainbows in those temps or you'll kill a lot of fish. It is a great river and there's so much of it there's always room to fish.
Honorable Mentions: 1. MISSOULA! Rock Creek, Bitterroot, Blackfoot and Clark Fork. 2. COLORADO! Arkansas, Eagle, Roaring Fork, Rio Grande, Upper San Juan and Colorado Rivers! 3. Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone from Cooke City MT to Clark WY. 4 San Juan River, upper river in Colorado and NM tailwater. 5. The entire North Platte River... from the upper freestone at the Colorado -Wyoming border... Miracle Mile and Grey Reef tailwaters AND the Grayrocks tailwater.
If you haven't already, you should add additional Top Ten categories: 1. Western Freestone streams 2. Western Tailwaters 3. Eastern Freestones 4. Eastern Tailwaters 5. Western Spring Creeks 6. Eastern Spring Creeks 7. CONUS Salmon streams 8. Alaskan Salmon streams 9. Western trout lakes (natural) 10. Western trout Reaervoirs 11. Eastern trout lakes (natural) 12. Eastern trout reaervoirs 13. Wilderness areas that require hiking / portage
Great episode. I’ve fished some of the rivers you listed and look forward to adding some of the other ones you listed to my list of rivers fished. I enjoy the Q&A segment too. I learn something new with each episode. Thanks!
Hi, I started fly fishing in June 2024. I have caught a few trout. Your videos are what have helped me do that. Thanks 😊 After watching this I want to ask if you will come to Bend OR and give me lessons. You will get to fish the 4th top 10 river. The Deschutes River.
Dry dropper rig double surgeons knot and use the main leader line tag end to tie your dry to and tie the dropper to the long end of the thinner tippet. Works great! I love dry dropper too!
I fished the green for the first time last week. My new brother in law lives about 40 minutes from the dam. I caught my personal best brown and then one upped it within 30 minutes. It was a lot of fun, he is very new to fly fishing so he struggled. However he brought his spin caster and did really well with some hard lures. Really cool to see huge fish within feet of you. The water was a bit fast for my skill level but if I got my fly on the line I wanted I caught a fish nearly every time.
That’s because the St. Joe may be scenic but the fishing really sucks and access is limited. I hear the Orthopedic surgeons stay busy in Spokane and Cour d Alene treating the fractures of those that fall down the inaccessible embankments. Idaho fishing is totally overrated !!
That’s a hard list to make for sure! I think you were real fair in it. I think a good segment along these lines would be the best 3-5 in each state or at least regional. Glad I live just a few miles from that #2 spot. Just started fly fishing last week so I’ll have to check out the south fork. Right now it’s flowing high so good luck wading in it. It’s a float river for sure.
I really appreciate it! That South Fork is something else...Alex just waded it yesterday and said it beat him up 😂definitely wait until the water drops.
If we are talking east coast, gotta replace #10 with Penn's Creek, same relative area of the Delaware. But it matches your chosen specifications a lot more than the Delaware. I could rant off but take a look.
Thanks for the Video. Off subject, I took a brave step today and instead of changing out my fly (which I normally would have done when I am not getting any strikes) I changed my dropper length, (think that's right) and had many successful strikes/hooks/sets! Lesson learned from one of your other videos!
Loved this episode. Maybe do some top 10 rivers for individual states in future episodes. I live in SE Wyoming and typically fish Rock Creek, Douglas Creek, Laramie river and North Platte rivers and been to the Miracle Mile a time or two. I have been to the White river in Arkansas but unfortunately I did not get to fish it. It was beautiful though and I’d like to go back and fish it. I’m originally from Northern California and fish rivers like the Trinity and Klamath. Although these river are more popular with salmon and steelhead, they hold some great rainbows too. Did not catch my first brown til I moved to Wyoming. Was hooked ever since. Was always a lure fisherman till I moved here and still new to fly fishing. Hooked again. Look forward to next episodes. Tight line as always.
Please don't. We don't need to expose all the great fishing rivers and get them even more crowded. Many of the rivers in this list are well-known and are already crowded. Let the crowds stay there. We don't need all our other rivers exposed.
Just an FYI...the drive to the Deschutes is worth it! Also, fishing outside of May/June's Salmonfly hatch is fabulous too. i used to fish it at the wading access upstream of the Warm Springs bridge until enough steelhead came into the North Umpqua that we'd head over there typically in late June. You will probably never see so many different mayflies and caddisflies coming off anywhere else as twilight approaches than on the Deschutes. Just clouds of them. So many you can't keep the bugs off your sunglasses! These are all native rainbows by the way. Been around since the last ice age. They used to plant the Deschutes until the found out there is a disease fatal to non-native trout in the river that the Redsides are immune to. It's killed every planter in the river within 2 to 3-weeks. However, they do still plant "The Blue Hole" on the Deschutes for the wheelchair access fishing derby once a year. **Note** Do NOT fish from the west bank of the Deschutes without a Tribal Fishing Permit from the Confederated tribes of the Warm Springs Indian reservation (the river flows north). They enforce it enthusiastically and will arrest you! It's a wide river and not really a river you can wade across. But if you float it, either make sure you have a tribal permit for the west bank or just stay away from it. They are happy to sell you a permit either daily or annual license.
Not sure if anyone mentioned this but I love using a swivel before my fly. I have. My nail knot and then my 3 blood knot then a barrel swivel then a 2-1/2 ft leader to the fly that way if I change a lot or I have a break off it usually breaks at the barrel and I can quickly get back at it as opposed to re tying a blood knot on a section
I spend 5 to 6 months a year in southwest Montana. The Yellowstone is a great river. The Madison is the iconic river that you need to fish once, but that is about it. There is nothing better than swinging soft hackles on the Firehole. However, I would prefer to keep it a secret but the Big Hole is the best. I have caught browns, rainbows, brookies, cutthroats, grayling, and whitefish all in one day. You can't do that anywhere else. Then throw in the mountains and wildlife with very few people make it spectacular.
Criteria for a Great Trout Stream 1- Native trout 2- wild trout 3- no rubber raft hatches between May and September 4- public, dirt road access 5- no vehicle traffic or airline traffic noise 6- no kings grant bullshit
If you haven't already, you should add additional Top Ten categories: 1. Western Freestone streams 2. Western Tailwaters 3. Eastern Freestones 4. Eastern Tailwaters 5. Western Spring Creeks 6. Eastern Spring Creeks 7. CONUS Salmon streams 8. Alaskan Salmon streams 9. Western trout lakes (natural) 10. Western trout Reaervoirs 11. Eastern trout lakes (natural) 12. Eastern trout reaervoirs 13. Wilderness areas that require hiking / portage
Which river would I swap it for, though? I know it's a great fishery, but I had a hard time finding room for it. Maybe drop the White and add the San Juan? Making this list was tougher than I thought, lol
Love the San Juan, had a lot of fun when I went and fished it, but I think the amount of people puts it out of the top 10 for me… I’ve never seen a more crowded fishery or fish that are so used to anglers. Great river, great fish, but the crowds dampen it slightly.
Fish the San Juan in the winter months, less crowded, and the fishing is excellent. I lived in Farmington, N.M. for a few years and fished it all the time. I'm now in the River Valley of Arkansas and fish the White and Little Red. Both rivers are excellent, and if I'm fly fishing only, I like the San Juan. I will agree with the fish being used to people. Fish Texas hole, and You have 20 plus fish sitting at your feet all day. During big water on the White, I'll throw jigs and jerkbaits also. Two great rivers.
I'm surprised the Arkansas River that flows through Colorado wasn't at least honorable mention. I understand you can't include every river. Thanks for some fishing destinations. Looking forward to my August Wyoming trip.
I have fished a lot of the these and unless you have a guide boat they are hard to fish. East coast has so many more easy access streams than the ones that everyone gets a guide and fishes. Southeastern stream you can wade and catch 20-32’ fish in smaller streams. Much better than the commercial streams
Thank you for not mentioning any of my favorite streams. I only fish public water and most of the streams I like to fish have no special restrictions on them, either. May the crowds always flock to the famous places. I'll take an unsung stream any day. Where I do most of my fishing, it's rare to bump into or even see another angler unless it's the buddy(s) who came with me.
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reading the comments, I think you should do the 10 best rivers out east, in the mid-west, and out west.
You seem to have never gotten to the Eastern Sierras. Just of the top of my head I would mention the Truckee River out of Lake Tahoe, the Upper and Lower Owens river around Mammoth and Bishop, the East and West Walker rivers around Bridgeport.
Would you put any of those above these rivers? I've fished the Truckee, but I haven't spent serious time in California in...shoot, a decade? It's hard to make that trek when there's all of Idaho and Montana between me and California! Ha.
@SpencerDurrant did you get a chance to spend any time on the east and west fork of the carson river? After gear fishing all my life I spent the last week trying to figure this whole flyfishing thing out and after a few missed fish I finally put one in the net on my last morning.
@@randall964060 I have not fished it myself, but I know that it does have good fish in it. I was on the Little Truckee and saw some huge fish in a tailrace, but never figured out how to approach them without spooking them. Had to be near 10lbs.
@@SpencerDurrantthe Owens river, both Upper and Lower are awesome. If I can drive to Idaho from Las Vegas, you can drive to the Eastern Sierra. You said you fished Pyramid in one of your podcasts, so you have been there already. :)
I like your list for the most part. I am a Midwest guy that retired and moved to Wyoming. I have fished the South Platte quite a bit, and don’t anymore. Since Covid it has gotten too crowded and stream etiquette is nonexistent there. I think there should be a river in Michigan. I think you picked the wrong one there. I do like the Au Sable it is a wonderful place, but in my experience the Pere Marquette is way better. I like in Casper and understand why you leave Wyoming rivers off the list. I don’t fish the North Platte much in the summer. I don’t like crowds and the trespassing laws suck. In the winter it fishes awesome, without the crowds. I haven’t been to every river on the list yet, but I have fished most of them. I need to get to a couple on there, thanks for your list.
The Driftless is on the list...I want to do a loop starting in the Black Hills in SD, through the Driftless, and back home to Wyoming. Could be a fun fishing trip.
Floated the Green river 50+ years ago, before Field and Stream went crazy with stories about it. Saw 2 other fishermen from the dam to little hole and none from there to Browns park. Now it's overrun with guides ( people who won't get a real job) and their clients. Pretty much ruined.😥
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2 GREAT rivers in Michigan to fly fish, that are not talked about, are the N. Branch of the Manistee (just W of the Au Sable) and The Pere Marquete River out of Baldwin MI.
The Delaware has serious access issues for wading anglers. If you are wading, you will be doing so with a lot of other people (unless you own property on the river or its branches, of course).
The only disagreement I have, and it's not a big disagreement, is I would put the SF of the Snake first. The long float that takes multiple nights to complete has no rival. I know the B section of the Green can be good but it's just my personal preference to be on the SF Snake. The Green is a fine, fine fishery though. Hard to argue against it.
You obviously have never fished the lower (below Shasta dam) Sacramento River. Here you can catch rainbows up to 20" YEAR ROUND. You also have a good runs of steelhead along with stripers, salmon (in good years), and small mouth bass. I know more anglers that retired to Redding , CA than any other locale. Did I mention that the fishing is great YEAR ROUND. How many of your picks have fairly short fishing seasons???
I’m retired guide with thirty years experience on the lower Sacramento River. There is no best month here and for sure my clients caught 20” trout as often as not. Many times multiple 20”fish. The method of fishing with large indicators is not pretty but it works!! B😊
North platte Gunnison Wind river Green river above flaming gorge And that’s not even the top 5 on my list #1 big horn Montana #2 Shoshone #3 Clark fork #4 big horn thermopolis Wyoming #5 bull river This is a real list of amazing rivers
I was totally impressed by the Green River. I've never seen more big trout. As good as it was, if you are really into fishing, check out the Soca River in Slovenia. It's possibly better. The average fish size is much bigger and the trip is better.
I spent the whole month of June through Michigan and Montana... and I can concur with your entire list and cant wait to fish 1,2 &4 haha.. However.. I would say the Big Hole... is probably better or at least was during my time on it than the Big Horn.. mainly because you have Browns, bows, Cuts, Brooks and grayling.. and they eat Dries like the world was ending... lol.
and glad the Pere Marquette doesnt get the attention is should, because it fished better than the Au Sable for me, but most folks go salmon and Steelhead there, they ignore all the browns haha
The Colorado should be considered if for no other reasons than its diversity of water and the history of the many sections of the river. From fishing for brookies in the headwaters near RMNP to the trophy rainbow sections near Kremmling to the unbelievable scenery and rainbow/brown fishery of the Lee's Ferry tailwater section, it kind of has it all. Oh and it seems to have had something to do with the largest hole in the ground ever.
I fish the Delaware River, mostly west branch.There is no stocking of fish so they are all wild unless the stockies slip in from a feeder stream. It is the kind of place where you cannot catch a fish all day and then a 20 inch brown slams your fly ( good luck landing it) lol I always say that you should never bring anyone to the Delaware who is learning to fly fish! It is technical, no sloppy casts, you need to read the water where there may be multiple currents, and use at least a 12-15 foot leader. But I can have a day that makes my 130 mile drive up there for the day worth while. I do it every week!- and during the week it is not crowded and there is more than enough water to get away from people if you are willing to walk on the weekends-
So I guided on the Deschutes for a brief period out of mopin. The metolius, the rogue, and the Mackenzie actually are my favorites for trout fishing in Oregon. The Grande Ronde is also awesome for Smallmouth, but probably one of the best Waters in all of Oregon is the Owyhee river which is now combat fishing.. you can catch 25 inch Browns on stimulators all day. I'm an Idaho got though! I just caught a 26" on a size 22 pmd on 7x here on the main Fork of the Boise River. It's funny you talk about tiny flies on the Platte because here in my spot you have to use size 22 to 24 either biot spinners or tiny pmds and bwo's . The worst part of that is you cannot use anything bigger than 6X tippit and you will absolutely get way less looks using 6X then you will 7X .. so it's great when you go to do a trout set and the tip it just snaps like nothing .... They can be the hardest fish to catch on earth here in the main Fork of the Boise... you see 20-30" coming up to pick off midges all day. And 30" browns allthough not common they are absolutely not rare You see absolutely massive trout slurping dry and emergers. But your fly is 1 of 100k flies drifting and in the calm water they can see in an instant if it's real or not... I'm half convinced I just get lucky and one makes a mistake being the only reason I catch anything at my spot. But never anywhere have I seen the amount of 20" plus fish come up every second in my life... and again you will see more fish Rising than you've ever seen cast a thousand times and you will be absolutely ecstatic if you catch one.. especially Wade fishing and not drifting with the fly on a cat, or drift boat.. there are rivers here in Idaho I feel that are every bit as good as Swan valley. The Yankee fork of the salmon is amazing. The South Fork of the Boise is also one of the best Fisheries in the country...
I don't know if there's a forum or if this is the place to do it, but I am just getting into fly fishing, my wife got me a cheap combo from Walmart for father's day just so I can see if I like it or not. Long story short, I'm completely hooked and it's all I want to do. I'm just looking for someone that knows what they're doing to be able to take me out and show me the ropes. Also, I'm in a great area: Provo, Utah.
Hey Jordan. Welcome to fly fishing! Glad you’re enjoying it. First, have you seen our beginner fly fishing masterclass? That’s a great place to start learning everything from A to Z. Here is a link: ua-cam.com/play/PLObNLlVNurUVKdE_tP23-Imc4e7kHEGOW.html Second, watch for our video that is getting released on Sunday. We are starting our own online fly fishing community where you’ll be able to meet and interact with other anglers.
If you're going to put the (#4) Deschutes River on your bucket list, you better not leave the area without fly fishing the (#4A) Metolius River. I live in Deschutes County, and I may be a novice angler, but just standing in the Metolius is absolutely amazing; so beautiful... It's so worth it, even if you don't catch anything.
I live in Rangely Colorado. An hour and forty-five minutes from the Flaming Gorge reservoir (The stretch of the Green River in Utah everyone talks about) and have only fished it from the bank. Need a raft.
The Dream Stream/Eleven Mile canyon in Colorado, skip the lower portion of the South Platte near Deckers, it's over crowded and over fished. Also the Gunnison, specifically the Black Canyon portion is unreal, the fish are great and the scenery is unreal. A real bucket list river is the McKenzie River in Canada, the brookies up there are ridiculous in size up to 10 lbs.
@@SpencerDurrant Lemme know when you go! Lots of good holes to be found down there. If you want to hit the Black Canyon portion, you'll need to float it though. But there are plenty of spots above and below it that hold some great fish.
The Gunnison River is an incredible place to fish from the black canyon through the gorge. Just fished it yesterday. It’s an overwhelming bug factory as well. Let’s not forget the insane cloud hatches of Salmonfly in June. It fishes very well with dry flies even in the dead of winter. I’m more than lucky to have it practically in my back yard. The high desert landscape is intense, dangerous, and beautiful. 💯💯💯
How could you leave out the Big Hole River? The salmon fly hatch on the Big Hole is outstanding (25-30 big fish days) and it also has Artic Grayling that you can catch which none of the other rivers have that. I have to disagree on putting the Yellowstone over the Madison. Live in Montana and fished both extensively, have caught bigger browns and rainbows on the Madison, plus the Yellowstone has wading access but you really need a boat to fish it because of it's size. The mother's day caddis hatch on the Madison is legendary as well. Had 30 fish days with some big ones on caddis. Another great river is the Gunnison in Colorado, if you can do the hike, it is fantastic fishing for sheer volume and size of fish.
The Provo has become, in my opinion, the absolute worst place for fishing. Especially the lower sections. Upper seems to be ok but man is it hard to find a stretch to yourself
The Madison is the most over pressured stream in Montana. I’ve fished all of the major rivers between Missoula and Livingston and the Madison is by far the hardest hit river I’ve fished. We live between Bozeman and Butte. I used to love the Madison before COVID, but now every river access is a wal mart parking lot. Even in the winter. I quit fishing it altogether because I don’t like combat fishing. My last float trip was literally like bumper cars. We had 10 rafts bump into us. Just give the Madison a break. That’s just bad for the fish to put that much pressure on them. I am definitely not going to share my favorite streams on the internet. 😂 I will say that there are no bad streams in Montana, or Idaho, or Wyoming, if you can’t catch trout on any of them you should work on your technique. And I’ve seen 5lb trout in all of them, on a reasonable frequency.
I have three right where I live. Imho the Trinity, Sacramento, and the McCloud rivers in Northern California are the best in the world.. but I live here so it’s totally biased😂
@@daveschlom4033 hit the trinity 2 weeks ago early morning and the release was up high enough that the steal head were all over the flys and streamers.. hooked up some big ones.. even a super large brown!!
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I am sorry, if a river is crowded , I am all set . I would rather catch one trout on a peaceful river, than fifteen with people spread out every 10 yards. The best is combining hiking and fishing. Most people are lazy and won’t walk more than a mile.
Thankfully most people wont walk even a quarter mile lol. Could agree more with you.
I agree! Sometimes I'll put up with the crowds, though. But most of the time, if I see another angler, I'll go find a different river completely 😂
Agreed, we have state parks that breed trout and stick them and people are always there… unless you take like a 10 minute walk then you can catch monsters all day by yourself 😂
just last week I took a 12 hour bus and train ride to yosemite, hiked in 9 miles to spend one day alone fishing a half mile of river. caught a couple dozen wild rainbows and one massive brown. hiked out the next day, took another 12 hour bus and train ride. totally worth it.
@@hikesteepfishhigh Sounds like a great day of both fishing and hiking. Glad you had such a memorable day. Good luck on your next adventure.
Great list and I'm especially pleased that none of my favorite rivers were on the list! I was praying the whole time that none would be listed.
Hahaha exactly !
Thank you for the list. My left arm is paralyzed so I no longer fly-fish, but I hope to fish (ultralight spinning gear) on every one of these rivers at some point.
That's awesome you keep at fishing! Very impressive.
Come float the San Juan with me this fall. We will target large fish on 6x tippet with size 22-24 dry flies. Not arguing for a specific rating but you need to experience the “juan” one day!
You completely left out the superb trout waters of the Southern Appalachia area from Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia. My personal favorites are the Oconolufte, Ocoee, Little Tennessee, Tuckaseegee, Little Pigeon, West Prong Little Pigeon, Laurel River, Clinch, Nantahala, Hiawassee and Watauga. Yes most of these are in East Tennessee or Western North Carolina but they definitely are great for Rainbow, Brown and Brook Trout with an occasional Golden and Tiger in the mix. Wonderful hatches, good for streamer and nymphs and lots of access for wading and plenty of water.
You should be happy they were left out
I fish and love those rivers as well but I couldn't in good conscience put any of them ahead of his list. They are all fantastic rivers but not quite epic status like the ones listed.
First time listening to you! Enjoyed this list very much! Fished many of those rivers and agree completely with what you had to say about them!
Glad you enjoyed!
You guys are awesome!! One note of constructive criticism, if you added in "Untangled" in with the EP number it would make finding these much much easier.
I appreciate it! They're also on a playlist on our channel, so if you're subscribed there, they should be easy to sort through, as well.
Thank you for your explanation of water temperature relative to fish recovery. I had a general idea of water temperature having an impact on fish activity, but your detailed answer was very educational. I learned something new. Thank you.
You bet! Thanks for taking the time to tell me, I really appreciate it.
Fun episode! I'll be on the Green next week, and I can't wait. I was surprised you didn't mention the San Juan. I live in NM, so I am definitely biased. But it is truly a great river.
My great grandmother used to live near the San Juan. Those anglers were always hooked up with trout! Too bad I didn't fly fish then.
San Juan River all the way! Best
You're gonna love the Green! I've never fished the San Juan....always so far out of the way for me. I don't have anything against it, I'm just not sure where it would fit on the list...maybe take out the Firehole for it?
@@SpencerDurrant I have only been to 2 of the rivers you mentioned, so I can't say confidently which river would get left out. But when you finally make it to the San Juan one day, I am confident you would include it on this list! Put it on your to-do list!
The green is a great river but it’s inconceivable to me that the green is 1st and the SJR doesn’t make the top ten! I️ lived in Vernal and have fished the green plenty and have nothing negative to say about it.
Hey Spencer, piggybacking off the question about tying off the bend vs the eye of the hook. I listened to Tom Rosenbauer’s podcast titled 7 deadly sins of nymph fishing with Josh Nugent, and they talk about this exact question. It’s at the 50 minute mark exactly where Josh talks about why he ties both knots to the eye of the hook for a dry stopper rig. He actually uses a non mono slip knot to tie both flys from the eye as he believe the knot strength of a clinch knot off the bend loses a lot fish. He also claims the bend of the hook acts as a rutter, and doesn’t allow the dry fly to spin or drift more naturally. I did try this out and was pleasantly surprised that the point fly seems to drift okay with eye to eye. But, I’m not sold on the idea of tying two non slip mono loop knots when I’m in the river. I still find myself tying off the bend of the hook as it’s much faster for me, and seems to work just as well. Thought I would share this if you wanted to listen to the timestamp for his perspective.
I'll have to give that one a listen, I really appreciate it. Thank you!
Good words! My two cents:
1. Hopper-dropper? Tie dropper off the bend of the hopper
2. Double streamer? Tie lower fly off the bend of the upper fly.
3. Double nymph rig, tie tippet and 2nd fly off the eye of the first fly. Same with two droppers off a larger foam dry.
one of my favorite rivers to fish is the truckee. it is notoriously one of the tougher rivers to fish, but it produces some of the largest trout ive seen
The Truckee kicked my butt the one time I fished it. Pretty river, though.
I used to teach a Monday Fast Water Clinic on the Truckee in the Glenshire Bridge area because it had all the water types you'd want to demo and have students fish dries, varius nymphing techniques, and steamer fishings as well as teach wading fundamentals, and taking stream samples to see which bugs were close to hatching that day. It had runs riffles and pools and after explaining holding and feeding areas, we'd have the students start fishing. This was after doing a 3-day fly-casting school at Donner Lake Resort. I think 1990 was the last year we offered that though because the drought caused water levels so low that shallow water running over rock bottoms caused water temps to hit 70° by 1PM. You certainly don't want to be stressing rainbows in those temps or you'll kill a lot of fish. It is a great river and there's so much of it there's always room to fish.
Honorable Mentions:
1. MISSOULA! Rock Creek, Bitterroot, Blackfoot and Clark Fork.
2. COLORADO! Arkansas, Eagle, Roaring Fork, Rio Grande, Upper San Juan and Colorado Rivers!
3. Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone from Cooke City MT to Clark WY.
4 San Juan River, upper river in Colorado and NM tailwater.
5. The entire North Platte River... from the upper freestone at the Colorado -Wyoming border... Miracle Mile and Grey Reef tailwaters AND the Grayrocks tailwater.
Yikes, stop talking about Montana!! Especially Rock Creek..
It's Greyreef
@@HP-jm3zb you should try the other tailwaters BELOW Casper
;-)
Miracle mile
If you haven't already, you should add additional Top Ten categories:
1. Western Freestone streams
2. Western Tailwaters
3. Eastern Freestones
4. Eastern Tailwaters
5. Western Spring Creeks
6. Eastern Spring Creeks
7. CONUS Salmon streams
8. Alaskan Salmon streams
9. Western trout lakes (natural)
10. Western trout Reaervoirs
11. Eastern trout lakes (natural)
12. Eastern trout reaervoirs
13. Wilderness areas that require hiking / portage
Great episode. I’ve fished some of the rivers you listed and look forward to adding some of the other ones you listed to my list of rivers fished. I enjoy the Q&A segment too. I learn something new with each episode. Thanks!
The Esopus, the Beaverkill, the Willowemak. Where trout fishing in America began. The Catskills.
Hell yea buddy
The never sink is actually where it began
Hi, I started fly fishing in June 2024. I have caught a few trout. Your videos are what have helped me do that. Thanks 😊
After watching this I want to ask if you will come to Bend OR and give me lessons. You will get to fish the 4th top 10 river. The Deschutes River.
Excellent presentation! Thank you!
Dry dropper rig double surgeons knot and use the main leader line tag end to tie your dry to and tie the dropper to the long end of the thinner tippet. Works great! I love dry dropper too!
This was an amazing video to tie flies too!
I fished the green for the first time last week. My new brother in law lives about 40 minutes from the dam. I caught my personal best brown and then one upped it within 30 minutes. It was a lot of fun, he is very new to fly fishing so he struggled. However he brought his spin caster and did really well with some hard lures. Really cool to see huge fish within feet of you. The water was a bit fast for my skill level but if I got my fly on the line I wanted I caught a fish nearly every time.
Awesome! We love the green. Glad you had a good time.
Great info, thanks for posting.
On my way to Idaho next week! Sooo looking forward to fly fishing!
Love the show, lots of great info and fun topics. However, pretty surprised the amazing St Joe River didn't make the list.
That’s because the St. Joe may be scenic but the fishing really sucks and access is limited. I hear the Orthopedic surgeons stay busy in Spokane and Cour d Alene treating the fractures of those that fall down the inaccessible embankments. Idaho fishing is totally overrated !!
That’s a hard list to make for sure! I think you were real fair in it. I think a good segment along these lines would be the best 3-5 in each state or at least regional. Glad I live just a few miles from that #2 spot. Just started fly fishing last week so I’ll have to check out the south fork. Right now it’s flowing high so good luck wading in it. It’s a float river for sure.
I really appreciate it! That South Fork is something else...Alex just waded it yesterday and said it beat him up 😂definitely wait until the water drops.
If we are talking east coast, gotta replace #10 with Penn's Creek, same relative area of the Delaware. But it matches your chosen specifications a lot more than the Delaware. I could rant off but take a look.
Central PA is nothing but cornfields and cows.. not worth the trip 😉
@@paultharp4626yep. Complete waste of time.
Thanks for the Video. Off subject, I took a brave step today and instead of changing out my fly (which I normally would have done when I am not getting any strikes) I changed my dropper length, (think that's right) and had many successful strikes/hooks/sets! Lesson learned from one of your other videos!
That is AWESOME!!! Thanks for sharing!
Loved the list Spencer!
Kinda love the Driftless like the Kickapoo
Loved this episode. Maybe do some top 10 rivers for individual states in future episodes. I live in SE Wyoming and typically fish Rock Creek, Douglas Creek, Laramie river and North Platte rivers and been to the Miracle Mile a time or two. I have been to the White river in Arkansas but unfortunately I did not get to fish it. It was beautiful though and I’d like to go back and fish it. I’m originally from Northern California and fish rivers like the Trinity and Klamath. Although these river are more popular with salmon and steelhead, they hold some great rainbows too. Did not catch my first brown til I moved to Wyoming. Was hooked ever since. Was always a lure fisherman till I moved here and still new to fly fishing. Hooked again. Look forward to next episodes. Tight line as always.
That could be a fun episode. Thanks!
Please don't. We don't need to expose all the great fishing rivers and get them even more crowded. Many of the rivers in this list are well-known and are already crowded. Let the crowds stay there. We don't need all our other rivers exposed.
I'm adding several of these rivers to my bucket list!! The green has been on there for a while now! Good list!
Go hit the Green, Micah! Or are you gonna make me and Alex take you one of these days?
@@SpencerDurrant you have no idea how awesome that would be to go with y'all!! It seriously is on my list for this year... Just gotta make the time!
@@micahdean1856 haha, I'm a lot to put up with on the water. Just ask Alex. Make the time, you'll love it!
@@SpencerDurrant as long as you have diet cokes I'm sure you're a delight to be around 🤣 and I sure will!!
Just an FYI...the drive to the Deschutes is worth it!
Also, fishing outside of May/June's Salmonfly hatch is fabulous too. i used to fish it at the wading access upstream of the Warm Springs bridge until enough steelhead came into the North Umpqua that we'd head over there typically in late June. You will probably never see so many different mayflies and caddisflies coming off anywhere else as twilight approaches than on the Deschutes. Just clouds of them. So many you can't keep the bugs off your sunglasses! These are all native rainbows by the way. Been around since the last ice age. They used to plant the Deschutes until the found out there is a disease fatal to non-native trout in the river that the Redsides are immune to. It's killed every planter in the river within 2 to 3-weeks. However, they do still plant "The Blue Hole" on the Deschutes for the wheelchair access fishing derby once a year.
**Note** Do NOT fish from the west bank of the Deschutes without a Tribal Fishing Permit from the Confederated tribes of the Warm Springs Indian reservation (the river flows north). They enforce it enthusiastically and will arrest you! It's a wide river and not really a river you can wade across. But if you float it, either make sure you have a tribal permit for the west bank or just stay away from it. They are happy to sell you a permit either daily or annual license.
It's an incredible fishery!
Not sure if anyone mentioned this but I love using a swivel before my fly. I have. My nail knot and then my 3 blood knot then a barrel swivel then a 2-1/2 ft leader to the fly that way if I change a lot or I have a break off it usually breaks at the barrel and I can quickly get back at it as opposed to re tying a blood knot on a section
I spend 5 to 6 months a year in southwest Montana. The Yellowstone is a great river. The Madison is the iconic river that you need to fish once, but that is about it. There is nothing better than swinging soft hackles on the Firehole. However, I would prefer to keep it a secret but the Big Hole is the best. I have caught browns, rainbows, brookies, cutthroats, grayling, and whitefish all in one day. You can't do that anywhere else. Then throw in the mountains and wildlife with very few people make it spectacular.
The big hole can be stellar. There are a few busy stretches, but it all fishes well. The streamer guys will struggle to find better water.
Criteria for a Great Trout Stream
1- Native trout
2- wild trout
3- no rubber raft hatches between May and September
4- public, dirt road access
5- no vehicle traffic or airline traffic noise
6- no kings grant bullshit
Love your show! Hey how about the 10 best fly fishing lakes in America…..
Thanks
just jim
If you haven't already, you should add additional Top Ten categories:
1. Western Freestone streams
2. Western Tailwaters
3. Eastern Freestones
4. Eastern Tailwaters
5. Western Spring Creeks
6. Eastern Spring Creeks
7. CONUS Salmon streams
8. Alaskan Salmon streams
9. Western trout lakes (natural)
10. Western trout Reaervoirs
11. Eastern trout lakes (natural)
12. Eastern trout reaervoirs
13. Wilderness areas that require hiking / portage
Come on down to the white! I’m mostly a gear guide but I do fly sometimes. Love chasing those big browns, 4 over 25” last fall.
I do love you guys, and value your influence and knowledge you have fly fishing, but the San Juan not being top three is madness!
Which river would I swap it for, though? I know it's a great fishery, but I had a hard time finding room for it. Maybe drop the White and add the San Juan? Making this list was tougher than I thought, lol
Love the San Juan, had a lot of fun when I went and fished it, but I think the amount of people puts it out of the top 10 for me… I’ve never seen a more crowded fishery or fish that are so used to anglers. Great river, great fish, but the crowds dampen it slightly.
Fish the San Juan in the winter months, less crowded, and the fishing is excellent. I lived in Farmington, N.M. for a few years and fished it all the time. I'm now in the River Valley of Arkansas and fish the White and Little Red. Both rivers are excellent, and if I'm fly fishing only, I like the San Juan. I will agree with the fish being used to people. Fish Texas hole, and You have 20 plus fish sitting at your feet all day. During big water on the White, I'll throw jigs and jerkbaits also. Two great rivers.
Awesome episode, really enjoyed it! - Superfly Trent
I'm surprised the Arkansas River that flows through Colorado wasn't at least honorable mention. I understand you can't include every river. Thanks for some fishing destinations. Looking forward to my August Wyoming trip.
I am surprised only ONE Colorado River was mentioned!
I have fished a lot of the these and unless you have a guide boat they are hard to fish. East coast has so many more easy access streams than the ones that everyone gets a guide and fishes. Southeastern stream you can wade and catch 20-32’ fish in smaller streams. Much better than the commercial streams
The Missouri river near helena montana from holster damn to cascade average 3500-4000 catchable fish per mile.
Thank you for not mentioning any of my favorite streams. I only fish public water and most of the streams I like to fish have no special restrictions on them, either. May the crowds always flock to the famous places. I'll take an unsung stream any day. Where I do most of my fishing, it's rare to bump into or even see another angler unless it's the buddy(s) who came with me.
reading the comments, I think you should do the 10 best rivers out east, in the mid-west, and out west.
Might be fun! Thanks for the suggestion.
@@venturesflyco Please no. We don't need to risk my locals being even more exposed
Henry’s Fork should be on the list.
I have a love-hate relationship with the Henry's....and it's not what it once was, either.
It is definitely not what it once was from someone who has fished it since early 90s. There was a time where it was nirvana @@SpencerDurrant
As someone who fished the Henry’s Fork in June, in my opinion it should be on the top ten list.
Sweet, heading to the middle fork of the S. Platte tomorrow!
That's a sweet piece of water. Great fishing and 90% of anglers will never go past the Dream Stream
Maybe do some top 10 rivers per different states. Maybe 10 in California, Washington, Oregon, etc?
I fish the White River all the time. Gear is defendant on flow, but the big ones are deeper and better caught on the White River Zig Jig!
You seem to have never gotten to the Eastern Sierras. Just of the top of my head I would mention the Truckee River out of Lake Tahoe, the Upper and Lower Owens river around Mammoth and Bishop, the East and West Walker rivers around Bridgeport.
Would you put any of those above these rivers? I've fished the Truckee, but I haven't spent serious time in California in...shoot, a decade? It's hard to make that trek when there's all of Idaho and Montana between me and California! Ha.
@SpencerDurrant did you get a chance to spend any time on the east and west fork of the carson river? After gear fishing all my life I spent the last week trying to figure this whole flyfishing thing out and after a few missed fish I finally put one in the net on my last morning.
Are there any fish in the truckee? 20 years ago it was not good.
@@randall964060 I have not fished it myself, but I know that it does have good fish in it. I was on the Little Truckee and saw some huge fish in a tailrace, but never figured out how to approach them without spooking them. Had to be near 10lbs.
@@SpencerDurrantthe Owens river, both Upper and Lower are awesome. If I can drive to Idaho from Las Vegas, you can drive to the Eastern Sierra. You said you fished Pyramid in one of your podcasts, so you have been there already. :)
I like your list for the most part. I am a Midwest guy that retired and moved to Wyoming. I have fished the South Platte quite a bit, and don’t anymore. Since Covid it has gotten too crowded and stream etiquette is nonexistent there.
I think there should be a river in Michigan. I think you picked the wrong one there. I do like the Au Sable it is a wonderful place, but in my experience the Pere Marquette is way better.
I like in Casper and understand why you leave Wyoming rivers off the list. I don’t fish the North Platte much in the summer. I don’t like crowds and the trespassing laws suck. In the winter it fishes awesome, without the crowds.
I haven’t been to every river on the list yet, but I have fished most of them. I need to get to a couple on there, thanks for your list.
I live in the West and have fished 6 of these 10...I agree with you mostly. Don't sleep on the Bighorn in Wyoming!
Gotta come to the driftless! We have tons of underrated rivers out here
The Driftless is on the list...I want to do a loop starting in the Black Hills in SD, through the Driftless, and back home to Wyoming. Could be a fun fishing trip.
The Driftless is surrounded by 3 metro areas and now has more guides than flyfishers. Stop by the house for a beer but I send friends elsewhere
Floated the Green river 50+ years ago, before Field and Stream went crazy with stories about it. Saw 2 other fishermen from the dam to little hole and none from there to Browns park. Now it's overrun with guides ( people who won't get a real job) and their clients.
Pretty much ruined.😥
2 GREAT rivers in Michigan to fly fish, that are not talked about, are the N. Branch of the Manistee (just W of the Au Sable) and The Pere Marquete River out of Baldwin MI.
The Delaware has serious access issues for wading anglers. If you are wading, you will be doing so with a lot of other people (unless you own property on the river or its branches, of course).
The only disagreement I have, and it's not a big disagreement, is I would put the SF of the Snake first. The long float that takes multiple nights to complete has no rival. I know the B section of the Green can be good but it's just my personal preference to be on the SF Snake.
The Green is a fine, fine fishery though. Hard to argue against it.
You obviously have never fished the lower (below Shasta dam) Sacramento River. Here you can catch rainbows up to 20" YEAR ROUND. You also have a good runs of steelhead along with stripers, salmon (in good years), and small mouth bass. I know more anglers that retired to Redding , CA than any other locale. Did I mention that the fishing is great YEAR ROUND. How many of your picks have fairly short fishing seasons???
Thanks! I am in NorCal and plan to hire a guide on the Sac to get to know these waters.
Best time is November when you stand the best chance of catching a steelhead.@@RicksCafeAmericana
I’m retired guide with thirty years experience on the lower Sacramento River. There is no best month here and for sure my clients caught 20” trout as often as not. Many times multiple 20”fish. The method of fishing with large indicators is not pretty but it works!!
B😊
Don’t worry the less know the better
North platte
Gunnison
Wind river
Green river above flaming gorge
And that’s not even the top 5 on my list
#1 big horn Montana
#2 Shoshone
#3 Clark fork
#4 big horn thermopolis Wyoming
#5 bull river
This is a real list of amazing rivers
@@Deadfishingnut Shoshone through Cody!
Pierre Marquette and the Ausable River in Michigan are amazing waters.
I was totally impressed by the Green River. I've never seen more big trout. As good as it was, if you are really into fishing, check out the Soca River in Slovenia. It's possibly better. The average fish size is much bigger and the trip is better.
I spent the whole month of June through Michigan and Montana... and I can concur with your entire list and cant wait to fish 1,2 &4 haha.. However.. I would say the Big Hole... is probably better or at least was during my time on it than the Big Horn.. mainly because you have Browns, bows, Cuts, Brooks and grayling.. and they eat Dries like the world was ending... lol.
and glad the Pere Marquette doesnt get the attention is should, because it fished better than the Au Sable for me, but most folks go salmon and Steelhead there, they ignore all the browns haha
Ausable river in Grayling Michigan where I grew up fly fishing with my dad many, many years ago.
Hows the PFAS situation?
The Colorado should be considered if for no other reasons than its diversity of water and the history of the many sections of the river. From fishing for brookies in the headwaters near RMNP to the trophy rainbow sections near Kremmling to the unbelievable scenery and rainbow/brown fishery of the Lee's Ferry tailwater section, it kind of has it all. Oh and it seems to have had something to do with the largest hole in the ground ever.
On the Southfork now and live in Utah, fished the Green a ton i would argue the SF is by far a better river. IMHO. Good show and good list.
I fish the Delaware River, mostly west branch.There is no stocking of fish so they are all wild unless the stockies slip in from a feeder stream. It is the kind of place where you cannot catch a fish all day and then a 20 inch brown slams your fly ( good luck landing it) lol I always say that you should never bring anyone to the Delaware who is learning to fly fish! It is technical, no sloppy casts, you need to read the water where there may be multiple currents, and use at least a 12-15 foot leader. But I can have a day that makes my 130 mile drive up there for the day worth while. I do it every week!- and during the week it is not crowded and there is more than enough water to get away from people if you are willing to walk on the weekends-
I love the White River. I am actually from Arkansas.
shhhhhhhh 😉😁
Remove white river from all best lists. It sucks. We have too many people as is 😂
So I guided on the Deschutes for a brief period out of mopin. The metolius, the rogue, and the Mackenzie actually are my favorites for trout fishing in Oregon. The Grande Ronde is also awesome for Smallmouth, but probably one of the best Waters in all of Oregon is the Owyhee river which is now combat fishing.. you can catch 25 inch Browns on stimulators all day. I'm an Idaho got though! I just caught a 26" on a size 22 pmd on 7x here on the main Fork of the Boise River. It's funny you talk about tiny flies on the Platte because here in my spot you have to use size 22 to 24 either biot spinners or tiny pmds and bwo's . The worst part of that is you cannot use anything bigger than 6X tippit and you will absolutely get way less looks using 6X then you will 7X .. so it's great when you go to do a trout set and the tip it just snaps like nothing .... They can be the hardest fish to catch on earth here in the main Fork of the Boise... you see 20-30" coming up to pick off midges all day. And 30" browns allthough not common they are absolutely not rare You see absolutely massive trout slurping dry and emergers. But your fly is 1 of 100k flies drifting and in the calm water they can see in an instant if it's real or not... I'm half convinced I just get lucky and one makes a mistake being the only reason I catch anything at my spot. But never anywhere have I seen the amount of 20" plus fish come up every second in my life... and again you will see more fish Rising than you've ever seen cast a thousand times and you will be absolutely ecstatic if you catch one.. especially Wade fishing and not drifting with the fly on a cat, or drift boat.. there are rivers here in Idaho I feel that are every bit as good as Swan valley. The Yankee fork of the salmon is amazing. The South Fork of the Boise is also one of the best Fisheries in the country...
NOOOOOO don't mention the Owyhee! It's crowded enough.
Going to the Green next month first time
I don't know if there's a forum or if this is the place to do it, but I am just getting into fly fishing, my wife got me a cheap combo from Walmart for father's day just so I can see if I like it or not. Long story short, I'm completely hooked and it's all I want to do. I'm just looking for someone that knows what they're doing to be able to take me out and show me the ropes. Also, I'm in a great area: Provo, Utah.
Hey Jordan. Welcome to fly fishing! Glad you’re enjoying it. First, have you seen our beginner fly fishing masterclass? That’s a great place to start learning everything from A to Z. Here is a link: ua-cam.com/play/PLObNLlVNurUVKdE_tP23-Imc4e7kHEGOW.html
Second, watch for our video that is getting released on Sunday. We are starting our own online fly fishing community where you’ll be able to meet and interact with other anglers.
First photo was Snake River east of Tetons.
If you're going to put the (#4) Deschutes River on your bucket list, you better not leave the area without fly fishing the (#4A) Metolius River. I live in Deschutes County, and I may be a novice angler, but just standing in the Metolius is absolutely amazing; so beautiful... It's so worth it, even if you don't catch anything.
Metolius gets a bit too much pressure, and those fish are pretty leary, but there's definitely a good number of huge trout.
I live in Rangely Colorado. An hour and forty-five minutes from the Flaming Gorge reservoir (The stretch of the Green River in Utah everyone talks about) and have only fished it from the bank. Need a raft.
It's fun from a boat or on foot. Fishing streamers from the boat, though, is some of the most fun I've ever had, especially on that section.
Trophy water of Michigan's Ausable or the Pierre Marquette.
Henrys Fork and South Fork of the Snake should be on this list.
The Dream Stream/Eleven Mile canyon in Colorado, skip the lower portion of the South Platte near Deckers, it's over crowded and over fished. Also the Gunnison, specifically the Black Canyon portion is unreal, the fish are great and the scenery is unreal. A real bucket list river is the McKenzie River in Canada, the brookies up there are ridiculous in size up to 10 lbs.
I gotta get down to the Gunnison, I haven't made it there yet.
@@SpencerDurrant Lemme know when you go! Lots of good holes to be found down there. If you want to hit the Black Canyon portion, you'll need to float it though. But there are plenty of spots above and below it that hold some great fish.
The Gunnison River is an incredible place to fish from the black canyon through the gorge. Just fished it yesterday. It’s an overwhelming bug factory as well. Let’s not forget the insane cloud hatches of Salmonfly in June. It fishes very well with dry flies even in the dead of winter. I’m more than lucky to have it practically in my back yard. The high desert landscape is intense, dangerous, and beautiful. 💯💯💯
White River reppin’ 🤙
How could you leave out the Big Hole River? The salmon fly hatch on the Big Hole is outstanding (25-30 big fish days) and it also has Artic Grayling that you can catch which none of the other rivers have that. I have to disagree on putting the Yellowstone over the Madison. Live in Montana and fished both extensively, have caught bigger browns and rainbows on the Madison, plus the Yellowstone has wading access but you really need a boat to fish it because of it's size. The mother's day caddis hatch on the Madison is legendary as well. Had 30 fish days with some big ones on caddis. Another great river is the Gunnison in Colorado, if you can do the hike, it is fantastic fishing for sheer volume and size of fish.
I caught a 20 inch bow in downtown Denver off the south platte behind a Starbucks
au sable and little manistee in michigan are so awesome. biased of course im a michigander never been to the rockies
This is exactly how places get over, visited by tourist and overfished
Well Spencer try the south island of New Zealand trout and salmon fishing
fished the provo all my life! its amazing
The Provo has become, in my opinion, the absolute worst place for fishing. Especially the lower sections. Upper seems to be ok but man is it hard to find a stretch to yourself
Lower Provo is the GOAT trout river. Every other river should just pack it up and go home.
I second the lower Provo! I’ve caught 15+ inch fish in just about every spot from the dam to Utah lake!
I cannot find your link to #livereellife. I would like to submit a picture and story.
The Madison is the most over pressured stream in Montana. I’ve fished all of the major rivers between Missoula and Livingston and the Madison is by far the hardest hit river I’ve fished. We live between Bozeman and Butte. I used to love the Madison before COVID, but now every river access is a wal mart parking lot. Even in the winter. I quit fishing it altogether because I don’t like combat fishing. My last float trip was literally like bumper cars. We had 10 rafts bump into us. Just give the Madison a break. That’s just bad for the fish to put that much pressure on them. I am definitely not going to share my favorite streams on the internet. 😂 I will say that there are no bad streams in Montana, or Idaho, or Wyoming, if you can’t catch trout on any of them you should work on your technique. And I’ve seen 5lb trout in all of them, on a reasonable frequency.
Interesting, but missing some critical rivers...such as....Frying Pan, Roaring Fork and Colorado...San Juan.....
I’m glad you didn’t list my favorite totally road accessible river in Alaska. I get to fish by myself in the late fall and catch monsters!
How about top ten states or areas next?
I second that!
@@samuelsanderson9692 I mean, I guess I gotta give the people what they want, right?
Headed to the little red river right now. The white is a few hours away might I should change my plans😂
Spencer when are you going to host a VFC meetup on the green? Let’s take that river over baby! 😉
When I finally buy another drift boat 😂
I thought Canada is considered America North America , it would be great to include Canadian rivers Like the Skeena river Steelhead
Do you recommend one River over another in the Missoula area?
Nah, it's hard to go wrong in Missoula. Just go explore!
Rock creek missoula is my second favorite in the area (;
Should have vegetation for aquatic insects to develop. Like the BOW RIVER in Calgary Alberta Canada.
How do you forget anything in the catskills! Even if they get crowded they’re still the most important rivers in the country!
The best is the one I'm fishing at the moment.
I’ve fished 7 of your pics and here is my two cents. I obviously have a “fishing problem”.
I have three right where I live. Imho the Trinity, Sacramento, and the McCloud rivers in Northern California are the best in the world.. but I live here so it’s totally biased😂
I agree! Lucky to live here. Except the past two weeks when it's been terribly hot!
@@daveschlom4033 hit the trinity 2 weeks ago early morning and the release was up high enough that the steal head were all over the flys and streamers.. hooked up some big ones.. even a super large brown!!
@@LANsolo12 NICE! Going up to do some small stream fishing up by Lassen Park tomorrow. Get out of the terrible 110s here in the valley.
that would be the Upper Sac and the Lower McCloud (below the dam and through the Nature Conservancy section). I concur!
Yeah, but how crowded is it? Isn't California home to like 9 billion people?
I kid, I kid. I'm glad you've got that great fishing so close!
If the white river offers the biggest brown trout in the country why was it so high was it because of the accessibility?
Spot burning is getting pretty trendy
In America?, you have to include the state of Alaska rivers, at least 1 if not more need to be on the list
So quick question, the last time I went fishing I caught two really small ones. Are we aloud to keep the small ones?
You would have to check your state’s regulations
Ok thank you for your advice
The question should be, 'why would you want to keep a "really small one?" ' Put 'em back for next time!