{Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: Your favorite fishing city

I am going to throw Grand Rapids, Michigan into the mix.  I have never lived there but my ex girlfriend's family is from that area, so I spent a lot of time exploring Michigan, which I surprisingly and immediately fell in love with.  When most people think about Michigan (my previous self included), they think about Detroit and urban decay, but the state is actually a sportsman's paradise.  And Grand Rapids is a surprisingly cool, booming city with a lot of interesting cultural and social events.  As far as the fishing goes, it's hard to beat.  The winters can be a little brutal (less so lately) but if you are willing to fight the elements, you can catch fish all year round and do some great snowshoeing, cross country skiing, and other winter sports.  Here is the fishing breakdown for GR:

• You can get a condo in downtown GR for way cheaper than DC and be 100 feet away from a steelhead and salmon river.  The Grand River which bisects GR has a great run of Great Lakes steelhead and salmon.  You can literally just wake up, throw on your waders, walk outside, and catch steelhead and salmon before work.
  
• You are less than 90 minutes away from the fabled Pere Marquette and Muskegon rivers which are great trout streams with very good salmon and steelhead runs.
• Within an hour you can surf fish for salmon and steelhead in Lake Michigan.  Side note - you can do this from the Grand Haven beach, which is considered one of the best beaches in the US and an awesome beach town.
• Within an hour you can charter fish for salmon and steelhead in Lake Michigan.
• There are lakes all over the state that are chocked-full of pike.  No disrespect to largemouth, but catching a pike on popper puts bass fishing to shame.  It will put a serious bend in your rod and send major chills down your spine.  You can also catch muskie all over the state.
• Within 3 hours you can fish Lake St. Clair, which is considered by many to be one of the best smallmouth fisheries in the world.
• Within 3 hours you can fish some other fabled trout streams like the Au Sable and Manistee, which also have really good salmon and steelhead runs.
• Within 4-5 hours you can sight fish for monster carp in Lake Michigan in the summer.  On Beaver Island you can catch 30 pound carp  sight fishing.
• Within 4-5 hours you can fish all of the Ohio tributaries which are great for Great Lakes steelhead and salmon
• Within 6 hours you can fish Hemingway's favorite river the Fox and dozens of other beautiful spring creeks, small rivers, and salmon rivers.
• Lastly, you can finish up your day of fishing with great, cheap beer.  Within an hour of GR you can be at Founders, Bells, and New Holland breweries.

Just writing this is really making me kick myself that I turned down the opportunity to move to GR and be a stay at home fly fishing dad.  

Paul

On Thursday, December 13, 2012 3:24:46 PM UTC-5, Misha Gill wrote:

Throw Sacramento into the mix too, the Sacramento river has salmon runs and resident trout, plus it's in NoCal near Yosemite. I was looking at potentially going to law school there but decided on Carlisle, PA. 

On Tuesday, December 11, 2012 11:02:39 AM UTC-5, Kevin Huntington wrote:

So my girlfriend and I are moving in August. She is a nurse and I work for a large company in every major city.  We've been northeasterners our whole lives, and we want to try something new. We're kind of on a 1 year plan as we are both going back to school the following September. So, I'm looking for some input on best fishing cities in the country. I know this is a large question, but ideally we'd like to be within 45 minutes of a major city. We are open to anywhere and everywhere. I love to fish for all different types of fish, but obviously trout is the mecca for us fly rodders.  Year round fishing is major plus. Any opinion welcome!

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