Stonefly Madness on the South Fork of the Snake

Well I think I may be mostly recovered from a combination of a two and a half day fishing trip on the other side of the state followed up with a nice little flu bug.  Talk about wiping a guy out.  The trip was a great one though.  One of the better years for us hitting the Stonefly hatch.

Night number one was spent at one of the upper canyon campgrounds.  We pulled in at dusk and set up our tent in the dark.  The two hour float down to the campground yielded nothing in terms of fish.  I was wondering just how the next day was going to end up.  After sleeping lightly due to high anticipation and lumpy ground we were back on the river at 7:00 the next morning.  As I climbed into the boat that morning I noticed both the boat and the grass along the rivers bank were covered with many smaller Yellow Sally Stonefly's.  There were also quite a few larger Golden Stones crawling around and it didn't take long on our float to notice a couple bugs the size of a small bird fluttering on the water.  The Giant Salmonflies were out as well.  We went straight to the Stonefly patterns starting out with a moderately sized #8 Stimulator.  Sure enough the fish were eating it up.

After lunch I switched over to a small PMD pattern for a while as there was a tremendous hatch of the mayflies as well and I picked up several nice fish on the smaller bugs.  Finally we pulled out of the river at 7:00 that night, loaded up the boat and headed back up river to put in to float the couple hours back down to the camp we had left set up from the night before.  Again that upper stretch yielded nothing.  Very odd.

The next day I was hoping to get another early start so we wouldn't get off the river too late for the 5 1/2 hour drive home.  I slept much better though being worn out from the previous day and I woke up with a start at 8:30.  We finally were back on the river at 9, a full 2 hours behind our day one schedule which put us at the take out at 7pm.  I was hoping this late start didn't mean we would be arriving at the take out that day at 9pm.  It turns out we were able to make better time on this day and still manage a few fish in the process.

The fishing wasn't quite as hot as we landed a couple fewer fish on the day but things were still happening on the river.  We made it to the take out again at 7pm and cleaned up the boat for the drive home.  We were on the road by 8 and made excellent time on the drive.  All in all it was another tremendous trip down the South Fork of the Snake.  I hope we are able to get back up there this fall for some streamer fishing for the big browns.

Video Share Time

Found this out there on the world wide this evening. A little spring fishing, some of it on the South Fork of the Snake with streamers. A river I enjoy floating a lot but have never done this time of year. Pretty good camera work anyway by this guy. Enjoy.

More Pictures From the South Fork of the Snake

I didn't take many pictures with my camera on our float a couple weeks ago but I got Warrens pictures from his camera so thought I would add them. We had a great time and got Warren into fly fishing. So here are the pictures:

At the Launch

On the River

A few shots of a beautiful canyon

Warren in action

Day 2 I had a good lunch break in a big eddy. I ate my sandwich while making casts to some rising cutts feasting on BWO Emergers.

Warren pulled off the South Fork Slam this trip. First a nice South Fork Brown.

Then a healthy native Cutthroat.

And finally a very nice Rainbow.

Two Days in the Canyon

Big Flies

Looking forward to a float down the South Fork of the Snake later this month and on trips down this river I always like to have a good arsenal of streamers just in case.

My Favorite River

My favorite river, the South Fork of the Snake, produces big fish. This I know for a fact. The biggest I have landed there was a 25" fish with a 14" girth that estimates at 6 pounds. That, it turns out, is just a baby. There are much bigger fish in the river. Idaho's state record brown trout until 2007 was a 26 1/2 pound fish caught there in 1981. I have tangled with a couple fish here that I would have just liked to get a look at before they busted me off. Both pulled like a freight train and made runs that were impossible to stop. Running upstream while our boat drifted downstream, I could only watch as line peeled off my reel, then shake my head when the *pop* came and 100 feet of slack line flew back over my head.

A post on Outdoors International today sent me daydreaming again of another float trip through "the Canyon." The fish pictured below was apparently released alive and well after being shocked up in a round of surveys by the Idaho Fish and Game this year. My crack staff is currently analyzing the data and should have the GPS coordinates nailed down by next summer.

(photo from Outdoors International)

Dreaming of the Southfork Salmon Fly Hatch

Well it was a lazy Saturday so I spent the day dreaming of the Southfork of the Snake River in July. Dry fly bonanza with nothing smaller than a size 6. Here are a couple fly's I tied up:

If it doesn't blind em it may catch em

A More Standard Stimulator Pattern

Then I decided to try something different. Another fly meant to simulate the Giant Salmon Fly, and tied according to a pattern in a recent issue of Northwest Fly Fishing magazine called Dave's Dream Stone. I didn't do this great pattern justice, and I made many, many mistakes in my first try at this fly but I think it will work. We will see. Remember I am a rookie tier still. It is my first try and the hatch won't go off on the Southfork for another eight months so I will have some time to perfect the pattern. It is one I look forward to using come the middle of July.

A fish's perspective of the fly from the bottom

Side view

Another look at the bottom, this fly just looks fishy to me.

It's a Dirty Job, but Someone Has to Do It

The Tools of the Trade...

...the sweatshop...

...and the fruit!

It's all in a days work really...It's a rough, rough life out there on the river.

South Fork of the Snake Video is in!

Well Tom went with us on the latest trip to the South Fork of the Snake River and shot some fishing footage to use for an episode for his website basecamplegends.com. It turned out good as do all of his videos so get over there and check out the rest of the site. Here are the results of our float:

Part 1


South Fork Part 1 from Tom Sorenson on Vimeo.

Part 2


South Fork Fishing trip Part 2 from Tom Sorenson on Vimeo.

Pictures From the South Fork of the Snake

Our camp under a lone Juniper

Another Fishing Report, This Time in the Form of a Poem

We had a good fishing trip to the South Fork of the Snake, but the sun may have fried my brain, along with the lack of sleep that comes from a fly by night trip like this. Obviously something has affected me. I am usually not quite this "good" at poetry:).

All told we boated somewhere around 20 fish and had numerous strikes and fish on that got away. Kelly caught the biggest fish of the day, a big brown pushing 20 inches, and I landed one of the bigger cutthroat, 19-20 inches, I have ever caught out of that river. Interestingly enough it was out of the exact same hole, and I mean exact, that I caught my biggest trout to date, a 25" Brown last September. What was really neat was that I saw him come up and take a fly off the surface just before we got there so I knew he was there when I casted into the hole but wasn't sure he would be coming back up for another bite. It is always fun when you have things come together so nicely.

Another somewhat interesting happening came when we went down one good looking side channels in the river. I was casting into perfect looking pockets and in the span of about 75 yards of river had five consecutive fish smash my big stimulator fly but no hookups. After taking some ribbing from the other yahoo's (my father-in-law and my little brother) in the boat I thought, "you know, I have been known to miss a few fish but that was just weird, I better check my fly to make sure it still has a hook." Really I had no expectation that there would be any such discovery but sure enough when I pulled the line in and looked at the fly there was a perfectly good looking #6 stimi with no hook. It had broken off mid shank. Not sure when that happened but I have a good idea that it could have been the result of one of my hookups with the thick brush along the bank and trying to yank the hook out of there. Anyway, it was another fun trip. Looking forward to the next one already. Pictures are soon to come, for now you are stuck with a goofy poem:

T’was the Night of the Hatch
By Benji

T’was a cool night in July, and all over the river
Not a creature was stirring, not even the beaver
The 5 weight was rigged, and leaned against the wall
Ready to go, for that expected call

Then it was Friday, and work was, well…work
And my casting arm, was developing a jerk
I clicked on a website, with remedies for this
The fishing report, said “’The Canyon’…can’t miss”
“The Salmon Fly’s, are hatching their way”
“Up, up the river, at a mile a day”
“By Monday” they said, “you can be expecting to see”
“Fish piling up, under each bush and each tree”
“Gulping huge bugs, as they slipped from the twigs”
“Fish with good size, some call them pigs”

In a flash it was on, I threw the gear in the truck
Said good bye to the family, as they wished me good luck
Barreling down, the freeway we went
One image in my mind, a rod that is bent
In the shape of a taco, and on the end with the hook
A big German Brown Trout, worth a second look

At Spring Creek we launch, with our heads in the clouds
Expectations are high; the call of the river is loud
The ramp is alive, with boaters bustling about
Here we are putting in, while they are all taking out

As we float under the highway the bridge fades from view
Leaving civilization behind, to see “The Canyon” anew
The sounds of the road die slowly away
Displaced by the sound, of the oars and soft sway
Of the drift boat, as it bobs gently along
In the current, that’s in tune, to nature’s sweet song

Casting in time, to an inaudible beat
To fish that we hope, are ready to eat
I get my first strike, yet it’s gone in a flash
But fish fever has set in, (minus the rash)

Finally a hookup, the brown puts on a show
Splashing and jumping, not ready to go
Into the net, and a quick, painless release
It swims back to its hole, with grace, and with ease
Ah, this is the cure, for the twitch in my arm
The river soft rush, has rung its silent alarm

The rest of the float, is more of the same
Big bushy flies are the pawn in this game
Under each grassy bank, there are trout eager to eat
Where the rivers swift current, and the canyon walls meet

As my mind, and the river sync up in their pace
I am glad for one day, I am out of the race
They say is for rats, but we do it each day
Hustle and bustle, to each make our hay
No matter how short, we make the best of these times
Even when they result, in these ridiculous rhymes

This Big One Didn't Get Away...

Well it happened 2 1/2 days ago but I am still smiling today because of my latest fishing trip. The place is the South fork of the Snake River about 45 minutes East of Idaho Falls. There is a stretch of river there known as "The Canyon." It is a good 12 hour float depending on the time of year in a drift boat from the put in at Conant to the take out we use at Byington. The river which follows a highway for much of its path winds lazily out and away from that road through a steep walled canyon lined with majestic Cottonwoods and filled with wildlife. I have seen Bald Eagles, Beavers, Osprey, Deer, Moose, and Turkeys now on the 4 floats I have taken down the canyon. It is truly an experience just for the peaceful float but when you add in the fact that the river is loaded with hungry Cutthroat, Rainbow, and Brown Trout it becomes a must do item each year despite the fact that it is a 6 hour drive each way for me. This year the trip was epic, yielding the most fish, and the largest average size fish, and producing my own personal best trout.

South Fork Sunrise

The trip got off to an outstanding start when we arrived at the put in at 7:00am and saw the parking lot was empty. It is always a welcome bonus to have the canyon virtually to yourself. We launched the old 16' Alumaweld and headed for the opposite bank. We received another boost to our outlook for this trip when on my third cast of the day I flipped my fly in against a stump whose roots were exposed to the river due to some erosion and felt the jolt as a colorful 17 inch brown sucked down the streamer I was using.

South fork Brown

About 100 yards downstream I got a real wake up call as too what kind of quality fish dwell in this river. As I threw my white Zonker streamer up against some rocks along the bank I watched my line drift with the current and suddenly just stop midstream. It was running deep there so I knew something had taken my fly. I set the hook and felt no give, just a solid tug back. Then as quickly as it started it ended when whatever I hooked into decided it was out of there. My line took off upstream at mach 10. I could not react in time to loosen my drag and the 3x fluorocarbon tippet (about 8 pound test) snapped at the eye of the fly. Two seconds was all that one lasted but I would like to see the fish that took that fly. After loosing that fly though the rest of the day was a one fly affair for me. I tied on a tan and brown Bead Head Zonker and never had to switch.

The Fly of the Day

We caught nice cutthroat, rainbow, cutbows and browns with little effort all morning. Kelly landed a big 21 inch brown but we must have caught 5 more between us that were pushing the 20 inch mark.

Here are a couple more shots of the scenery in the canyon:

Then about 3 in the afternoon we were in the middle of a little lull in the action. Kelly had been on the oars and I had been fishing for about a half hour and I hadn't even had a follow. I was getting a little weary and actually was just about to suggest we switch and I row for a while. Then along a rock wall that the river cut into making some real deep protected pockets for fish to hang in I threw the streamer right up against the wall. As I stripped it in trying my best to mimic a wounded bait fish making a fast yet sporadic get away, I saw a flash of yellow as a big brown came out of hiding to ambush the hapless little zonker. As soon as I saw the flash I knew this was a fish and a half. The next 10 minutes would prove that to be true as the big hook jawed male pulled trying to get into any number of hazards near his lair. We were in moderately fast current with a large boulder with driftwood caught up on it downstream and some ugly rocks against the bank so Kelly had to row furiously upstream to hold us in the pocket we were in. He was constantly rowing, I was fighting this monster, and we are both trying to figure out how we would be able to get him in the net. Soon my forearm was cramping up as this fish made run after run and I had to put a little more pressure on him than I wanted to keep him out of those rocks and driftwood piles. We had him in the net twice only to have him escape and go on another run. Finally on the third try Kelly scooped him up and I had my biggest trout landed yet. A 25 incher with a girth over 14 inches. He estimates at just over 6 pounds.

By the time we finally land him we were all shot, Kelly from rowing, me from fighting the fish and of course the fish was beat. He had two small flies in his mouth that he took from previous fishermen, a small copper john and a bead head pheasant tail. All in all I ended up landing 15 trout all over 14 inches most in the 16-18 range. Of course it was an awesome trip. I want to go back tomorrow!