![]() ■ The Santee-Cooper Lakes-Marion and Moultrie, with 450 miles of shoreline-hold crappies, stripers, largemouths, and cats. Steven Brutger South Carolina: Santee-Cooper Lakes No tents-just parking spots for 75 RVs-but it’s close enough to the water that you can lick salt from the air. ■ What you see is what you get-water access to a striper-happy surf caster’s nirvana. There are private campgrounds aplenty, and public ones scattered through the Chickasaw National Recreation Area. ■ Not long ago, this 2,350-acre hog farm produced not one but two tournament entries of five largemouth bass totaling 40-plus pounds. The rainbow, brown, and native brook trout fishing is among the best in the East. ■ The Pisgah has developed and commercial campgrounds and roadside pullouts. Pitch a tent with the dunes at your back, build a fire below the high-tide line, and cast for redfish, bluefish, seatrout, and flounder. ■ You and your 4×4 can be hauled by truck ferry across Core Sound to the Southern Outer Banks. North Carolina: Cape Lookout National Seashore ■ A 2-mile sandy beach on Montauk gives you access to these famed striper waters. You can camp at Dingmans Campground at Dingmans Ferry, Pa., or at Worthington State Forest Campground outside Columbia, N.J. ■ The Delaware River delivers famed fishing, and American shad, smallies, and muskies top the list. Vic Schendel New Jersey & Pennsylvania: Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area ■ Stay at the Ruby Creek Recreation Area campground and work the Madison from Hebgen Reservoir to Ennis Lake. Plot your own Ozark trip in and around the Mark Twain National Forest. When early fall arrives, trout should fall prey. Wise will start stripping Game Changers for spring stripers and hybrids in the tribs of Norfork Lake, then chuck the bigger sizes for Ozark smallies and muskies. “It’s the fishiest fly I’ve seen in a long time,” he says. This summer, southern Missouri fly guide Brian Wise plans to work them all over with the Game Changer, a big, meaty articulated streamer. ■ The Ozarks pretty much have it all: pig browns in the tailraces, small-stream trout, muskies, ridiculously big bass. ■ Target landlocked salmon on flies, in the monstrous North Woods of Maine, and set up base at the famed Chewonki Big Eddy Campground. The best fishing is the three days before and after the full moon. “Can’t imagine it won’t be just as good this year.” Crickets and mealworms work great, but last year Pafford brought in green worms that sent redbellies on a feeding tear. “We had pound and pound-and-a-quarter redbellies in the store,” Pafford says. Last year was the best season locals could remember, says Merel Pafford of Bowhunters Gun, Archery, Bait, and Tackle right outside of Old Town, Fla. High winter water has pushed the Suwannee over its banks for the last few years, creating a smorgasbord for fish gorging before the spawn. ■ This Southern icon is all about big sandy beaches on the lazy river and stringers of redbreast sunfish (a.k.a. ![]() Plan ahead for campsites and bring gear for flats and bridge fishing. ■ The 128-mile highway connects island to island all the way to Key West. ![]() ■ The river below Hot Sulphur Springs flows through a patchwork of BLM and Colorado state lands with tons of camping options and public access for trout. A dirt road parallels the river, and there are five Forest Service campgrounds from which to choose. ■ It’s a dry-fly angler’s dream tailwater stream, with trout packed into a narrow canyon. Rainbow and brook trout thrive on the edge of the Dinkey Creek Wilderness. ■ Get your money’s worth from that lift kit on the OHV trails to Coyote Lake and Red Lake. ■ There are only 12 sites at the South Fork Campground-all within a long cast of the South Fork of the Little Colorado River. Public campgrounds are located at Quartz and Crescent Creeks. You can camp practically anywhere and cast to Arctic grayling and Dolly Varden mere feet from the truck. ■ This 414-mile gravel track parallels the Trans-Alaska pipeline from Livengood to the Arctic Ocean. Brian Grossenbacher Alaska: Dalton Highway Pack your truck bed to the gills to find fish and sleep by the river. Many of these parks and campsites fill up months in advance, especially on summer weekends. These destinations give you plenty of choices, including remote tent sites and RV resorts. And when you overhear a fishing tip at the camp shower, you can hightail it to the hot water. Whether you tent camp 10 feet from the tailgate or pull a fifth-wheel trailer, make a truck your base camp and you have a built-in fish cleaning station and picnic table, a bear-proof storage unit, and enough room to bring most of the comforts of home. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |