After leaving Quartzsite the first fishing stop of the spring 2010 was the San Juan River, Navajo Dam, NM, which has to be one of my favorite rivers to fish. It is a medium sized tail water river, not to big, not to small, easy to wade at normal stream flows, dependable fishing most of the time. Its also very technical fishing, long leaders, very fine 5 and 6x tippets, ultra small flies, #24, 26, and even #28's, with only very limited dry fly action, most of the fishing is done with a micro shot and a float indicator (fancy name for a bobber,, but don't call it that or the locals and guides will be offended)

All that said, you can catch lots of fish and some of those will be very large. The staff at Abe's is always glad be of assistance, there are two other fly shops in town and numerous guides if you feel the need for extra attention or want to have a boat.

The area above the Texas Hole, and the Simon Canyon access are my favorite portions of the San Juan. I also count it as a victory every time I get one of those tiny flies tied on to my tippet, # 24 flies 6x tippets and bifocals!

Our 2010 summer tour of points West and North has been a success. We left the warm water streams of the mid west in early August, and after pilgrimage to the original Cabela's, in Sidney, NE. we began to search for Fly Waters. 

The Main stem of the Snake River below Palisades dam was a disappointment, The river is very large, with steeply eroded and overgrown banks, dangerous to even try to wade fish in the deep channels and swift current. After a few days we moved on.

The Henry's Fork of the Snake river and its tributaries is considered sacred fly water by the many writers for the fly fishing magazine industry, but our first stop at Rexburg, ID was far from special.

After the river leaves the Island Park Cladera if is immediately diverted by the many irrigation channels in the valley. By the time it reaches Rexburg the Henry's fork is a slow moving warm water stream, not conducive to fly fishing. We moved on after a few days, after all when you can't find a Liquor store there has to be something wrong..

The Henry's fork and tributaries in Island Park are a hallowed place to many fly fishers. The streams get a lot of fishing pressure, but you can still catch fish. I found that a small caddis fly size 18 to 20 worked well. It is a joy to fish in the Henry's Fork in the Mack's Inn the current is gentle, the bottom is solid and sandy and the river is not overly deep, you can with care wade almost everywhere. The only problem is to avoid being run down by the many tubers, hoards of tubers, rafters, canoes and other water craft. I would wait till evening to fish and most of the riff raff would have gone home for the day. 

Many portions of the Henry's Fork above the Mack's Inn area are restricted, closed or private so know where you are and what the regulations are. We did not Fish much below Mack's Inn, but there are areas along the road and areas more secluded that you can hike into, all of which should be good fishing. The local fly shops are most accommodating posting the current hatches and hot flies, of course they want you to come in and buy those same flies, but I prefer to tie my own. In the town of Island Park there is an Orvis Fly shop along with several others. You can also get information from the fly shops in West Yellowstone, such as Bud Lily's.

I have also had good luck on the Buffalo River above the Buffalo Campground. With the river running on the south edge of the campground the easily accessed areas get lots of fishing pressure, but go a few hundred yards upstream and I found lots of very willing cutthroat trout to catch.

We were a week early to attend the Federated Fly Fishermen conclave in West Yellowstone, MT. But have in the past gone through the Museum they maintain there. I will have to keep the conclave dates in mind next time we travel through the area.

We spent a week at Mack's Inn and I caught fish every evening. Some days were better then others, but 

I always caught fish, not in huge numbers, and some times not huge in size, but every fish caught is a good fish, and every hour fishing is better than any other alternative. We finally moved on, the vast unexplored (by us) reaches of the west beckoned.

We left Island park for points west by going North into Montana, through Ennis and Twin Bridges, MT.

Traveling through the river valleys of the Madison, Jefferson and Beaver Head Rivers. At Twin Bridges, MT. We missed the opportunity to tour the R L Winston Fly Rod Factory, did not know it was there and could not get Ron to want to stop, so on we went. 

There are lots of rivers in Montana, and excellent access to the rivers, you can traverse any river as long as you stay below the high water mark. The problem is not so many fish, the Montana DNR likes to advertise you will be fishing for “Wild” fish, translation, we don't stock any fish so what you find is what you find and you'll have to work hard for it, or pay for a guide and boat.

Last Year in our travels through Mt. I had my best fishing on an ignored little road side stream east of Great Falls, MT. Streams such as the fabled Blackfoot river were busts, not only for my self, but every person I talked to. Could blame it on the weather, to hot, low stream flows, but mostly on heavy fishing pressure, and not enough fish put into the system. 

Reentering Idaho at Bannock Pass we were in the Lemhi River valley. The Lemhi River looks like a nice little stream, only 15 feet or so across, with heavy irrigation diversions, but still a nice stream, lots of willow to tangle your fly and a heavily cobbled bottom, not the easiest wading. I did not get to fish the Lemhi due to an inner ear infection that was affecting my balance. There were three fisheries biologists from Challis, Id in the campground, and they went out every evening for a bit, never did get a report from them.

Following the Lemhi river North we arrived at the the town of Salmon, ID. Lots of emphasis on white water river rafting, but no fly shop in town. My first hint. At the campground my second hint at the quality of fishing was the complete lack of fishermen's trails and paths along the river. The final word on the matter was delivered by a fisheries biologist a couple days later that the river gets to warm for trout, and that the only time to fish the river would be in the fall winter and spring for the steelhead and salmon runs. 

Several years ago I had fished the salmon river further upstream, above Challis towards the headwaters, and found it to be a nice stream to fish, but the fishing was a little on the slow side and I only caught smaller fish, steelhead and salmon smolts.

The Lochs River is now my most favorite stream to fish. We stayed at the Jerry Johnson campground, not far from the access/trail head for the Jerry Johnson hot springs, and I had the best fishing I have had in a very long time. The local Cut Throat trout were abundant and very willing to take a fly, many of the fish were also very respectable in size the largest fish taken were in the 18” range, and had a healthy girth to them. 

Fishing the Lochsa you might as well leave your waders in the camper, the current is very swift and the cobbles are large enough that wading can be dangerous. The biggest challenge is to find a way down the very steep highway embankment, a rope might be handy to help climb into and out of the river and up to the road. 

Fly selection or size did not seem to make very much of a difference, a dry fly fished dead drift over the right spot in the stream and you had a fish. I did use mostly #14 caddis fly patterns, but also used stimulators, adams, parachute adams, and they all worked—You can catch em on anything--! : )

The Lochsa is also easy to get to, the highway parallels it from Powell Junction, Id all the way to the rivers junction with the Selway to form the Clearwater River. Catch and release fishing, single barbless hooks. 

I was not so lucky on the Selway, different regulations, more fish removed, so fewer fish to catch. Same tactics as the Lochsa, but much easier to wade, and get to, the highway embankments were much lower. The Selway is also a bigger river, when wading pay attention to your surroundings. The fly fishing sites that extoll the virtues of the Selway all are talking about points very far from the end of the road with access via river rafts from the headwaters, a horse back ride or very long hike.

The Clearwater River below the Lochsa and Selway rivers did not get fished, my inner ear/balance thing was acting up. In talking with the fisheries biologist that I ran into in our travels I was told that the stream is fished primarily for Steelhead Trout and Chinook Salmon. There is a huge federal hatchery Below Orofino, ID. When we were at Orofino in late September the Steelhead were just starting to arrive, or expected. The Steelhead fishermen were there waiting and hoping.

Steelhead fishing is a whole nother form of fly fishing and I do not yet understand it, sinking or monofilment lines and large streamers. I am used to Dry Fly or Nymphs on a floating line, will need to latch on to a mentor or face a very steep learning curve. Of course neither Ron not I want to be in the north for real steelhead weather, November, wet, cold.

The final stop on the 2010 fall fishing tour was White Bird, ID. On the Salmon River. As on the Selway the Steelhead were anticipated. The River is very large, I would not advise trying to wade where we were at. I did catch a few small trout, along with a couple of what I think are salmon smolt.

We are Currently setting in an Idaho Power Co campground below C J Strike Dam south of Mountain Home, ID. There were lots of fishermen out over the weekend, heavy spinning and baitcast rods, and dead minnows fished on the bottom for sturgeon. It was relayed to me that there were actually two sturgeon caught and released over the weekend that were in the 8'0” range---really! Also there are lots of carp splashing the backwater below the spillway.

For the daily blog posts about the areas Terry is talking about go to the below INDEX link.
See the links for dates Aug. to Oct. 2010
 

Go to  INDEX  Page

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