Green River below Flaming Gorge in Utah is pretty amazing.

Boulder/Denver area is great. Tons of great places to fish in a 30min-2hr drive radius. Great creek/stream/river fishing and plenty of alpine lakes 10,000ft+

Beer is beer. Food in Boulder is so so, but Denver has a pretty damn good food scene though for what it is.

I'm gonna throw AZ in the hat! Lee's Ferry is one of the most beautiful places to fish. You are essentially fishing the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, thousands of feet of redwall surround you as you cast to some of the most gorgeous rainbows. Super small area so food is meh but there is hiking everywhere, and you could couple it with a southern Utah trip.

Oh and we have two native trout, one of which this is the only place in the world to catch.

Lees Ferry, it looks like your in the Grand Canyon. In fact, the waters just below the boat launch are managed by Grand Canyon National Park.

Gotta throw MT and my float in the BigHorn into the mix!

Appalachian Mountains and/or Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Plenty of waterfalls, full day hikes, through hikes with camping, or total wilderness areas. Plenty of small towns nearby with stuff to do if you need a day off, as well. You can catch 4 trout species, largemouth, and smallmouth bass all in one day. If you need a guide I'm your huckleberry. I love rock hopping for tiny natives and setting up a camp for a few days.

jordan river in utah

Upper and lower Owens river. Kern river. Parts of the Gunnison in CO.

Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Montana.

The Black Hills are pretty great. There aren’t a lot of long hikes required but the streams are all smaller and easily wadeable. The scenery is Spearfish Canyon is spectacular.

The local shop is Dakota Angler and Outfitter and they have excellent guides.

Well, this is a dubious question. How is this weighted?

Not to be obnoxiously philosophical, but that depends heavily on the fisherman’s preferred fishing situation.

Gotta add New Mexico here. The San Juan is world class fishery but there are dozens of other good rivers there. I’d put it 6th at least

So many options that entire stretch.

You could hit the North Platte River in Wyoming, wind River in Dubois, WY, go through Tetons/Yellowstone and fish the Snake, Firehole, Yellowstone, Madison, etc

Don’t stop in eastern ID. No good fishing.

The Frostop in Ashton, Idaho has good french fries.

Stop at every puddle that holds a fish

Idaho and Wyoming are good. Montana is way too crowded on every stretch of river. You'll have a better time going around and avoiding Montana.

I don’t want to get ahead of myself but I think the vast majority of the rivers in the western US have multiple outfitters that offer guided trips. I can’t say that I’ve compiled a list or anything because that would be a monumental task. April might be a little early, depending on the runoff situation and how far north/south you want to go. You might consider looking up some some southwestern states/areas (NM, southern CO, UT perhaps?)

No clue if such list exists. Just about every state has a "(state name) guide to fly fishing" book and that would be a good reference to start.

Otherwise here's how I'd approach it:

1. What do I want to catch?
2. What type of water do I want to fish (if 1 doesn't dictate this for you)
3. What climate do I want to fish in
4. What states offer these options
5. Which states will have the best option for me based on the month I want to fish
6. What waterways are guided in this location
7. What do I need to do as far as travel to this location
8. What are the accommodations available when I'm there (camping/hotel/house, food, bar, etc). Honestly this one more so helps decide what friends I would invite on a trip. I have some friends that would prefer to not camp and vice versa.

It would be easier to make a list of western rivers that aren’t outfitted.

come down and get on a boat out of San Diego - we're killing bluefin, but the yellowtail and Dorado are good fighting/eating too (sorry, not responsive to your question, but figured I'd throw it out when I saw the extensive experience)

Does it have to be trout?

Spokane, WA. World class waters in every direction.

Asheville, NC. But maybe you are thinking more populated.

Portland, Minneapolis, Syracuse

Redding, CA

Philadelphia, PA

Look, I love fly fishing in Michigan and I love the Au Sable but pales in comparison to Montana. The shear vastness and beauty of Montana can’t even be explained .

Heck yea, me and my gf’s dad would go fishing on this river since her aunt and uncle lived right off it. He passed a few months ago I’m going to miss fishing with him

How does one get into fly fishing? I think I would like it

Depends on where in the river. Some areas don’t have issues with PFAS but have other things like mercury, others have bad issues with PFAS. The area downstream of the Foote Dam has ‘Do Not Eat’ advisories for many fish species. MDHHS puts out an ‘Eat Safe Fish’ guide which covers most major waters in the state. Just about every fish you will catch in Michigan (and most of the country/world) will have some amount of PFAS in it.

Hemingway used to fish Michigan rivers in his youth.

Wisconsin. Insane amount of public water access and not nearly the pressure as Pennsylvania.

Freestone streams: Montana

Spring Creeks: Tied, Pennsylvania & Montana

Limestone streams: Pennsylvania

Salt water: Florida

Florida. No contest. Not only the best saltwater, but also some of the best bass fishing, the only state with Peacock Bass or Snook*, and you can comfortably fish 365 days a year. In a different spot every single day without repeating.

Honestly, any state where I can follow those sweet stocking trucks right up to the bank and use a squirmy. Bonus points if I don’t have to put in any effort like walking on dirt or stepping on leaves

Montana has some of the most angler-friendly access laws in the entire country. What are you talking about?

Totally agree, don’t ever fish in Montana. It’s terrible and people are mean. It’s 110 degrees and smoky all summer and -30 all 10 months of winter:)

Look up the Poudre River. It runs right through Fort Collins. Awesome small city.

Easy.

Nantahala, NC (or Bryson City) Fayetteville, WV Boise, ID Grants Pass, OR Richmond, Va

Spokane.

Finally a question I’m definitely qualified to answer- If you want quality whitewater with good flows year round in the US you basically have two regions that offer this- the Southern Appalachians from the Mid Atlantic through north Georgia/Alabama, and the Pacific Northwest west of the Cascades. A couple small towns for people who want to prioritize whitewater above all else are Fayetteville WV and Hood River, OR. If you want a proper city that has things like jobs and still offers excellent whitewater, Portland and Chattanooga are two good options. If you’re willing to put up with more seasonal access to whitewater, there are lots of cities in the western US that would work.

Blacksburg, Va