I need a camping/fishing game plan

Me and the wife were first going to throw a delayed wedding reception in july, then decided not to. And now we're planing some kinda of a fishing trip.

I was thinking fly-in in alaska (kenai is my hometown), but it's a touch spendy right now... Looking for a nice quiet place to hike to in Washington (with monster hungry trout), or somewhere up to maybe 2 states away... I'd like this to be an easy enough i could show up and "know the way" sorta thing. Not against guided if the price is right. ($3.5k for an alaska trip, looks to be a tad much).
Specifics please, i don't want to chance the "good trip with the wife" on me randomly picking the wrong lake on a map.

4 days off work for the both of us.

The girl still "hasn't seen the way".... so can't do strickly fly fishing type things.

You should go to Holland Lake Lodge in Montana (http://hollandlakelodge.com). It's a 1.5 drive out of either Kalispell Missoula (if you fly), or about an 8 hour drive from Seattle. It's in the middle of the Bob Marshall Wilderness and literally surrounded by a hundred or so little lakes and streams. I'd specifically recommend fishing the Blackfoot river (45 minute drive towards Missoula) from as North as you care to go, down to where the Salmon River dumps in (quarter mile past the Clearwater Junction).

You can stay at the Lodge at Holland Lake OR rent out one of their private cabins. There are tons of great hiking trails (including 2 incredible waterfalls only 1 mile away), a great restuarant, and pretty much all the best outdoorsy things MT has to offer. Definitely check it out.

Careful.... I took my wife early on in our marriage to a remote cabin in BC for a week on a scenic river and near lots of lakes. Figured a cozy little cabin would be much better for her than camping in a tent (she likes that for one night, but not more usually).

Well, it was cool at first. It was way out there. We had to hike in a mile or less from where we parked. There were cool hikes that she loves in the area and some nice plances to drive to and explore. But then the mosquitoes hit. For some reason they really keyed in on her and left me mostly alone. She was swelling up all over and not having a bit of fun. After 2 nights I knew I had to do something or I'd never convince her to join me again... So I saved the trip by taking her to a nice B&B in whistler and spoiling her rotton for the remainder of the trip. (forgot to mention she was 4mo pregnant with our first - so that added to the pampering...).

thanks for the ideas, keep em coming.

RedChief: that does look like a really pretty place, is there fishing out the front door or is it more of a 'hotel' type setup where i'd need to travel from the lodge?

Chadk: I'm so worried about that, however she's dealt with bristol bay mosquitoes before (years ago, one of her aunts did commercial fishing up there)... but I'm trying to ease her in so it doesn't get ruined... the grand plan is a 160 acre spread (with a trout pool in the backyard) somewhere in alaska....... someday.

After 35 years of marriage (to the same women) here is what I would recommend:

Where ever you decide to go, devote yourself to her having the best time of her life.
Make sure that she is comfortable at all times.
Think of yourself as her personal guide, not her fishing/camping partner.
Do the things that she wants to do, when she wants to do them.
Let her decide how much help she wants and when she wants it.
Provide her with the same quality tackle, gear, clothing etc. as you provide yourself.
Don't plan on fishing yourself.
At the first sign that she is not having the best time of her life, stop and ask her what she would rather be doing and then make sure she gets to do it ASAP.

If you do these things in a natural unselfish way, she may want to go with you again and again - or she may decide not to go ever again - there is no guarantee.
But if you can't do these things, it's a pretty sure bet that she will eventually get tired of it.

I did not do these things very well myself and my wife 'put up' with our fishing and camping trips for quite a while (just to be with me), but now she never goes.

I made a big mistake!

You could definitely fish from the front door (if you're looking for lake fishing). Might be worth calling the front desk and verifying that, as it's been a few years since I was last there and who knows what new regs are in place.

A couple years ago, my wife and I rented a duplex/cabin at the 320 Guest Ranch in Big Sky Montana. The cabin was right on the Gallatin river and a short drive to West Yellowstone. We would hike during the day and I would fish in the afternoon we she was reading/napping. There were some excellent places to eat nearby. We both had a great time and I almost had her convinced that we should by a cabin on a trout river some day.

We also hired a guide for a day on the Madison. The guide helped my wife learn the basics while I got to fish. I would highly recommend hiring someone to help because teaching your significant other how to throw a flyline could very possibly ruin the trip (a lesson I learned after teaching her how to drive a stick when we were dating).

Having just completed a PhD in Womens Studies (along with the smack down final exam), and a Master's in Sensitivity Training (I pretty much failed, but managed to squeek by with performance points), I would ask her what she wants to do, rather than ask the Board where to go fishing, in a place that might be okay with her..... :ray1:

Believe me, it'll make things a whole lot easier in the long haul to build up some karma points while you can.

the girl isn't all that concerned on what.... just being away from people is good by her.

she does outdoors just fine, loves it infact (enjoys wheelin, fishin, shootin guns, campin... and she cooks and does laundry.... she's rad). I'm really not too worried that she won't enjoy herself.


her fishing setup is the same as mine (eagle claw pack rod and a crappy reel), aside from i went and got a dedicated fly rod and a fly reel (she doesn't really like the fly thing yet, just tying them).

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl:

Sounds like a good wooman. Wanna trade? send me some pix.

Dang! There I go again! Sorry Honeybunch, if yer readin' this..... I didn't mean it, I swear.

Yeah, that's what I need. Laughing emoticons from Jon B.

Sounds great, Uncool.
Just keep in mind that some day down the road she may say " Judge, instead of having a wedding reception, my husband took me on a fishing trip".bawling:

I would definitely take troutangler's advice to heart! Look at it as time spent with the woman you love, the fishing is a bonus! On our firts trip to mexico, I took my wife to be marlin fishing, she got sick and slept the whole time. To make matters worse it was her birthday!( sh&t!!, I forgot!!). After 20yrs. it still comes up( in jest only).You've got the rest of your life to fish! Chris

When i told her alaska would be too spendy for us, and asked if she'd like to do something else... she said camping and fishing, really guys i can't go wrong (well she might get bored if the fishing was unproductive...)

How many? And we are supposed to trust your advice?

Wayne

Ok, where is the 'spell check' on this website?

so the weekend has come, and we still haven't come up with a concrete plan. Thanks for the previous ideas, but the big trip has been impacted by other side trips and such.

although we'd still like to find a guide service that could take us in search of salmon monday or tuesday (dang, that's hard to do with no warning!... i do understand though). she doesn't want to have to deal with casting a fly around... and we do not have salmon gear...

washington and bordering states.

Thanks

We need Jeff Connelly to log on and PM you the various lodges that he and his fiance will be staying at in their upcoming honeymoon, wedding is Aug. 2. Or post em for all to see, for that matter, some pretty nice places on stellar fishing. I'll pm him to make sure he sees the thread.

Also, iagree on the points above re making it a great trip for her. It's a special time, and as said before, there is a lifetime to fish.

Maybe Henry's Lake in idaho, its world class stillwater fishing, not sure if its fly fishing only or what, other than that you could try a yellowstone trip, im not thinking of any place in particular just somewhere in yellowstone.