Fishing destination ideas-HELP WANTED

Joined
Mar 25, 2019
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530
I have the privilege of being my best friends best man (for the second time) this November and along with that get to plan something memorable for him as a bachelor “party” beforehand. He is an avid fisherman which I can’t say about myself so I need some guidance from you who are. I’m looking for ideas for an adventure based around fishing for 6 guys. Most of us have extensive experience camping, backpacking, and paddling and are not afraid to travel. One is coming from Denver, one from VA, and the rest from SE PA. Budget has not been established but like anything else, the cheaper the better. Some preliminary thoughts are boundary waters, Canada cabin on a lake, tropical bungalow, float trip etc…
He was good enough to go along with me as a non hunter on a backpack elk 2 years ago so help me give back to him on an awesome fishing adventure.
Appreciate any advice y’all can send my way.
Thanks
Jesse
 

UtahJimmy

WKR
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SLC, UT
How long before the November wedding are you wanting to do this? Timeframe and an upper cap on budget will be help us out a lot.
 

thedutchtouch

Lil-Rokslider
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Sep 2, 2021
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How long before the November wedding are you wanting to do this? Timeframe and an upper cap on budget will be help us out a lot.
Also what type of fisherman is he, an avid flyfisher and an avid bait fisher would likely prefer slightly different types of trips.
 

GSPHUNTER

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Jun 30, 2020
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You might want to look into six pack fishing trip out of San Diego or Long Beach/San Pedro. As the name implies, they only take six passengers. They will even provide fishing gear. You bring your own food and drinks. Depending on time of year, it could be White Sea bass, yellow tail, or tuna, blue fin or yellow fin. These are general over night rips. Boat leaves dock about 8pm, depending on where you head you can start fishing in the dark or if you head father out fishing could start in the grey. Head back to dock in time to get there about 7-8 pm.
 
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oregon coast
I have the privilege of being my best friends best man (for the second time) this November and along with that get to plan something memorable for him as a bachelor “party” beforehand. He is an avid fisherman which I can’t say about myself so I need some guidance from you who are. I’m looking for ideas for an adventure based around fishing for 6 guys. Most of us have extensive experience camping, backpacking, and paddling and are not afraid to travel. One is coming from Denver, one from VA, and the rest from SE PA. Budget has not been established but like anything else, the cheaper the better. Some preliminary thoughts are boundary waters, Canada cabin on a lake, tropical bungalow, float trip etc…
He was good enough to go along with me as a non hunter on a backpack elk 2 years ago so help me give back to him on an awesome fishing adventure.
Appreciate any advice y’all can send my way.
Thanks
Jesse
Without a budget, I will throw out waterfall resort in se Alaska. The resort is top notch, completely in the boonies about 20 miles from Craig, can only get there by boat or plane, and they have access to some of the most epic fisheries in the country.

My buddy runs a boat for them every summer, and the caliber of ocean kings they get is amazing. For a fishing trip of a lifetime, I think it’s hard to beat
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2021
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Salt Lake City
Pyramid Lake in Nevada is an incredible fishery, I wouldn’t call it an adventure outside of chance at catching a 30-40lb trout. You can also fish the Truckee around reno and bounce over to Tahoe.
 
Joined
Jan 18, 2023
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Do some research on Capt. Peace Marvel out of Venice Marina, Venice, La. The good thing about a bachelors “party” down there is there is not much trouble a man can get into. Takes a half dozen women to get a full set of teeth most the time.

But the fishing is literally outstanding. There are also “cast and blast“ trips packaging duck hunting and fishing. And bow fishing guides as well.
 
Joined
Dec 7, 2014
Messages
615
LA Bluewater charters are going to run you 1500-2k per day, plus tip plus gas you are looking at probably 3k a day. Are you guys DIY guys (have in depth experience) or will you need a guide? How active of fishermen are the other guys in the group?

Ideas:
ENP, rent a houseboat in flamingo and rent a skiff or two (you'll need pretty good nav stills and boatmanship to pull this off). You could also canoe it but it's hard to see much that way.

Okefenokee for bowfin is a blast if you don't consider them trash fish. Stay is cheap but there is nothing around and it's pretty miserable conditions unless you are into it. You can camp on platforms and canoe the park.

Devils river always looked like a blast to me.

A flight to the Virgin islands/bahamas/yucatan/Dominican would be fairly easy to do within your budget. Wade fishing for bones, permit, tarpon, snook,etc. You could also charter for flats fish or offshore for marlin, dolphin, wahoo, etc.

Backpacking in YNP would be easy on your budget and offers amazing fishing, so do quite a few other public lands. You could always combo this with a day or two in a city doing guided driftboat trips.

A multi-day float in rafts would be a great trip too, it would just require some logistics and rowing experience. Don't fool yourself into thinking you can row because you have kayaked/canoed...it's completely different.

I've heard awesome things about Canada and the boundary waters, not sure on logistics.
 

Jon C

FNG
Joined
May 17, 2017
Messages
60
Location
Wisconsin
I have the privilege of being my best friends best man (for the second time) this November and along with that get to plan something memorable for him as a bachelor “party” beforehand. He is an avid fisherman which I can’t say about myself so I need some guidance from you who are. I’m looking for ideas for an adventure based around fishing for 6 guys. Most of us have extensive experience camping, backpacking, and paddling and are not afraid to travel. One is coming from Denver, one from VA, and the rest from SE PA. Budget has not been established but like anything else, the cheaper the better. Some preliminary thoughts are boundary waters, Canada cabin on a lake, tropical bungalow, float trip etc…
He was good enough to go along with me as a non hunter on a backpack elk 2 years ago so help me give back to him on an awesome fishing adventure.
Appreciate any advice y’all can send my way.
Thanks
 

Jon C

FNG
Joined
May 17, 2017
Messages
60
Location
Wisconsin
Lake Michigan on WI side. Depending when big salmon,browns and steelhead. Boat fishing September is a blast for king salmon,Oct and November steelhead and browns. Kewaunee or algoma in September and Musky or walleye on Green Bay is a super trip. Don’t have recommendations on guides but haven’t heard of any bad ones. If you want some night life Milwaukee,Racine,port Washington and Sheboygan are great. Check out Eric Haataja on Facebook or u tube if you want to see how they fish.
 
Joined
Oct 24, 2015
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W. Wa
We need more information - namely budget and what type of fisherman he is. If he’s into saltwater fly fishing trying to plan a trip around bass fishing with gear probably won’t be great for him.
 
Joined
Jan 26, 2017
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PA
The summer and fall tuna and Mahi fishing out of new jersey can be really, really good, and it's convenient for most of your group.
 
Joined
Dec 7, 2014
Messages
615
Yeah, I definitely think more info on the goals of the trip are needed. Do you want to drink and “fish” or do you want to fish hard? Just like hunting some guys just want to drive up to a deerstand to relax and some guys want a DIY backcountry adventure.
 
OP
Jahvette20
Joined
Mar 25, 2019
Messages
530
Also what type of fisherman is he, an avid flyfisher and an avid bait fisher would likely prefer slightly different types of trips.
Between now and November I’m sure we could make something work. Budget has not been established. It would be one of those things that the appeal of details would need to be sold to some of the guys to justify costs. He mainly bait fishes so that would be the focus but option to fly fish would be a bonus.
 

thedutchtouch

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 2, 2021
Messages
185
Between now and November I’m sure we could make something work. Budget has not been established. It would be one of those things that the appeal of details would need to be sold to some of the guys to justify costs. He mainly bait fishes so that would be the focus but option to fly fish would be a bonus.
well it sounds like you've got a lot of options. ivebeen out to SE alaska a few times to salmon/halibut fish, it's a great time and a good combo - halibut fishing is mostly bottom fishing, and salmon mostly trolling, so two different types of fishing, either has their fun/challenges, and they're both delicious. you're loking at june/july most likely, you can find out the times that the different vrieties of salmon run to plan around, best to go with a local guide for halibut, makes a different knowing where/how to set up re: bottom type, depth/change, and tide.

if you want more of a fun in the sun trip, tarpon fishing can be a ton of fon - not an eating fish, if that's important, but i've enjoyed catching them and it's somewhat of a bucket list fish for a lot of fishermen that don't live in warm locations. go down to florida and you can angle for them, or many other types of sport fish, heck, youd likely be able to find someone to show you how to catch goliath grouper with a whole chicken if you want that type of trip. thats two polar opposite sides of the country to consider. florida would have more variety if the group isnt 100% outdoorsy.
 
OP
Jahvette20
Joined
Mar 25, 2019
Messages
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Yeah, I definitely think more info on the goals of the trip are needed. Do you want to drink and “fish” or do you want to fish hard? Just like hunting some guys just want to drive up to a deerstand to relax and some guys want a DIY backcountry adventure.
Goal would be an outdoor adventure with 0 concern about drinking, entertainment, or any sort of debauchery. I am good with planning any sort of logistics from buses, trains, flights, etc and have extensive experience with my own boat within 5 miles of land and solo diy packing/hunting deep into NF. I like rugged no frills, however some comforts might be appealing to the collective. Right now I’m just looking for any sort of ideas to take to them and see what sticks. Jersey salt isn’t much of a destination for us. Small mouth is his normal target so I’d like to eliminate that.
 
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