mcnerney
Administrator
I got into Jackson Hole around 6:30 pm on Thursday with the intent of fishing Friday and met up with Davo and went out for dinner at a great bbq place over in Wilson, then Davo gave me directions to a great campsite just north of town on the Gros Ventre River. Once run off is complete that looks to be a great little river to do some wade fishing. Right now all the freestone rivers are looking like chocolate milk. After paying for the camping fees, I pulled out my tent only to realize that I forgot the tent poles (note to self, remember to bring tent poles next time!). So I ended up sleeping in the front seat of the truck, but I survived so it must not have been too bad. Got up at six the next morning to meet Dave over at Albertsons and got to see a herd of Elk on the Gros Ventre River and then a small herd of Buffalo on hwy 189 heading into town.
Here are a few of the fish we caught while floating the South Fork of the Snake River below Palisades Reservoir. We put in at the boat launch at South Fork Outfitters in Swan Valley, ID and floated all the way through the canyon section. I think it was around 23 miles. We got on the river a bit before 10 am after stopping at the South Fork Fly shop for licenses and some streamers and took out around 6:30 pm. The river was just slightly discolored which was a surprise as it was running at 13,000 cfs. I floated the river with Davo in his Lavro drift boat, I landed two fish and Davo landed six as I recall. We both lost several others. It wasn't until late in the afternoon that we finally figured out that the white zoo cougar seemed to be the hot fly of choice, even though it wasn't tied correctly. I guess that is what you get with discount flies. I meant to buy some at the South fork Fly Shop but got distracted while getting a fishing license. There was a pretty good Caddis hatch coming off late in the afternoon but not many fish coming up after them. Maybe the hatch will get going strong in a few more days. Here are a few of the pictures. After I got off the river I realized I hadn't taken any photos of the river and beautiful landscape (still kicking myself over that). We saw lots of wildlife on the float: bald eagles, river otters, beaver, ducks, etc. There is a large section of this river that is National Forest with plenty of designated campsites and it just beckons to come back and fish as an overnighter camping somewhere in the campground. I'm going to have to do some reading on what the procedures are (not sure if the campsites need to be reserved or are strickly a first come first servered). Anyway, we didn't catch a ton of fish but the weather was fantastic and we both had a great time on the water. A big thanks goes to Dorian for driving all the way over from Idaho Falls to deliver my new Hyde spike anchor! Thanks again Dorian, sorry you couldn't fish with us, I'm sure you would have had a great time, but we certainly understand your situation, maybe next time.
Larry
Here are a few of the fish we caught while floating the South Fork of the Snake River below Palisades Reservoir. We put in at the boat launch at South Fork Outfitters in Swan Valley, ID and floated all the way through the canyon section. I think it was around 23 miles. We got on the river a bit before 10 am after stopping at the South Fork Fly shop for licenses and some streamers and took out around 6:30 pm. The river was just slightly discolored which was a surprise as it was running at 13,000 cfs. I floated the river with Davo in his Lavro drift boat, I landed two fish and Davo landed six as I recall. We both lost several others. It wasn't until late in the afternoon that we finally figured out that the white zoo cougar seemed to be the hot fly of choice, even though it wasn't tied correctly. I guess that is what you get with discount flies. I meant to buy some at the South fork Fly Shop but got distracted while getting a fishing license. There was a pretty good Caddis hatch coming off late in the afternoon but not many fish coming up after them. Maybe the hatch will get going strong in a few more days. Here are a few of the pictures. After I got off the river I realized I hadn't taken any photos of the river and beautiful landscape (still kicking myself over that). We saw lots of wildlife on the float: bald eagles, river otters, beaver, ducks, etc. There is a large section of this river that is National Forest with plenty of designated campsites and it just beckons to come back and fish as an overnighter camping somewhere in the campground. I'm going to have to do some reading on what the procedures are (not sure if the campsites need to be reserved or are strickly a first come first servered). Anyway, we didn't catch a ton of fish but the weather was fantastic and we both had a great time on the water. A big thanks goes to Dorian for driving all the way over from Idaho Falls to deliver my new Hyde spike anchor! Thanks again Dorian, sorry you couldn't fish with us, I'm sure you would have had a great time, but we certainly understand your situation, maybe next time.
Larry
