Tag Archives: Stanley Idaho

Fly Fishing on the Salmon River in Stanley, Idaho

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Mary Ann and I are now in Stanley, Idaho for her summer guiding season on the Salmon River.  We’ve been out on the river the past 3 days checking things out.  We drifted on Friday, did some walking around and wading on Saturday, and drifted the river again Sunday with our good friend and fellow fly fishing guide, Verlon.  Lots of bugs were starting to hatch….PMDs, yellow sallies, caddis, and golden stones…so the fish are starting to look up.  Here are a few photos of the past few days.

Mary Ann and I getting ready to hit the river.

Mary Ann and I getting ready to hit the river.

 

Mary Ann on the oars...a great rower!

Mary Ann on the oars…a great rower!

My first cutthroat of the summer season. Not a big fish but a healthy native.

My first cutthroat of the summer season. Not a big fish but a healthy native.

Trying our luck at swinging streamers with our bamboo switch rods.

Trying our luck at swinging streamers with our bamboo switch rods.

A big whitefish putting a good bend in my 8' 3" 5 wt bamboo rod.

A big whitefish putting a good bend in my 8′ 3″ 5 wt bamboo rod.

Mary Ann and Verlon with a nice Cutthroat that took an #14 olive elk hair caddis.

Mary Ann and Verlon with a nice Cutthroat that took an #14 olive elk hair caddis.

 

 

Photographing Fish When Your Alone

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Trying to photograph a good sized fish when you’re out by yourself can certainly be challenging…and frustrating.  I learned the hard way last year, and ended up with a cell phone going for a swim!  Wrestling with a fish one-handed, getting it out of the net, removing the hook, positioning everything just right, and then operating your camera for a self portrait often just doesn’t work.  Here is a great way to get a beautiful shot:

Find a spot where the water is calm and only about an inch or two deep, hopefully that you haven’t muddied up yet.  Lay your rod down in the water.  Holding the leader about a foot above the fish, guide the fish out of the net with the hook still in place and slide it up to your fly rod.  In most cases, I’ve found that the fish will cooperate and lay on it’s side for a quick photo….and….you haven’t even needed to touch the fish or take it out of the water.  Slide the hook out, and with a little nudging, the fish will slowly move away.  Here is a photo I took yesterday while fishing Marsh Creek here in Idaho:

A Beautiful Marsh Creek Cutthroat Trout.

A Beautiful Marsh Creek Cutthroat Trout.

Fishing Bamboo on the Salmon River, Idaho

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It’s interesting how quickly trout respond to changes in river conditions.  For the past several days, the Salmon River here in Stanley, Idaho has been blown out from flash floods that resulted in serious mud being dumped into the river.  The normal crystal clear Salmon River had become a water system of chocolate milk, with visibility being reduced to nearly zero.  But, a few days ago the river started to clear and Mary Ann and I were able to get out on the drift boat with one of my 8′  3″  5 wt. bamboo fly rods.  We weren’t really expecting much out of the day but the fishing gods smiled on us.  We managed to raise several fish on tan hoppers, and large streamers stripped through the deep runs worked also.  Here are a couple of fat fish that came to the boat:

The Salmon River after clearing from a muddy mess.

The Salmon River after clearing from a muddy mess.

A fat Westslope Cutthroat that took a large JJ Special streamer pattern.

A fat Westslope Cutthroat that took a large JJ Special streamer pattern.

A beautifully colored up Westslope Cutthroat that took a hopper.

A beautifully colored up Westslope Cutthroat that took a hopper.

 

 

First Fish On Bamboo

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I recently built a new bamboo fly rod, 8′  3″  medium action 5 wt, for Noel from Australia.  On a visit to the states, I got the chance to present the rod to him and take him fishing with his new rod.  On one of my favorite creeks here in central Idaho, Noel was able to hook this great cutthroat on a #14 tan ant pattern.

First Fish on Bamboo

First Fish on Bamboo

Fishing Bamboo on Bear Valley Creek, Idaho

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I’ve had the opportunity to fish one of my favorite stretches of water on Bear Valley Creek near Stanley, Idaho over the past week.  Bear Valley Creek offers spring creek like water for sizable cutthroats, smaller feisty brookies, a few rainbows, and whitefish.  But, fishing there is not always beginner fishing 101….it often can be graduate level and very technical if you want to tempt the larger fish.  Sometimes, you can’t seem to raise a fish, other times, you opportunistically catch a few isolated fish on a variety of dry fly patterns.  But, occasionally the stars all align properly and you slay a big cutthroat like the one pictured below.  But, its really all about getting out with a bamboo fly rod, an old Hardy reel, and experiencing a beautiful piece of water in total solitude…it’s not about the numbers of fish you catch.

A Big Cutthroat That Rose to a Little Yellow Sally Dry Pattern.

A Big Cutthroat That Rose to a Little Yellow Sally Dry Pattern.