Idaho Fly Fishing

[MST SigEp]

Does anyone on here have much experience fly fishing in Idaho. My father is taking a job for six months in Idaho Falls and there is a really good chance I will get to visit him. I hear the Snake River, both the north and south forks are excellent but don't really know much more than what I have heard. Anyone want to give out some tips for someone who will likely only have a day to fish and would like to improve his chances of large frequent hook-ups (wouldn't we all ) Tips on locations, dates, flies, you name it I would love to hear what people have to say about fishing the snake or really any other river/stream near there that regularly produce nice sized fish.

[stlfisher]

I have never fished Idaho, but just read an article on the Henry's Fork. While not what is once was it sounded as though it it is making a strong comeback. Might be worth a shot.

Oh, I am Sig Ep alum, but from a different university and what seems like a long time ago. Good times.

http://www.henrysforkanglers.com/

[Outside Bend]

PM sent.

[brittsnbirds]

A couple years ago my son lived in Sandpoint ID which is in the upper panhandle portion of the state. The wife and I drove out to see the boy and spend a few days with him. I did as much research as I could and fished the Coeur D'Alene, Kootenai, Moyie, and several other upper state rivers/streams. This was in late July and August when the terrestrial patterns were just starting to take off. I picked up some very dark brown elk hair colored hoppers in size 10 as well as some big stone fly patterns. The hoppers were the hit and only was able to catch a couple on the stone flys. I blame that on execution. I was only able to wade fish but was told the best fishing is floating as you can cover better water. Sometimes up there the wade fishing is very difficult as there are many medium to large, very round and slippery "bowling ball" rocks. Making it very difficult to walk. I eventually located a birch stick that a beaver stripped for me and utilized it as a staff to keep my balance.

One thing that I found strange was on most of the streams that I mentioned the locals and guide shops recommend that you keep all bows (rainbows) or throw them out on the bank. They consider them an invasive species.

I mainly caught cutthroat and brook trout with several bows in the mix. Not any huge size except one cutt that the guys at the Orvis shop were impressed with (picture). They said he was a lunker and it was surprising he was still in the river? Questioning their comment I wondered what they meant. They said the larger fish go down river to the lakes in the later part of summer. Having no prior knowledge and nothing to measure their honesty on I took their info as is. I was unable to corroborate their comments and wondered if I was fishing in one of their Guided spots.

I will tell you when you float a large hopper through a riffle into a hole be ready because those little Idaho trout are vicious!!

If your only up there for a day or two, especially where he is (East side near Yellowstone) spend the money and get a guide. It will be worth it.

One other thing that I had to worry about was the locals, bears. The fly shops recommend that you carry bear repellant, I did, Sig Sauer P220 .45. Nothing like packing a .45 in your waders trying to fish I only found signs but never saw any, just a couple of Elk and an Eagle or two, awesome!!

[BredMan]

Does anyone on here have much experience fly fishing in Idaho. My father is taking a job for six months in Idaho Falls and there is a really good chance I will get to visit him. I hear the Snake River, both the north and south forks are excellent but don't really know much more than what I have heard. Anyone want to give out some tips for someone who will likely only have a day to fish and would like to improve his chances of large frequent hook-ups (wouldn't we all ) Tips on locations, dates, flies, you name it I would love to hear what people have to say about fishing the snake or really any other river/stream near there that regularly produce nice sized fish.

I was in Jackson Wyoming a few weeks ago and spent a day fishing the Snake River with a guide. I was told not expect to land any lunkers. Over there it's mostly small cutthroats, rainbows, and white fish. That's pretty much what I caught. The Snake River was awesome to fish and the scenery was breathtaking! I would guess Idaho being right next door would be much the same. If you get the opportunity to fish the Snake River don't pass it up!

Dry flies( Wulffs-Stimulators), hoppers, and nymphs (Hare's Ear-Pheasant Tails-Prince's) were the choice of the day.

[Fishin4Fun]

Well, I grew up in Idaho and can tell you there are some great fisheries there. The Snake River is a great place to fish, even though I didn't get to fish it near as much as I would have liked. I moved to Missouri from Pocatello, Idaho, which is just south of Idaho Falls. Depending on how far you want to drive, the closest and best place would probably be Henry's Fork. If you want to do a little driving, then there is the Big Lost River and Silver Creek (which is a world renown stream), just to name a few of the more popular places. I grew up fishing both of these streams a lot since they were closer to the Sun Valley Idaho area where I grew up.

If you are going to only have one day to fish, I would highly recommend that you find a guide that can show you the ropes for the area. You won't find anything out there like Taneycomo, but what you will find is beautiful lakes, rivers and streams that are breath-taking. Especially when you get up into the mountains and fish the mountain lakes and streams. I have fished many streams, rivers and lakes in the area and the fish were plentiful, but usually not the size of the big ones in Taneycomo.

I hope you are able to find a great spot and/or guide that can give you a wonderful day of fishing. If I can help out in any other way, please let me know. I would love to hear how your trip goes. Please keep us posted.

Best of Luck,

Tyy

[Outside Bend]

Also,

Let me know when you're planning on going, a couple weeks in advance. If you'd like, I have a couple books I can mail you which have some pretty detailed maps of nearby rivers.