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Reel Vacations
Fishing rods set in holders on a boat over open water

Plan by what matters to you

Fishing Trip Finder

Choose a fish, a month or a kind of trip. Results come from our researched destination guides, with the reason each one fits.

24 destinations

  1. Aerial view of Shroud Cay's mangrove creeks and pale sand flats meeting turquoise shallows in the Exuma Cays

    The Bahamas

    Bahamas Out Islands

    Plan a Bahamas Out Islands fishing trip: bonefish, permit and tarpon on the flats of Andros, the Abacos, the Exumas and Long Island, the lodge model, DIY wading, seasons, hurricane timing and flats licences.

  2. Clear, pale-green shallows and a palm-lined caye beside Turneffe Atoll with a skiff moored off the beach

    Belize

    Belize Flats and Cayes

    Plan a Belize flats fishing trip: bonefish, permit and tarpon at Turneffe Atoll, Ambergris Caye and Placencia, the Grand Slam, the lodge model, catch-and-release rules, marine reserves, seasons, hurricane timing and licences.

  3. Fishing boats and pangas crowded into the Cabo San Lucas marina

    Mexico

    Cabo San Lucas

    Cabo San Lucas sits at the tip of the Baja peninsula with the Pacific on one side and the Sea of Cortez on the other. Striped marlin peak in winter, blue and black marlin in summer and fall, and October brings the big billfish tournaments.

  4. Docks and sportfishing boats at the marina in Quepos on the Pacific coast

    Costa Rica

    Costa Rica Pacific Coast

    Costa Rica's Pacific coast runs from Guanacaste through the Central Pacific marinas at Quepos and Los Sueños to Golfito in the south. Sailfish and marlin are the draw, with roosterfish, dorado, tuna and snapper closer in. December to April is the dry season.

  5. Destin Harbor packed with charter and pleasure boats beside a white-sand point and emerald water, with high-rise condos beyond

    Florida

    Destin

    Destin is a Gulf of Mexico fishing town on Florida's Panhandle, with a harbor full of charter and party boats, deep water a short run offshore, a calm bay behind the beaches, and a month-long fishing rodeo every October.

  6. Aerial view of the Seven Mile Bridge running west of Marathon beside the old Flagler railroad bridge over turquoise water

    Florida

    Florida Keys

    The Florida Keys put flats, backcountry, reef and offshore fishing within a short run of each other. Tarpon and permit in spring and summer, sailfish in winter, mahi in summer, and snapper all year, with charters in every town from Key Largo to Key West.

  7. Calm open water of Houghton Lake at dusk with a wooded far shore and grasses in the foreground

    Michigan

    Houghton Lake

    Houghton Lake, Michigan's largest inland lake at more than 20,000 acres, is a drive-in ice fishing base for walleye, pike and panfish, home of the January Tip-Up Town USA festival, and a summer lake for walleye, bass and bluegill with public launches and beaches.

  8. Anglers fishing from a small boat on the Kenai River

    Alaska

    Kenai Peninsula

    Plan a Kenai Peninsula fishing trip: the Kenai, Kasilof and Russian rivers, halibut out of Homer and Seward, salmon run timing by species, combat fishing, guided vs DIY, lodges and the drive from Anchorage.

  9. Put-in-Bay harbor and marinas on South Bass Island seen from Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial

    Ohio

    Lake Erie Western Basin

    Ohio's western Lake Erie, from Port Clinton and Marblehead to the Bass Islands, Kelleys Island and Sandusky: spring walleye on the reefs and the Maumee and Sandusky river runs, yellow perch, island smallmouth, a large charter fleet and ferry-hop family trips.

  10. Open water on Lake of the Ozarks with lake homes and docks along a wooded shoreline

    Missouri

    Lake of the Ozarks

    A 54,000-acre reservoir in central Missouri with more than 1,150 miles of shoreline, known for largemouth bass around docks and brush piles, crappie in the creek arms and catfish from spring through fall, plus a long list of family resorts and rentals.

  11. Little Bay de Noc under a clear blue sky, seen past dry shoreline grasses from Gladstone

    Michigan

    Little and Big Bay de Noc

    Lake Michigan's two northern bays around Escanaba, Gladstone, Rapid River and the Garden Peninsula in Michigan's Upper Peninsula: walleye and perch through the ice in winter, then open-water walleye, smallmouth bass, pike and summer salmon.

  12. Boats and waterfront homes along a calm bayou at evening in Dulac

    Louisiana

    Louisiana Gulf Coast

    Louisiana's coast runs from Venice at the mouth of the Mississippi to Grand Isle, Lafitte and Cocodrie. Redfish and speckled trout fill the marsh most of the year, and offshore boats fish the rigs for yellowfin tuna, snapper and more.

  13. Sunset clouds over open water on Mille Lacs Lake

    Minnesota

    Minnesota Lake Country

    Central and northern Minnesota's lake country, from the Brainerd Lakes to Mille Lacs and Leech Lake, built on walleye, pike, muskie, bass and panfish, the mid-May opener, family resorts with boat packages, and winter fish-house villages.

  14. Manistee North Pierhead Lighthouse and breakwater at the mouth of the Manistee River on Lake Michigan

    Michigan

    Northern Michigan

    The northwest Lower Peninsula pairs Lake Michigan charter ports like Ludington, Manistee, Frankfort and Grand Traverse Bay with salmon and steelhead rivers, inland lakes for bass, walleye and pike, and trout streams such as the Au Sable.

  15. View from the bow of an aluminum boat running across a boreal lake near Kenora

    Ontario

    Northwestern Ontario Fly-In Fishing

    Plan a fly-in or drive-to fishing trip in Northwestern Ontario's Sunset Country: lodges vs outposts, walleye, pike, muskie, lake trout and bass, floatplane weight limits, the border, licences and what drives the cost.

  16. Sportfishing boats docked at the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center marina

    North Carolina

    Outer Banks

    North Carolina's Outer Banks pair Gulf Stream charters out of Oregon Inlet and Hatteras with surf fishing on national seashore beaches, piers and the big sounds behind the islands. Spring and fall suit most inshore fish; summer is the offshore season.

  17. Wind-driven waves roll onto the beach at Bay City State Park under an overcast sky on Saginaw Bay

    Michigan

    Saginaw Bay

    Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay is Michigan's big walleye bay: jigging through the ice from about January, a spring river and nearshore bite, summer trolling across the bay, and yellow perch from Linwood and Bay City to Sebewaing and Caseville.

  18. Angler launching a drift boat on the Beaverhead River at Twin Bridges

    Montana

    Southwest Montana

    Plan a southwest Montana trout trip: the Madison, Gallatin, Yellowstone, Missouri at Craig, Big Hole and Beaverhead, base towns from Bozeman to Dillon, seasons around runoff, float trips, and park permits.

  19. Fishing and charter boats packed into the Homer Spit harbor below the snow-capped Kenai Mountains

    Alaska

    Homer

    Homer is the Kenai Peninsula's halibut port: a big charter fleet on the Homer Spit, stocked king and silver salmon in the Fishing Hole, Kachemak Bay's rockfish and lingcod, and an easy add-on to a Kenai River trip.

  20. Two anglers flats fishing on clear aquamarine water between mangrove islands near Islamorada

    Florida

    Islamorada

    Islamorada is the Keys town most built around fishing: a big fleet of flats guides and offshore boats, quick access to Florida Bay and the Everglades backcountry, winter sailfish, and decades of sportfishing history.

  21. Charter fishing boats tied up at Key West Bight Marina under a blue sky

    Florida

    Key West

    Key West is the Keys base for anglers who want offshore and wreck fishing, permit and tarpon on nearby flats, and long runs west to the Marquesas and Dry Tortugas, all with a full vacation town waiting back at the dock.

  22. Charter fishing boats heading out past people on the pier at Ludington North Breakwater Light

    Michigan

    Ludington

    Ludington pairs a Lake Michigan charter port with the mouth of the Pere Marquette River, a harbor lake that fills with Chinook in late summer, Hamlin Lake for walleye and panfish, and Ludington State Park for the family.

  23. Great Lakes freighter Algorail moving up the Manistee River channel past raised drawbridges in downtown Manistee

    Michigan

    Manistee

    Manistee pairs Lake Michigan trolling and pier fishing with the Big Manistee River below Tippy Dam, the Little Manistee weir, Manistee Lake at the harbor's back door, and Portage and Bear lakes up the shore.

  24. Boats anchored on deep blue West Grand Traverse Bay off Traverse City on a clear summer day

    Michigan

    Traverse City

    Traverse City sits at the foot of Grand Traverse Bay, with lake trout, Chinook and smallmouth in both arms of the bay, a fall salmon run up the Boardman River, inland lake trout water, and Sleeping Bear Dunes nearby.