Idaho (and some MT) Trip Report
A good friend of mine has been riding the MS-150 with us from Houston to Austin for the last few years. He has a son that loves fishing but my buddy doesn't really fish. Hopped a flight to Spokane and met the guys at the airport then we drove all night to camp on Kelly Creek in Idaho. We had a great time and caught some small cutthroat!
How to set up camp at 4 am!
First fish on a fly rod!
Maybe he can learn to like this!
On our first morning, we hiked about a mile into an area with a small tributary to get some privacy. Made for a long 24 hours with work the day before but we didn't have any competition for water!
My friends dropped me off in Missoula, MT and then drove back to Spokane. Picked up a rental car and found the only shop in town open on Sunday at 4 pm to get some beta on where to head on my way towards Ketchum, ID. Fishing report for the Bitterroot (East Fork) sounded promising. Secured a hotel room and jetted off. Beta indicated needed to be on the water by 6 am. After a slow morning (2-3 fish by 1:00) headed off to Idaho.
As I drove along the upper portion of the Bitterroot, the water became much smaller with beautiful pools and runs (sorry, didn't any scenic pics). Hopped out in my flip flops and scrambled down to the stream and first cast raised a beautiful cutthroat (missed him, guess I was surprised). Threw on my wading boots, buff and sling pack and caught 1 dozen + fish from 5 or 6 different pullouts along the road. All hopper/dropper and nothing large but very much needed after a dismal morning.
Fished portions of the Salmon river around Stanley, ID then picked up wife at 9 pm in Hailey.
No trip to the valley is complete without a humbling trip to Silver Creek. The trico hatch was pretty wimpy while we were there but still had fun hoping to catch a spring creek monster on 6x/7x tippet.
Nice bull moose on the way into Silver Creek!
This is a beautiful place!
No large fish this time, super exciting regardless of size to catch fish on size 24 trico spinners
Wife had success, getting better year over year. Hint- 12' leaders are the minimum on spring creeks!
Who doesn't like Tenkara fishing?
This is trail creek behind our condo, perfect for 20 minutes with a tenkara rod
The next pics are in the area but location will be "undisclosed" Let's just say, it was a great day!
Caught a nice 17/18" cutthroat after watching a great run for about 10 minutes. After locating the fish, waded into position and made a single cast that was too tempting to ignore. It was a terrible spot to land a fish but managed to get him in the net.
We spent an afternoon on the Big Wood- fishing was great. Landed a beautiful 18" cutthroat that jumped out of the net after removing the fly. Not many pictures from that afternoon, too much action! Tried the Big Wood on a Saturday afternoon again and didn't catch a single big fish (all 6" or smaller). Had a good breeze and hoppers on the water but area had been hit hard in the morning and the fish wouldn't move...
Now- back to fly tying for a trip to Chile at the end of the year!