The South Fork on 6/17/07

Once again I took out Brady and Casey from Seattle on the South Fork, and it was absolutely brutal. The wind blew about 25 miles an hour all day long and made it extremely difficult on two new fly fisherman. We tried to get away from the wind on the Wolf to Twin Bridges float, but it blew down there also. Amidst the large breeze we boated 16 trout. We hooked something really big that we never saw, and we landed a healthy 18'' brown. I am starting to see a little trend starting on the Snake. It seems like almost every day a person can find an 18'' trout, but it seems like those bigger fish don't reveal themselves as easily. All of the other guides keep telling me when the salmon flies come out, so do all of the big fish. I can't wait for that. Give me a call to get on the river during the Salmon Fly Hatch.

The South Fork on 6/16/07

Today I fished with Brady and Casey from Seattle. The two of them combined had a total of three days of fly fishing experience. They were out here for a couple of days with their parents on a fly fishing get away. We decided to float the top section of the South Fork from Irwin down to Conant. Needless to say the fishing up in the top section was not quite as good as the bottom, but we still ended up boating 19 trout. However the white fish bite was wide open. I could make a lot of money if I was given a dollar for every white fish I catch in the top section. Even with all of the white fish, Casey caught a nice 18'' rainbow and a 20'' cutthroat on Lightning bugs in the afternoon. The hot bug today was the 14 BH Lightning bug tied by Orvis on the scud hook. Any day now the Salmon Flies are going to start popping. Give me a call if you want to get in on the action.

The South Fork on 6/15/07

God blessed me again today on the South Fork. I had the opportunity to guide Paul and Dick from Jackson on the Heise to Lorenzo drift today. The weather was a nice 80 degrees on the river. We ended up boating 22 trout today, and we could have gotten several more if it wasn't for a little miscommunication between me and my clients. My clients told me that they had to be off the water at 5:00. So I was planning on being at the boat launch about that time. But what they meant is that had to be back to the Lodge by 5:00. Since they had to get back to the Lodge, the last three miles of the day I spent rowing like a mad man down the river. Next time I will know better distinguish between the boat launch and the Lodge. The hot bugs today was a 14BH Lightning bug and a 14 tan San Juan Worm. Give me a call to come check out the South Fork this summer.

The South Fork on 6/14/07

Well I had my first day of guiding on the South Fork, and it was a success. I had two guests that were on their 38th wedding anniversary. I hope that when I have my 38th I will be fishing some where in the world. That is a really cool thing that I hope Bonnie and I can enjoy someday. In today's world 38 years of marriage is becoming a rarity. Congratulations to Pete and Sandy. We boated a variety of 24 trout today including brown, rainbow, and cutthroat. We didn't hook any monsters today, but we did manage to get three browns that were about 16 inches long. We are about a week away from this river turning on fire. Give me a call if you want a once in a lifetime opportunity to fish the salmon fly hatch!

The Blackfoot River on 6/10/07

So I went and checked out a new river that I have never fished that the Lodge guides. But I guess they only do a couple trips a year down it. The Blackfoot is about an hour from the house, and when we got there we found out that there was only a foot of visibility in the river. The river was really off color, so one could say that the fishing was not stellar by any means. Even with tons of Caddis and PMD's coming off there were no fish coming up. At the end of the day I had caught three fish, but all three were quality rainbows. I have never seen such an obese trout in my life. Make sure to check out the picture because it is funny how overfeed these trout are. The rainbows almost look like juvenile steelhead. I hope all of you are doing well, and I look forward to fishing with some of you soon.

The South Fork on 6/8/2007

I fished the South Fork by myself today. I floated from Cottonwood down to Byington. The fishing was awesome until about 4:00. I had close to 40+ hookups by myself, and I landed 7 trout that went 16 inches. The best part of the day was when I stopped and waded one particular riffle. The first cast resulted in a 16'' brown. The second cast resulted in a 16'' hybrid. The third cast resulted in a 16'' cutthroat. Now that is probably the best three casts that I have ever made. I think God was smiling on me. The top bugs today was a motor oil streamer and a size 8 rubberlegs.

There were a few challenges today. One it is very difficult to row a drift boat and cast at the same time, but I figured it out and didn't run into any logs or bushes. The other challenge hit about 4:00 when a thunder storm pounded me with rain for the last two hours of the day. I should have known better to pack my waders, but in the morning it was clear so I left them in the truck. Here I am rowing down the river in a torrential downpour in my board shorts and sandals. Come out to Idaho to get a chance to fish this phenomenal fishery.

The South Fork on 6/6/07

AWESOME!!!! This is the only word that I can explain the streamer fishing I had today on the South Fork from Heise to Lorenzo. I had the opportunity to fish with Pat, another guide from the Lodge, and we had a great day. We probably hooked 40+ fish on streamers. The top streamers were a black motor oil and a JJ. There is truly nothing better than a streamer grab. We hooked about 4 fish that went 18''. However I am still looking for that pig that I know this river has in it. Give me a call if you want to get in on some of this streamer fishing before it is over. I am getting pumped up for the Salmon Fly hatch. It should be here by the second or third week of June. If you don't want to streamer fish, the nymphing has also been very productive. I would try a brown rubberleg with some mayfly imitation trailing behind it. Hope you get a chance to fish this trout river this summer.

The South Fork on 6/3/2007

Well this is the fourth time I have been on the South Fork this week. Today I had the opportunity to float down the river with two other guides from the Lodge. Mike and Pat graciously showed me the Byington to Lorenzo float. This is one long ass float! The float took the entire day and we covered 15 miles of river. I must admit that I am a big fan of this lower river. This stretch has numerous braids and back channels that could take a guy a long time to figure out. All day we threw streamers in the riffles and on the banks. The fishing was good and we hooked 20+ trout on streamers. The biggest fish we got today was a 16'' brown. The hot streamer was a black woolly bugger with rubber legs. It seemed like every little drop off had a fish waiting to strike at our streamers. Give me a call to come fish the famous Salmon Fly Hatch on this world renown river. If you have never fished HUGE Salmon fly patterns then you need to get out here in a couple of weeks. Don't miss out on the biggest dry fly known to the west!

The South Fork on 6/1/07

Today was the third day in the row for me to row my dad down the South Fork. I guess I am paying back my dad for all of those days he took me fishing when I was a kid. All of those tangles are starting to even out. I guess I have about 20 more years to go. We decided to do a different section today. The two of us floated the bottom end of the canyon from Cottonwood down to Byington. Needless to say the fishing down there is much better now! At the end of the day we boated 30+ trout. The majority of the fish we caught today were smaller browns and cutthroat. However my dad got an awesome 18'' brown on a big ugly streamer. The brown went nuts when it was hooked. It was jumping and running all over the place. The river down in this section is awesome. There are tons of side channels and riffles all over the place. I look forward to doing this one again soon! Give me a call to get on this remarkable river. If you don't give this river a shot you are truly missing out.

The South Fork on 5/31/07

My dad and I decided to float the South Fork again today. Rather than doing the long float we did yesterday (15 miles), we decided to float from the Lodge down to Conant (10 miles).The flows dropped to 14,000 last night, so some of the spots fished a little better today. At the end of the day we had boated 17 trout. Today we focused a little harder on trying to get some of the larger fish to grab streamers, and it proved successful. I had one of the best streamer grabs I have ever had in my entire fly fishing career. I was throwing this 4 inch streamer on the bank, and as soon as the fly hit the water this 19'' brown exploded on it. It looked like a largemouth bass devouring a top water bait. Needless to say that I was pretty fired up about the grab. My dad also had a successful day. He landed a 18'' hybrid and cutthroat. The hybrid took a little prince nymph under an indicator, and the cutthroat grabbed a streamer. I felt much more successful today, and the float was much more manageable when compared to the one yesterday. Give me a call to come and fish the South Fork. This is a river you need to fish before you die!!!

The South Fork on 5/30/07

Well it is about time that I got out on the South Fork. On Wednesday the river finally dropped enough for my father and I to go check it out. Since the flow was still at 15,000 CFS there were sections of the river that were still blowing pretty good. We decided to float from Palisades Dam down to Conant. The fishing was a little tough and we boated a dozen trout. Most of the day we spent throwing streamers down the banks and nymphing the riffles. Nymphing proved much more successful. Even with the slower day my dad got on nice rainbow that went 18''. The hot bugs were a size 8 rubber legs and 14 lightning bug. Give me a call if you want to come check out the big hatches of stone flies that are only a few weeks away.