Hypothetical question here....opinions?

England. But not to fish if I would like to see if my dads family is still there. He was Born in Newcastle on the something or other. It's located on some river. But if an opportunity came up to fish I would go for it.
 
NZ has always held a certain allure for me. Parts of that countryside look much like this area so it somehow feels familiar, although I imagine the conditions are like they were around here 100 years ago.

Scotland has some of the most glorious landscape I've ever seen, and their whiskey is the world's best (IMO), so that seems like a contender.

I've always wanted to fish the slow meandering streams in the meadows of YNP, since watching an angler cast at dusk, surrounded by herds of elk and clouds of bugs was what inspired me to take up fly fishing initially.

I'd love to do a horseback trip into the Wind River and fish that back country.

So many places, so little time. $10K would be a great start. I will send you my bank routing number and account number so you can transfer the funds.

Please accept my thanks in advance. Your offer is greatly appreciated!
 
Ireland, with my BF and maybe a couple others. I’d play a different course every day till the money ran out.
 
Well sorry to be a downer but you can not do the Seychelles for $10K. Farquhar is the "cheapest" lodge and this year it costs $12,775. With airfare, hotel on the way and way back, and tips you are looking at north of $15K. Alphonse is $9400 so its a bit closer to $10K but still not doable. Cosmoledo and Providence at basically $15K just for the lodge.

So glad I went and got my GT crossed of the list. It was expensive enough when I went.

So based on what I have done for my $10K I would go to the Rio Grande for sea run browns again. All things considered it was the best overall trip I ever was blessed to go on. And you could do it for $10K (or a little more depending on the lodge).
 
DFG said:
I'm with you.
(When do we leave?)
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Well, my daughter is roughly minus 19 days old, so I guess in about 18.052 years. I'm new to this, but I believe that is how it works and when I should expect to have my own dreams again. 😂

Rob Allen said:
That was my first thought as well but anymore what I crave the most is relaxation and the mountains of Montana is the most relaxing place I know.. I am not a death March fisherman anymore and all the hassles of international travel, not knowing the lay of the land and the pressure to have a "successful " trip. Doesn't sound as appealing as it once did.
Maybe this stems from two marginally successful BC steelhead trips.
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You are 100% on the money. The general consensus is that you shouldn't go to NZ, unless you meet at least one of the criteria below.
  1. You have friends that have been many times and are close enough that they will actually give you good information.
  2. You are willing to do months of research.
  3. You are prepared to blow a lot of money.
It is a long way to go and the risk of having a bad trip is pretty non-trivial. My father and I have planned two NZ trips, but both got cancelled because life got in the way. We are lucky to have known a few people that go to NZ every year and let us pick their brains. Even still, we did months of research in advance. Now all we need to do is find the time. I really hope we can make it, before he gets too old to go.
 
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I’d probably opt for a DIY Alaska trip again with a few fly outs or Argentina. I’ve heard Kamchatka has gone down hill over the years. 10k is a 50% deposit for some of the lodges that Yellow Dog has to offer.

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10K would go a long ways up in musky country....:unsure:
 
MT406 said:
I’ve heard Kamchatka has gone down hill over the years.
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That's a bummer as it's been a dream of mine since seeing "Eastern Rises"

That said, in all honesty, it wasn't a dream that I was likely to ever fulfill. Just too much money and too complex of travel for someone at my pay grade/family status.

NZ, AK, CAN, MT are all far more likely for me.
 
In reality, if I had 10K for a trip and the rules didn't say that it was JUST for me to use, I'd probably take the family (or maybe just the wife...) to somewhere nice in Hawaii and just enjoy some fishing there in the mornings and hang out on the beach all afternoon. Wouldn't get me super amazing fish. But it would be a new adventure for me + a warm relaxing romantic trip with my lady (something we are overdue for). Or hell, even a fun trip with the kids.
 
Josh said:
In reality, if I had 10K for a trip and the rules didn't say that it was JUST for me to use, I'd probably take the family (or maybe just the wife...) to somewhere nice in HI and just enjoy some fishing there in the mornings and hang out on the beach all afternoon. Wouldn't get me super amazing fish. But it would be a new adventure for me + a warm relaxing romantic trip with my lady (something we are overdue for). Or hell, even a fun trip with the kids.
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That sounds perfect!
 
Josh said:
That's a bummer as it's been a dream of mine since seeing "Eastern Rises"

That said, in all honesty, it wasn't a dream that I was likely to ever fulfill. Just too much money and too complex of travel for someone at my pay grade/family status.

NZ, AK, CAN, MT are all far more likely for me.
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Let me know if you ever make it out to MT. I’ll point you in the right direction.
 
Long_Rod_Silvers said:
Cosmoledo would be my first pick, but I think it's close to 2x that.
Second pick would be Kamchatka. The price is right.
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Or I'd save it an put it toward my bucket list trip (renting a bigger boat and fishing my way up the coast from WA to Alaska end of summer thru fall).
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Fished the Sopochanya and the Uhtolik in the mid 90's. The steelhead fishing was indeed magical. I now wish I had tried to get them to come to a skated fly but at that time I was too new to it to really care what type of set up I was using. They were remarkable fish fresh from the ocean. In those tundra drainages with little gradient they would blast right on through without stopping for long in any given run. Here one minute and gone the next. The largest fish we caught were all hens a little over 20 pounds. I think we caught 5 of them in about 1/4 mile of water during a 3 hour period one morning and then they were gone.
 
Matt B said:
Hmmm. I think I’d either:
-Launch a self guided mission for sheefish in Alaska
-Guided week for golden dorado, maybe in Bolivia
-Australian saltwater. Maybe marlin on the flats?
-Giant tarpon somewhere interesting
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PM me if you really want to try to make a self guided trip to Alaska for sheefish work. That is a trip I would do again and 10K would help a lot with some of the logistics of it.
 
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