Salmon River Steelhead Part II - 04/08/2011-04/11/2010

After a successful Steelheading trip on the Salmon River below Salmon, ID a month ago, Gary prompted a second trip this weekend. Gary and I headed upstream of our last trip by 50 miles, looking for the great Steelhead of 2010. One the way up, we stopped on the Little Lost River to take a look, and spooked a 12" trout out of a hole with our good looks. We kept on trucking up to Cottonwood Campground on the Salmon River.


After setting up camp, we drove down to the mouth of the Pahsimereau River for a couple hours of flyfishing. After wading across the river, I soon realized that the bulk of fisherman were on the road side. Most notable was "The asshole," surely named after him or the people who frequent this hole from dawn to dusk.

We fished the run for a couple hours, and had a couple fishy takes. We called it and headed in to Challis, ID and grabbed some dinner at the Lodge/Bar/Restaurant. Masters recaps, Bulls vs. Cavaliers, bottle of Cabernet, and good food sent us to camp for a nightcap and a few good stories.

















I headed to my tent, cooled to sub-freezing, and Gary headed to the FLTRIVERS Expedition for the night.


















After a cold night, we were back ready to fish. The bourbon flavored coffee started us off, and soon we were putting the boat in under a large bald eagle. I started the catching for the day, and landed a nice steelhead below the first fishy run. After pics and fish harvest, I ran through the same run, and hooked up with another steelhead.

More pics and harvest took place, and we moved on shortly after Gary caught a rare (for the Salmon) Cutthroat and a few whitefish. We saw a couple steelheaders on the bank, gave them a beer and some flies, chatted, and moved down. The steelhead ducked low until we cornered the last mile, when I landed the fish of the day (thanks Gary for the spot...).












The fishing didn't end here. The next Gary's friend Rick caught us on our way out of our broken down camp with a bottle of Pendleton and a big grin. We put in near Challis, ID and floated down through some great water, even meeting a few Austrians who had come over for the fish and family visit. One of the fisherman was a casting instructor engaged to a lady in Sun Valley. He had a much different approach, sight casting to steelhead. It was very interesting speaking to him about his method and love for Idaho. After a few hours, I had the only steelhead of the day.





After the float, we met up with Gary's brother in law and his friends for dinner and a shared campsite. The culinary dutch master Rick served a great Mexican dish, and shared a nice aged bottle of bourbon.

We put in the next morning for a short float, as Gary and I had pushed our spousal leashes to their fullest extent and he had to fly to Chicago in the morning. The river braided out more than we had experienced in this section, and we enjoyed seeing new water. After catching dozens of whitefish out of great runs, Gary landed a beautiful fish within a couple miles of the take out.