Back in Idaho for the Summer

[RJSFLYTRIP]

Last week the wife and I took a nice 15 hour drive to our home for the summer in Idaho. I will once again be guiding on the South Fork of the Snake in Swan Valley through the month of August. I am excited for all of the dry fly fishing that awaits in the next couple of weeks. But at this point in time the dry fly fishing is going to be a while. It is really wet and cold out here. It has been raining for the last week and we have been stuck doing some nymphing. Haven't done any of that before in California:) We have been able to pull a couple decent days of throwing streamers but as a guide I get nervous of big hooks flying over my head. Wednesday I took a size 2 out of my neck. Gotta love the dangers of being a guide. That hard hat is starting to sound better each day I am on the water.

Right now the word on the street is that the Salmon Fly Hatch is about a week and a half away. That means by the first week of July things are going to be on fire. So for those of you coming out to Southeast Idaho get excited for what is to come. For those of you heading to the freestones expect some muddy water. Most of the rivers around here are high and brown. The tailwaters are fine but everything is probably not going to be fishable until the first part of July.

I will be back in the middle of September to start guiding our home waters for the famous egg bites for trout and steelhead on the Sac, Yuba, and Feather.

[Finsane]

I'll be heading up the last week in June, mainly fishing the upper river. Maybe I'll venture down a little farther this season....

[esummers]

RJ,

Any wading opportunities in that neck of the woods? I'll be heading to Montana on my annual trip to the Madison, but I wanted to hit the South Fork as well. I'm going solo so I don't really have the $ to swing a guide trip. July 4th - July 12th. Any help you could provide would be appreciated.

Thanks

Eric

[Finsane]

RJS Need some info.. I heard the river is going up to 20,000+ and the lake is 96% and the run off hasn't even started yet. What is your take on this situtation?

I hear flooding is now a concern? Is the river still fishable at these flows??

[slimfishin's]

BOR really miscalculated the run off this year. So, that means that the spring flushing flows requested by IDFG to help the cutthroat out were canceled, because they forecast they didn't have enough water. So, now that Palisades is full, they are going to let it rip - way higher than the flushing flows would have been. Only problem is that they are about a month late, so instead of helping the cutthroat out, they'll turn the water loose on them right during the peak of the spawn. Perfect timing.

The same thing is happening in the Boise drainage. I suspect there's going to be a lot of trips switched over to the Henry's Fork and the Teton. Hopefully the flows come down soon and the trout season is salvaged.

[Finsane]

The season will be later than normal. My favorite time of year is mid to late june into july. THe river is usually at 15-16,000 at this time of year.

Will the high flows delay the Salmon Fly hatch??

My trip is postponed at this time. Mid to late July is now on my radar.

[RJSFLYTRIP]

Sorry about not getting to the replys earlier. I haven't been watching the board that much lately.

Things on the South Fork are over 23,000. So the Salmon Fly Hatch is not going to be happening any time soon. I would expect the hatch to come off by the 1st week of July depending on the releases from Palisades Dam. Hopefully things will start coming back down sooner than later. Also with all of the recent rain there are a lot of muddy creeks flowing into the river. So the lower river is unfishable at this point in time.

The wading opportunities on the South Fork are very limited. The south fork is mainly a drift boat river because of the volume of water pouring out of Palisades Dam. Most of the summer the river is between 7,000-12,000 cfs. Lots of water to be wading in. Around the South Fork there are plenty of wading opportunities like Rainey Creek, Palisades Creek, Bear Creek, Salt River, Greys River, etc. If you are willing to hike a little bit you can find lots of willing cuttys to take your dries later in the summer.

Hope this helps.