Our Year

Winter 2018/2019

When it gets cold and ice starts to crystalize on the banks of the river, that’s when most people call it quits. But there is a special reward for those who brave the cold and snow. The quiet on the river is unmatched, especially when fat snowflakes start to fall and disappear in the water around you. Sure, you’ll be chipping ice off the eyes of your rod and you probably won’t be able to feel your fingertips. But you’ll be one of a few, if not the only one on the water. That peace is unmatched any other time of year.

Winter of 2018 caught us in different parts of the world. That said, like other winters, we spent time prepping for the Spring. And when we couldn’t get the fish to bite, we were able to get some pretty great pictures of the river just being a river in winter time.

Spring 2019

In the spirit of finding new places and getting the cabin fever that sets in during the transition between seasons, we explored some new spring water: Succor Creek, OR. Like most early spring fishing, the water was less than ideal. But it was good practice for the Alaska adventure Mac and Wes would get into later in the season.

Situk River, Alaska

If you remember our first trip to the Situk…we were rained out. This second trip did not fail to be any less eventful. Lost luggage, low water, and lots of timber made for a rugged experience, but it proved more than fruitful. Sea-run cutthroat, dolly varden, and steelhead all made the list this time.

And in case you were wondering…yes, it rained.

Silver Creek, Idaho

Every year for the past three years we’ve tried to make it to the Silver Creek Opener in the Spring. In Picabou, Idaho, the Silver Creek Opener is the first weekend of the year when the Preserve opens to the public. This spring we planned to meet up with our usual group, stay up late, and hit the water at midnight when the preserve officially opened. That’s when it started to rain…and then snow. Wes, being determined and no-weather-will-stop-me fisherman set out with the rest of our group that night in the cold. I, alas, did not. He was well rewarded for his efforts.

Summer 2019

Anderson Ranch Reservoir, Idaho

My fishing mentor has always been my father. Every family vacation and free weekend we got, our family would be out on the water. Fly fishing has been a more recent experience for me, as someone who grew up spin fishing for bass. Since we first moved to Idaho in 2014, I’ve been trying to get my dad up here to go smallmouth fishing. As someone who enjoys bass fishing more than the next guy, and still competes in team tournaments with my mom, I knew he would have a blast going after Southern Idaho Smallmouth.

Of course, when he and my mom finally made the trip to visit and chase bass, I didn’t want to disappoint. So, we went to Anderson Ranch.

Mostly known for its kokanee, Anderson Ranch is a beautiful deep water lake that spills into the famous South Fork of the Boise river. Anderson is also a great smallmouth fishery that I knew mom and dad would find challenging and enjoyable. Our favorite Southern Idaho lake didn’t disappoint.

High Mountain Lakes, Idaho

With Wes finally back in the states and Mac moved into his new home in Belgium, we figured it was time to head back into the mountains. We had made a list early on in the Spring of places we wanted to go when the snow melted, and now that the temperatures were more consistently favorable, we could finally get started.

In search for Tiger Muskie and Grayling, we headed north west of Boise up to Cascade for our first high mountain stop of the season. We were a little disappointed as we drove our new-to-us early 90s adventure pickup to the summit of Snowbank Mountain. The higher we got – true to its name – the more snow we encountered. The lakes were still frozen. But even with the snow, we took some time to enjoy the view.

Our second options were Boulder (Little Boulder and Boulder) and Louie lakes outside of McCall. According to the stocking reports, both of these lakes were recorded to hold rainbows and cutthroat – Not surprising for mountain lakes in Idaho. But the plan was to use these lakes as smaller “gateways” to the higher elevation lakes of Moloney and Summit where the records claimed to have stocked Grayling.

I personally fell in love with these unicorn-like-fish on our Montana-Alberta trip in 2017. Finding them in Idaho is something that has thrilled me since we started researching to find these on our local waters. The stocking records of Summit Lake go back to 1969 with consistent records for Grayling and the typical rainbow and cutthroat. Armed with our research and packs, we trekked up the mountain.

The trail itself was fairly moderate with a bit of a scramble the last few hundred yards up to Summit Lake. Thankfully we brought our bug spray because once we were up in elevation and the springs started coming out of the rocks creating marsh, we were swamped with mosquitoes. Summit lake lived up to its  name though as we set up camp a little less than 1,000 ft from the crags towering above us.

Did we find Grayling? Yes – and no. There is fish in Summit lake, we just didn’t catch any. There is Grayling in the outlet of Summit lake, but they were pairing up to spawn. After only seeing three spawning pairs, with no interest in anything but one another, we decided to call it a night and let these little beauties do their thing.

The next morning, Molony lake was our last stop. Without loosing too much of the elevation that we had gained the day before, we side-hilled our way to the trailhead. We soon found that the trail we were on tapered off into the valley, around the mountain, and up the valley on the other side. It was a long trek, but the views were unmatched.

Molony lake is pristine. It is also, as far as we could tell, a dead lake. Good thing we had a camera and drone, as well as some much needed snacks for a water break in this beautiful wilderness.

Video: https://vimeo.com/366355265

Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to the music in the above video

McCloud River, California

Wes and I grew up in California. Our love of fishing, hunting, and the outdoors is rooted in the landscape of Russians, Marbles, and Cascade mountain ranges. Every 4th of July we try to make our way back to California for the holiday and to visit family, but this year was going to be different. This year, we wanted to explore the McCloud River.

The McCloud River is a historic fishery. Rainbows from the McCloud have been used to stock lakes and rivers around the country as well as famous fisheries across New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, and Chile. It is also rich with indigenous cultural and California gold rush history.

McCloud River Conservation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkJ5IdOIDuc

We stayed at AhDiNa Campground and used it as our hub to explore the upper and lower preserve of the McCloud. We did quite a bit of hiking up the river’s pristine blue-gray waters and simply enjoying the scenery of vibrant green and volcanic-filtered blue. The beauty of the place was captivating. It was even more enthralling when we started catching fish.

The fishing was tough, and we didn’t catch a lot. But the chance to explore such a historic fishery was more than enough to make us want to come back.

Our last stop on our California trip was to fish Wes’ home waters of the Klamath River. This particular river holds a special place for both of us simply because of the memories, history, and of course – fish.

Originally famous for its logging history, like many rivers on the Pacific coast, the Klamath now winds its way through family ranches, vacation homes, and small close-knit communities. It follows the California/Oregon border and originates from Klamath Lake in Oregon before traveling 257 miles to the ocean. This distance makes the Klamath the second longest river in California. Although small, the Klamath still has a steelhead run that makes it 3/4 of the distance of the river before running into Irongate Dam. Of course this was summer, we were chasing rainbows.

We got up early before the sun, and planned on being on the water at first light. There’s nothing like jumping in a truck and rolling down familiar dirt roads to a fishing spot you’ve visited for years to make you feel like home. Of course, the river didn’t disappoint.

Alpine & Sawtooth Lake, Idaho

Sawtooth Lake is one of the more frequently traveled high mountain lakes in the Sawtooth Range – and for good reason. It’s breathtaking views, pristine water, and snowpacks make it a picturesque hike and great place to fish.

On our trip to Sawtooth, we were in search of the elusive Golden Trout. Not many lakes in Idaho hold Goldens, and as a species it was still on our bucket list to encounter. Not only did we discover Goldens in Alpine Lake, we timed our hike with their spawning period. Watching these fish spawn in less than 8-inches of crystal clear water was a true treat. We even managed to hook into one nice post-spawn golden in Alpine Lake.

Ashton, Idaho

Ashton is a gorgeous little trout fishing town in the valley below the Teton Mountains. Late summer, Wes and our mutual friend, Jake, took a week to explore the area and chase brookies, browns, and rainbows. The majority of the traffic in this area of Idaho/Wyoming is from folks who are traveling from West Yellowstone and fishing the Harriman Ranch area.

For the second week of August the weather was abnormally mild, but because of that the Yellowstone traffic was not. Because of this, Wes and Jake decided to stay south of the more popular areas that get guided and fished regularly. In all they were able to explore Warm River, Robinson Creek, Bitch Creek, Horseshoe Lake, Conant Creek, Fall River, and the Teton River in spots and do more bushwacking than Jake was even prepared for. Camping along the Warm River near the Warm River spring made a good centralized position to explore the more rugged terrain of Bitch Creek slide and other less-than-traveled places. But the fishing was well worth it. Not only did they run into Westslope Cutthroat, but they were also able to catch the famous Yellowstone Cutthroat, Browns, and colorful brookies.

Cabarton, Idaho

In the two/three collective years that we volunteered with the whitewater rafting program at Mountain Home Air Force base we’ve floated the Cabarton stretch of the Payette river several times. Every time we’ve marveled at its beauty and wondered what it would be like to fish it.

This year we got our chance.

On a few late-summer afternoons we packed up the oar boat, puppies, and good friends to set out on the water. The tranquility of these afternoon floats were unmatched. One of the things we love most about the Cabarton is the quiet and removed stretches away from the road and noise of civilization. The fish weren’t gigantic and it was a struggle for me to adjust to fishing in the boat again, but it was a great time on the water with good friends and good puppies.

 

Loon Lake, Idaho

Loon Lake is located outside of McCall off of the Sekesh River. It has an interesting history dating back to the early 1940’s when a B-23 Dragon Bomber crashed on the lake and stranded a crew of 8 in the cold Idaho winter.

The aircraft is still in the woods at the site of its crash landing on the far end of the lake. As a historical site, and as someone who has worked on aircraft their entire military career, Wes and I were both enthralled with the chance to see an early WWII downed aircraft. We were not disappointed.

The hike up to Loon lake is a fairly moderate trek, with some steep sections and a clear trail it was easy to see why it is favored by mountain bikes and trail horseback riders. The Sekesh River itself is pristine and has trout and even salmon species in it certain times of the year. Because it connects to the Salmon River, we hope to go back during the salmon run to see if they actually make it up as far as the Sekesh.

We didn’t have a chance to catch much while we were at Loon lake proper because of the wind, but the Sekesh itself produced with spunky rainbows. Needless to say, the puppies had a blast – even if Bella did get after a wasp and scare me half to death.

For more information on the places we explored this year please visit:

South Fork of the Boise River, ID: https://idfg.idaho.gov/ifwis/fishingplanner/water/1157355435501

Fishing Report: https://idahoangler.com/fishing-report/

Succor Creek, OR: https://wildowyhee.org/things-to-do/camping/succor-creek/

Situk River, AK: https://yakutatlodge.com/

Fishing Report: https://situkriver.wordpress.com/

Anderson Ranch Reservoir, ID: https://www.allsunvalley.com/lakes_rivers_falls/anderson_ranch_reservoir.php

Fishing Report:  https://idfg.idaho.gov/ifwis/fishingplanner/water/1153993433934

Boulder Lake, ID: https://thequixoticangler.blogspot.com/2014/07/boulder-lake-near-mccall-idaho.html

Fishing Report:  https://idfg.idaho.gov/ifwis/fishingplanner/water/1159410448681

McCloud River, CA: https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/mccloud-river-preserve/

Fishing Report: http://www.tedfay.com/forecasts-flows

History: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkJ5IdOIDuc

Klamath River, CA: https://www.rivers.gov/rivers/klamath-ca.php

Fishing Report: http://www.caldwellfishing.com/

History: https://klamathcountyhistoricalsociety.org/images/Echoes/Klamath-Echoes-No.-3—Pokegama.pdf

Loon Lake, ID: http://www.secesh.net/B23.htm?fbclid=IwAR0GX5dAgmj6915NEDnBA2Fe7lq0UzKP365eRBYnBSJICovN4uIv0UkU9DY

Disclaimer: NONE of the above links or people are paid sponsors, it’s just research we’ve found helpful to plan our adventures and resources we’ve been able to rely on for solid information.