More Summer Fly Fishing in Idaho

We got the chance to fish Big Creek in Central Idaho this summer with a group of friends….fly in by small plane to a dirt runway…and pack horses to a wilderness camp. Fishing was excellent for cutthroats in the 10″ to 15″ range with large dry flies.  Mary Ann and I fished our 8′  0″  5 wt bamboo fly rods the entire trip.  Here are a few photos.

Waiting for the planes to take us to Big Creek.

Ready to board.

Big Creek down below.

Saddle Up!

 

Ready to ride!

Working a great run with dry flies.

A nice cuttie!

One More that fell to a Clark’s Stonefly Dry.

Summer Fishing In Idaho

Mary Ann and I spend a week fishing in Stanley, Idaho this summer on the Salmon River.  Here are a few shots our time out with our 4 wt bamboo fly rods.

All about Bamboo!

My 7′ 9″ fast action 4 wt rod.

Mary Ann working a nice run.

More “fishy” water with Mary Ann.

 

Some of the local wildlife.

Fishing, Fishing, Fishing!!!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on my Blog…been fishing a lot this summer.  Mary Ann and I spent 6 weeks fishing in Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado.  In Oregon we fished the Owyhee River, in Idaho we fished the Salmon River, Marsh Creek, and Bear Valley Creek, In Wyoming we fished the New Fork River, Savery Creek, North Platte River, and Encampment River.  In Colorado we fished the Frying Pan River, Yampa River, Service Creek, and the Poudre River.  And, we used a variety of bamboo rods along the whole trip.  Here are a few random photos from our “summer vacation”.

The Sawtooth Mountains near Stanley, Idaho.

The Salmon River

A beautiful Salmon River Cutthroat.

Marsh Creek, Idaho

A Marsh Creek Cutthroat

The New Fork River, Wyoming with our great guide, Ryan Hudson.

A beautiful New Fork Rainbow

Mary Ann fighting a Savery Creek Rainbow.

Cicadas were the bug-of-choice at Savery Creek

A Savery Creek Rainbow

A Frying Pan River rainbow that took a PMD Comparadun.

The Yampa River in Colorado

A beautiful brown that came to the surface for a dry.

A Yampa River Cutbow

Euronymphing on the Poudre River in Colorado

Service Creek, Colorado

A nice Service Creek Brookie

Fun video of floating the Salmon River in Idaho

When Mary Ann was guiding the Salmon River in Idaho a few years ago, there was one particular stretch of river she called “The Gnarly Zee’s” because of all the rocks in the river. The current flow wasn’t fast, but the rocks required some tricky navigation of the drift boat to get through without hanging up or hitting the rocks. Here is a fun video of Mary Ann rowing us through that section.

Bamboo Switch Rods on the Salmon River, Idaho

I’ve been out on the Salmon River this week with my 10′  6″  5 wt hollow-built switch rod trying to entice some of the larger fish that might be lying to ambush a fly presented in ‘just-the-right-way’ to them.  I’ve been swinging weighted streamers on intermediate leaders through the deeper runs.  I’ve also been trying skating an assortment of large dry flies on the surface with furled switch rod leaders from Cutthroat Leaders through the calmer water.  Here are a couple  of the fish I was able to get to the bank for photos.

A nice Bull Trout that took a #6 Black Wooley Bugger with a weighted gold conehead.

A nice Bull Trout that took a #6 Black Wooley Bugger with a weighted gold conehead.

A beautiful native Cutthroat Trout that took a #12 foam bodied Black Caddis skated across the surface of a shallow run.

A beautiful native Cutthroat Trout that took a #12 foam bodied Black Caddis skated across the surface of a shallow run.