Help choosing Snake River book for X-mas gift

[dinorocks]

My wife and I wanted to surprise my son Colton (14 years old) on Christmas and gift him a 3-day fly fishing float down the South Fork of the Snake River (I would of course chaperone him ;-). My wife and I have been saving up for this trip for a very long time! Its hard for my to swallow the cost, but if I push it off until another day, well...life may get in the way and, thinking back, I would feel bad missing what would be a lifetime trip for us.

I have been fortunate to have been invited to fish/float the river several years ago and wanted my son to share the same excitement of floating and fishing on such a beautiful river. He is a very experienced outdoorsman for his age (he was presented the Youth Sportsman of the Year Award for my neck of the woods last year!) and an avid fly fisherman since he was very little...at his age, he would definitely get much more from the trip then if I took him at a yonger age. I'm tentatively planning the trip for the first week of August 2018 ...being so far off and not yet booking flights, guide, etc., I wanted to give him a book for X-mas about fly fishing the Snake River...in the book would be a letter from Santa with details of the trip.

With all the books out there, my question to you is...which book(s) would you recommend? A couple things to throw out there...Colton love to tie flies; to cut costs, we would like to camp; in addition to a possible three-day float, it was recommended to me that we also visit Henrys Fork; we would be flying from Buffalo...not sure of the best air port options in ID.

Thank you very much for reading this post, and thanks in advance for any help!

Dino

PS. Below are a few picts of the boy in action!

 

[westcoast]

If he likes to tie flies, why not get him to make his own in preparation of the trip. Just study what works at the time of the year you will be there. No bigger thrill than catching fish on you own fly.
Snake River Fishing Report | Reel Deal Anglers

 

[Bigfly]

Dino....you are a dad among dads!
Just a couple miles east of the south fork lodge is a sweet campground.
And at the take out as well.
Not sure which float you want....
but that 26 mi. float is maybe my favorite ......
Have fun....you are right about time flyin'.

Jim

 

[mcnerney]

Dino
The only two books I have read on the Snake River were written by Boots Allen, a long time Snake River guide. The first book covers the entire river, the second is on flies, both are very good.
Snake River Fly-Fishing: Through the Eyes of an Angler-Guide: Boots Allen: 9781571884589: Amazon.com: Books

Snake River Flies: Eighty Years of Proven Patterns for a World Fly Fishing (The Pruett Series): Mr. Joseph Boots Allen: 9780871089472: Amazon.com: Books

Edit: +1 for what Jim says about the float from the boat ramp at the South Fork Outfitters Lodge (at Conant) thru the canyon to the next boat ramp at Byington. The canyon section is spectacular, the float is 26 miles in length and in the summer you can overnight in the canyon as most of it is BLM and and there are numerous unimproved camp sites. Several fly fishing outfitters offer overnight trips floating through the canyon.

 

[sparsegraystubble]

Larry is right on as usual. I’ve done that same float a number of times. The biggest problem with the two day float is that the fishing the first day is far better than the second day (At least it used to be an I think that still holds.)

Some of the guides have special arrangements with private property owners so they can get out of the river a little father downstream than the halfway mark. I am not sure which outfitters have that access these days. I would call Jimmy Gabbetas at All Seasons Anglers in Idaho Falls and see if he knows.

I also think that if you are that close, you should get at least part of a day in wade fishing on the Henry’s Fork. They are such completely different waters that it would be like two entirely separate experiences.

There are tons of good walk in access places on the Henry’s Fork both at the Railroad Ranch and elsewhere. My favorite was always downstream from Osborne Bridge.

I’m afraid I can’t recommend a book on the Snake River in Idaho. Incidentally, that river is always called the South Fork in Idaho. The Snake (main stem) starts where the Henry’s Fork and South Fork join.

Both rivers are memorable for different reasons.

Don

 

[Bigfly]

The take out I thought of was cottonwood ...and the float is often done in a day.
I have caught a bunch of fish lower...
But most folks arms are tired and they just enjoy the scenery...
I got to camp once at Three Rivers site off season....once night falls and all the boats are gone, it's like you've gone back to the ancient past.....
The river that cut the canyon still runs.

Jim

 

[steveid]

Sounds like a heck of a trip!

I travel far too often, so I might be able to help with the flights. I would utilize google flights. You can select your dates, and a location, and from there you can check other locations on the map and it will give pricing info. I would start with Idaho Falls as your airport, and then look at what it would cost to fly into Salt Lake or Jackson Hole. It's possible Salt Lake will be significantly cheaper than IF or JH, although poses a bit of a drive and pretty bad traffic from the airport until you get well north of Ogden. Flying into Jackson Hole and driving from here would add to your scenery, and likely the bill.

Just be careful which airline you go with. I fly Delta almost exclusively. 200 flights in the last couple years with them, and so far so good. Salt Lake is a main hub for Delta, and will likely be your connecting airport into IF or JH should you choose to go that route.

 

[dinorocks]

Thank you very much for all the responses!!! The information you provided is extremely helpful in planning this trip!

As mentioned in my original post, I have been fortunate to fish the South Fork several years ago...we floated the canyon section and camped half way down. It was indeed spectacular...and as a professional geologist, I really enjoyed the view and the rocks...as I can remember, I was split between looking at the rocks and fishing!

This time around, I would love to do the same guided float through the canyon with a river camp; the guide I spoke with recommended that instead of a third day on the float boat, we do a guided trip to Henry’s Fork to mix things up a bit. With the heavy costs to get to Idaho, I would like to possibly stay a couple extra days and do some fishing on our own...that way I can rationalize the costs for the trip

...I have one more question at this time...a sensitive question regarding guide tips for rough budgeting purposes. And I apologize if this is posted somewhere else (and I'm not trying to be cheap...just want to be fair). Assuming that our guide experience is positive, what would be a ball park tip amount (and assuming $400/per float day)? ...and would the tip generally be the same for a guided float verse a guided wet wade?

That's it for now! I'm sure I will have other questions later after I do some research... like recommended rods, etc.

Thank you again and take care,
Dino

 

[mcnerney]

Jim
I don't like the Cottonwood takeout as it is on the opposite side of the river and the shuttle drivers charge more as it is a longer distance to travel down to Hiese and then back up that bumpy dirt road to Cottonwood. But on the flip side, it makes the float shorter and easier to do in a single day. At 14,000 cfs (in the spring) you can put in at Conant around 9 am and takeout at Byington around 6 pm, but the drawback to doing it in a day is it really cuts into the time you can get out and explore all the islands and side channels, you have to keep moving to make it to Byington before dark.

Dino: I know exactly what you are saying about the scenery in the canyon, it definitely makes it difficult to concentrate on fishing. Another float you would like that offers just as good fishing, is the Green river below Flaming Gorge in Utah. That river also offers the ability to do multi-day floats and the first segment is called the A Section and nicknamed "The Aquarium", it flows through a deep canyon, maybe 1,000 ft walls and the water is crystal clear.

 

[Bigfly]

Larry, you are totally right......
I hated that road to cottonwood. But I did enjoy camping there.....
Byington is another 5-6mi. to float.
You and I should do the Green!

Jim

 

[sparsegraystubble]

I jut realized that I did have a book suggestion for the OP to consider as part of the gift. Instead of a book just on the South Fork of the Snake, I would consider giving him a copy of the Fly Fisher’s Guide to Idaho by Ken Retallic and Rocky Barker published by Wilderness Adventure Press.

Ken and Rocky know their stuff, particularly about Eastern Idaho. They are veteran newspaper guys who live (I think they still do) in Idaho Falls.

Their book has as much useful information as you will find anywhere including hatch charts, recommended flies and all sorts of maps. The emphasis is on information instead of scenic beauty so the maps and photos are black and white, but it would be a good dream book for future trips or even side stops on the planned trip.

I’m sorry this didn’t occur to me sooner. Actually, I pulled the book out to review it before writing this and it has made me homesick for Idaho. If you have any questions, just let me know.

Just in case, the contact info is Wilderness Adventure Press, P.O. Box 627, Gallatin Gateway, MT 59730 1-800-925-3339.

Don

 

[mcnerney]

Don
Excellent recommendation, I completely forgot about that one, but will second your suggestion, it is indeed a very well written book.

 

[dinorocks]

Don and Larry-

I tried to respond to your PM but not sure if was delivered (not showing up in my sent box).

Wanted to thank you for the book suggestions! We ordered Snake River Fly-Fishing and have already received it. Now we are trying to come up with a fun/cleaver way (note in book) to announce the trip.

Take care,
Dino

 

[mcnerney]

Dino
The reason you aren't seeing pm's in your "Sent" box is that you had the field "Save a copy of sent messages in my Sent Items folder by default" set to "NO". I changed it to "YES", so it should work now.