Snake River With the Snake in runoff, the tailwater reach below Jackson Lake Dam continues to off the best fishing opportunities. No watercraft allowed at the moment, but it is still fishing well via wading. Visibility is very good also. Cool water temps means the best action is below the surface. Double/triple nymph rigs fished in eddies, seams, and along banks and structure are producing when fished in the six to nine foot range of leader from trailing fly to line/suspension device. Midges are working best, followed by BWOs and then moderately sized attractor nymphs. Streamer fishing has been decent, although not near as consistent as nymph rigs. If you do choose streamers, go with s

Living on the Idaho-Wyoming border puts me in the center of trout country. It offers a world of variety. Within a couple hours’ drive I have my choice of no fewer than five different trout species. Water is diverse as well. Within that same two hour drive I can fish anything from high gradient freestone streams to big tailwaters to blue ribbon lakes and reservoirs. All of it is different and it must be fished different to have success. Those of us living and fishing in this region are damn lucky to have it. We get a chance to try new things because of the sheer diversity. Yet fly fishing is almost instinctually tribal. I know many who will only fish dry flies. Some are dyed-in-wool

Snake River With the Snake in runoff, the tailwater reach from Jackson Lake Dam down to Pacific Creek is the obvious choice, and it just opened to fishing this past Monday. Flows are at a little over 3,000cfs and visibility is at three to four feet. Cold water temps, so surface action is extremely limited. Double/triple nymph rigs are the best approach. Fish these in the thalweg below the spillway, eddies, seams, and along banks and structure with slow to moderate currents. Don’t go too heavy with your lead or trailing flies. Lightly weighted is the way to go. Six to nine feet of leader from trailing fly to line/suspension device. Fishing slower current margins when possible is produci

An Evinrude-powered jet sled slowly prowls a bankside eddy on the South Fork of the Snake River. The olive-jacketed passengers sport caps emblazoned with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game shield. Two of them man long handled nets to capture belly-up fish floating just below the surface. They are the stunned victims of electric currents that only seconds before had shocked the water where they were holding. It is harmless, actually. If not netted, they quickly regain their senses and flee to deeper, faster, safer portions of the stream. Those unlucky enough to be netted are placed in buckets of river water waiting onboard. The prized fish they are after – cutthroats, browns, and ra

South Fork Flows from Palisades Reservoir stand at approximately 15,300cfs. Still around three feet of visibility on the upper reach and around two feet on the lower reaches. Water temps are cool so surface action is not in the cards most days. Nymphs and streamers, however, have been performing in a respectable manner. With the higher flows, fish double and triple nymphs rigs with between nine and twelve feet of leader from your trailing pattern to your line/suspension device. Most holding water types are fishing at some point of the day, but concentrate on eddies, deep riffles, and bankside troughs. Larger and flashier bugs, as well as egg patterns, are working best. With water temp