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[newsman]

With the recent post (reports page) on a eastern fishery;I have been wondering who else among the group have fished outside BC and how would you rate the fishing. I will start this thread:

Northern Washington State; not bad for trout, great for bass.

Idaho; a trout fisherman's dream. Lots of trophy fish.

Montana; good but over rated. About the same as our BC interior.

Ontario; the best I have ever experienced. Wide diversity of species and lots of them, with car access-ability. They may not have 70 lb plus spring or huge white sturgeon, but the opportunity for a novice to encounter high catch ratios far surpasses anything I have encountered here in BC.

I may sound like a traitor to some, but I don't see it that way. We have the potential to have the best fishery in North America and the history record shows we once did. The fault falls in lazy and poor management, neither of which I support.

[cutthroat22]

Ontario: When i as younger caught tons of bass, pickerel, crappy, sunfish, pike, gar-pike,  walleye, frogs, turtles...never any trout or salmon though...There are water bodies everywhere in Ontario.

Yukon: No idea what the name of the lake was but caught dozens of small pike in 2 feet of water with poppers from shore...fun!  Just like Ontario there is water everywhere.

PEI: Caught a lot of brook trout while fishing for Atlantics.   Slow meandering rivers that flow backwards when the tide comes up.  I think the fishing there is seasonal.

[Every Day]

Oregon (Central): Would move there if I could. Crystal clear rivers that are 10 feet wide that you can see bottom and all the fish. Having to perfectly present a dry fly for those beautiful 5-8 pound redbands that fight like hell. Also have bulls up to 20 pnds, and steelhead that will get the blood pumping. Lakes stocked with Atlantics and browns/lakers and huge rainbows. Hooked a few over 15 pnds within 6 hrs in one day.

Washington: Decent for nice sized rainbows. Pretty good for Bass.

Yukon: Didn't fish much when I was there, but wish I would have. Decent for everything, even off of the beach. Found fish to be small but probs cause I didn't have a boat.

Alaska: Tonnes of salmon in the early summer, like June/July plugging up the rivers.

Been a lot of other places that I fished once or twice, mostly just for trout though.

[blueback]

I grew up in Ontario and lived there 30+ years before moving to BC, so I fished there lots and caught lots too. I've lived in BC since '92 and have done pretty well here because some very talented and knowledgable rods saw fit to teach me 'the ropes' shortly after I arrived. I am eternally grateful to those (actually pretty well known in fishing circles) men. Now people may think that because of what I'm about to say colours me as a 'meat guy' but I'll say it anyway. In Ontario, all the fish I caught there were 'put' there by government or NGO's; nothing was originally natural. All the original fauna back there was wiped out (pretty much) and 'replanted' to support sports harvests. The only possible exception I can think of was the commmercal fishery for perch and whitefish in Erie and Huron, and possibly some Brookies and Pike/Musky and Sturgeon and of course bass and sunfish. Anyway, what impressed me when I arrived in BC besides the awesome species (salmon/steelhead and trout) was that I could actually eat what I caught. Back in Ontario, one must be cautious about eating anything because of the pollutants present pretty much everywhere (at least in the Great Lakes and various associated systems), and the government provides guidelines addressing this. Lots of folks enjoy catch and release, and I do too for some species but for the most part I like to eat what I catch and BC affords me the opportunity to do so, and my family and myself eat alot of fish. Anyway, I've fished in BC, Ontario, England, Scotland, and Florida and Mexico. I would love to try New Zealand and Russia (for Taiman).    

[skaha]

--I would have fished many more provinces if they had a Canadian License system. Even though drivers license is provincial I don't have to get a new license for each province unless I move there for several months.
--I know it would not be without its problems but I'm thinking with your provincial license you should be able to fish up to 3 days in another province. Or maybe something similar to the conservation stamp.. the conservation stamp purchased for other provinces would be just added to your licence and that province would get the fee.

--I"ve trekked across Canada several times with fishing gear... stopped at a rustic campsite along a river or lake... having to just sit and watch as no license for that area. 

[Dogbreath]

You guys should head down to Westport WA and do a Tuna  trip-all kinds of fish.

Remember there is no limit on tuna,keep fishin till your arms fall off.

[newsman]

I grew up in Ontario and lived there 30+ years before moving to BC, so I fished there lots and caught lots too. I've lived in BC since '92 and have done pretty well here because some very talented and knowledgable rods saw fit to teach me 'the ropes' shortly after I arrived. I am eternally grateful to those (actually pretty well known in fishing circles) men. Now people may think that because of what I'm about to say colours me as a 'meat guy' but I'll say it anyway. In Ontario, all the fish I caught there were 'put' there by government or NGO's; nothing was originally natural. All the original fauna back there was wiped out (pretty much) and 'replanted' to support sports harvests. The only possible exception I can think of was the commmercal fishery for perch and whitefish in Erie and Huron, and possibly some Brookies and Pike/Musky and Sturgeon and of course bass and sunfish. Anyway, what impressed me when I arrived in BC besides the awesome species (salmon/steelhead and trout) was that I could actually eat what I caught. Back in Ontario, one must be cautious about eating anything because of the pollutants present pretty much everywhere (at least in the Great Lakes and various associated systems), and the government provides guidelines addressing this. Lots of folks enjoy catch and release, and I do too for some species but for the most part I like to eat what I catch and BC affords me the opportunity to do so, and my family and myself eat alot of fish. Anyway, I've fished in BC, Ontario, England, Scotland, and Florida and Mexico. I would love to try New Zealand and Russia (for Taiman).    

I wouldn't worry about the "meat fisherman tag", some people are to selfrighteous for their own good. In an outdoor writers conference a few years back, I along with more than a few members of (the BC branch) of the outdoor writers of Canada, heard it a  from the top end of both the FFSBC and the DFO that we writers need encourage the public harvest some fish.     

[newsman]

You guys should head down to Westport WA and do a Tuna  trip-all kinds of fish.

Remember there is no limit on tuna,keep fishin till your arms fall off.

Here is another one; I was first informed about the tiger musky in some of Washington State lakes this last spring. I plan to make a trophy musky my next fly fishing challenge.

[marmot]

Alberta in the foothills of the rockies is amazing... Berland, muskogee, little smokey etc.  Beautiful places to fish, tons of grayling and a few bulls too.

[Toprod]

I'm from northern Ontario myself, and while nothing beats the fishing here, its pretty darn good there too. Rainbow, brown, brook, and lake trout, chinook, coho, and pink salmon, pickerel, pike, musky, small and largemouth bass, lake whitefish, herring are all on the fishing menu in open water and through the ice. Generally speaking the waters up there are unpolluted and fish safe to eat.

[blueback]

Thanks Newsman; I appreciate your thoughts. The one fish I would really like to tag still (at least in Canada) is a Musky. I remember back in the seventies at about 12years old, fishing with my dad out on Lake Nipissing (west end) when he got into a fish that when brought to the boat, wouldn't fit into the net and I could only get the front half in and as a consequent lost the fish. Big pike net too. I thought my dad was going to throw me outta that boat and make me swim home but he only laughed (after a few moments consideration, I'm sure). It was a Musky for sure as I was a fishing 'geek' back then and was quite adept at fish ID. It was a big thick fish that must have been @20-25 lbs. I'd LOVE to get one of those ( just to release) . 

[D.Sams]

Having been born and raised in central/northern Ontario, perhaps I remain a slight bit biased in appreciating the fishing there more than most.  My ideal target species happens to be Brook Trout and there are a plethora of opportunities back east, should you know where to look.  That being said, I can certainly appreciate my present surroundings, both local and provincial, as an opportunity for world class fishing. 

[newsman]

Having been born and raised in central/northern Ontario, perhaps I remain a slight bit biased in appreciating the fishing there more than most.  My ideal target species happens to be Brook Trout and there are a plethora of opportunities back east, should you know where to look.  That being said, I can certainly appreciate my present surroundings, both local and provincial, as an opportunity for world class fishing.  

I love brookies too, and have caught some real lunkers (5 & 6 LB) in the Cariboo. It is a toss up as to what thrills me more, big (20 to 26 inch) wild river rainbows on a dry fly or big brookies on dragonfly nymphs. I would like to fish for those 36 inch plus brookies in Labrador some day.  

[arimaBOATER]

Mainly in BC but also in Manitoba (prov with 100,000 lakes) Lake Manitoba had some nice fish to be had pickerls etc.....even in large ditches -swamps off that lake...beside my uncle's farm had SUPER BIG & PLENTYFUL SUCKERS !!!

Mind ya the wildlife...badgers coyotes dear timber wolf all sorts of birds (you name it) skunks,grouse, huge frogs, big & fat garner snakes in the hunt for the leaping big frogs...frog would tire 1st & the snakes would get their meal .......
But lots of secret or not tto well fished lakes in BC that produce ALOT of fish.
Really nice though to fish a differ area for sure.

Super post topic !!!
 
(thanks Rod for the good work...I'm now A-BOATER !!!) 

[troutbreath]

Ontario:
I always enjoy going back to Lake of the Woods area. Lots of lakes to fish and almost no one at them. Good river fishing too.
Alberta:
Love fishing the hike in lakes at Waterton and the foothill streams.
Washington:
Use to always fish in the ocean there. Not any more after a bad run in with one of there conservation officers. He had his hand on the trigger and was sweating on the lip.

Next time a drive back to Ontario going to take time to try Saskatchewan and Manitoba.