St. Joe River
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 2:29 pm
I took a trip up to the St. Joe River in the Idaho panhandle yesterday. The weather was cool and showery, without much bug activity. I started off with a Little Dorothy in honor of Mark L. It did not get any action at the first place I used it, but at the second spot, the weather had warmed up a little and some small, creamish colored mayflies were hatching, and I got three solid grabs on it. Unfortunately, I was not able to hook any of those fish.
Here is the first spot I fished:
I used a Montague fly rod I got at a garage sale, paired with a Medalist 14951/2 reel that I inherited from my father, with a Cortland sylk line:
Here is the second spot, a place I first fished more than 30 years ago. The fish were concentrated in the slick below the rock outcroppings, and if I could make a cast of about 45 feet and put a quick mend in the line without dragging the fly, I usually got some action.
Most of the fish took an elk hair and cdc caddis; I caught half a dozen in the 10-inch class and two that were better than 14 inches. I had switched to my Fenwick hollow glass rod, which I have had since I was 14, and my casting was much better. I did not get any fish pictures, as I forgot my net and these were all wild west slope cutthroat trout, and I would not risk injuring one of them to try to get a picture. Here is an overall view of the country:
The area I fished is upstream of Avery, Idaho, which is all catch-and-release, single barbless hook waters. This area was burned during the great fires of 1910, evidence of which is quite clear even today. The first time I visited this area, I came over the mountains from Wallace, Idaho, to the north, which was the epicenter of the great fires.
At the last place I stopped, I noticed this sign on a tree:
Finally, here is the Little Dorothy variation that did her part, even though I failed to do mine:
All in all it was a good outing, and it was a real pleasure to fish moving water for wild trout again.
Here is the first spot I fished:
I used a Montague fly rod I got at a garage sale, paired with a Medalist 14951/2 reel that I inherited from my father, with a Cortland sylk line:
Here is the second spot, a place I first fished more than 30 years ago. The fish were concentrated in the slick below the rock outcroppings, and if I could make a cast of about 45 feet and put a quick mend in the line without dragging the fly, I usually got some action.
Most of the fish took an elk hair and cdc caddis; I caught half a dozen in the 10-inch class and two that were better than 14 inches. I had switched to my Fenwick hollow glass rod, which I have had since I was 14, and my casting was much better. I did not get any fish pictures, as I forgot my net and these were all wild west slope cutthroat trout, and I would not risk injuring one of them to try to get a picture. Here is an overall view of the country:
The area I fished is upstream of Avery, Idaho, which is all catch-and-release, single barbless hook waters. This area was burned during the great fires of 1910, evidence of which is quite clear even today. The first time I visited this area, I came over the mountains from Wallace, Idaho, to the north, which was the epicenter of the great fires.
At the last place I stopped, I noticed this sign on a tree:
Finally, here is the Little Dorothy variation that did her part, even though I failed to do mine:
All in all it was a good outing, and it was a real pleasure to fish moving water for wild trout again.
