With the warm water temperatures in Southwest Montana, my friend Lane and I ventured to Eastern Idaho to find cold water and rising trout. We had a blast testing our skills on the Snake River. In this blog post, I detail the trip, what worked best for us, what I learned, and what I left the river curious about.
Fishing The Snake River
The Snake River is one of the West’s top trout fisheries. With various water types and native trout, it tops many trout anglers’ bucket lists. We planned to fish the South Fork of the Snake River, the famous tailwater stretch known for its unique hatches and big trout.
The South Fork is like any tailwater trout fishery in the West: abundant hatches, large trout, and heavy fishing pressure. However, a few characteristics make it unique from other tailwaters in the Yellowstone Region.
First, it’s home to the native Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout. While not proven genetically different from the Yellowstone cutthroat trout, the Snake River cutthroat has a distinctive color and spot pattern. The dense spotting toward the tail and bright orange fins differentiate it from the Yellowstone cutthroat. I consider the Snake River cutthroat one of the region’s prettiest trout, and I treasure their willingness to rise to dry flies.
The South Fork also hosts many famous hatches trout anglers chase each season. This stretch of river is renowned for its stonefly hatches, including salmonflies, golden stones, and nocturnal stoneflies—as well as pale morning duns, green drakes, blue wing olives, and terrestrial fishing. You can’t ask for much more as a dry fly angler.
Lastly, a large chunk of the South Fork is on public land, where a float and camp section is available to anglers looking for an adventure. There are 16 campsites spread out along the canyon stretch of the South Fork, allowing anglers to plan overnight trips on the river. Lane and I decided to do an overnight camping trip for our weekend on the South Fork.
Our Trip in a Nutshell
We arrived late Friday night after the four-hour drive from Bozeman, with just enough light to find a camp spot on the river. We aimed to fish dry flies, hoping to time the nocturnal stonefly hatch along with PMD’s and terrestrials in the afternoon.
We launched the raft early each morning, trying to catch fish on the nocturnal stonefly hatch the river is known for. The nocturnal stonefly (Classenia Sabulosa), also called a mutant or midnight stone, hatches at night on many western rivers in the late summer. The male stoneflies do not have much of a wing, making them an easy target for trout. With limited flying ability, mutant stoneflies skate on the water’s surface to return to the bank for safety. Anglers targeting the hatch emulate this hatch by fishing foam stoneflies in the morning hours, often incorporating movement into their presentation.
Fishing the mutant stoneflies is new to me, and I did not know what to expect. Each morning, we had a few fish willing to eat our foam patterns, and a few took the fly skating across the surface. While it was not lights-out fishing, it was a new experience I immensely enjoyed. Not often do you get to hunt and skate dry flies along the banks. It was also incredible to get on the river early before the crowds and enjoy the beautiful views as the sun rose over the canyon walls. I plan to fish more of the mutant stonefly hatch in the coming years and learn more about it.
As the sun warmed the canyon, we fished the mutant stoneflies until lunchtime each day. The afternoons seemed to slow down, though the best fishing we found over the weekend came when fishing the riffles during the pale morning dun hatch. The South Fork is famous for its PMD fishing, with cutthroat sipping emerging mayflies in the many shallow riffles that the river holds.
By the middle of August, the PMDs had been hatching for a few weeks, and we were on the tail end of the hatch. We found sparse hatches and picky fish, but plenty of fish rose in the shallow riffles. What surprised me most was how technical this fishing was. I figured the cutthroat would be relatively easy to fool with how big and fast the river is. Boy, was I wrong.
The cutthroat in the riffles required a flawless dry fly drift and made us cycle through flies until we found one they would eat. We had many refusals and left multiple fish without getting an eat. It was challenging but rewarding when we landed a few beautiful cutthroat on small dry flies.
While the fishing was solid, what stood out to me was the experience of float camping. I had only done it once before on the Smith River, and that was five years ago now. Spending a few nights on the river was relaxing, beautiful, and humbling. Little things like walking barefoot in the sand, seeing the eagles fly over the canyon, and watching the sunrise from the rower’s seat made me grateful for this fishing trip.
As a young man trying to figure out who he is, a trip like this is a time to reflect and find clarity. It has been a stressful year in my personal life, and spending a few days in the backcountry never fails to calm my emotions. Fishing the Snake through its big canyon walls reminded me of how small I am and how small my problems are in the grand scheme of things. I believe we each need to be reminded of that every once in a while.
My Setup
I brought two rods along for different dry fly fishing scenarios. The first was my 9-foot-5-weight TFO Legacy rigged with a Lamson Liquid and Scientific Anglers Amplitude Smooth Infinity taper floating line. This is the rod I used when throwing the big foam flies from the boat, and it got the job done the few times I fished dropper nymphs. This rod and line combo casts heavier setups better than my Helios. The leader length on this rod was 9 feet long, tapering down to 3x tippet.
The other rod was my 9-foot, 5-weight, 3-f Orvis Helios. This rod had an Orvis Hydros reel and a brand-new Scientific Angler Amplitude Smooth Trout taper floating line. I used this rod for technical dry fly fishing, primarily fishing PMDs and ants on this trip. My leader length was about 11 feet long, tapering down to 5x.
I had fun tying for this trip and found success on a few of the patterns I tied and purchased. The mutant stonefly and the CDC dun were the most productive, though each fly below caught fish.
What I Learned
Our trip to the Snake reminded me to take each fish and opportunity seriously. On a float trip covering 25 miles of river, I fished with the assumption that there would be plenty of chances at fish. Missing a fish was not a big deal, as I thought I would have another shot downriver.
However, that was not the case. We each only had a few opportunities each day at fish, especially quality fish, that I ended up dropping the ball on. Rarely was I given another chance later in the day, making me wish I had taken each fish a little more seriously.
At the end of the trip, it is not a big deal as it is a part of the game. I am learning that it is okay to let the fish win sometimes. Getting a trout to eat your dry fly is epic to see in itself, which we had plenty of over our two days of fishing.
What Left Me Curious
How long does it take to learn a new fishery and become an expert on that watershed? I ponder this question as I reflect on our first time fishing the Snake River. We had very little experience on this river and did our best to get dialed into the fishing. However, with so much water and factors to consider, we had our struggles throughout the trip.
I know of guides and other anglers who have spent their lives in Eastern Idaho and fish the river better than most. They understand how to best fish the river on any given day, taking into account the flows, water temperatures, and weather patterns. I wonder if I will ever know a fishery in that detail and how many days it would take on the water to master a fishery.
I think it only takes 10 to 20 days to learn a new fishery and find success on the water, though to be considered an expert would take years and years with many days on that river or lake. It is inspiring to meet those who know the river this way, though I love fishing new water so much now that I don’t know if I’ll ever see a river that way. What do you think? How long does it take to learn about a river and be an expert on a fishery?
Thanks for reading and stay curious,
Nick
