BEST TIME:

 As the seasons change, so does the river.  In April, when the grass begins to grow at low elevations, elk, deer, bighorn sheep and mountain goats are numerous near the river, and more approachable than at any other time of year.  In early May, the game begins to drift to higher elevations, but wildflowers reach their height of color.  Weather can be unstable this time of year.  Temperatures can be in the 70s, but be prepared for rain, too.  Solitude on the river is greatest at this time.  We put trips together by request at this time, rather than regular schedule.
 River levels crest from snowmelt between late May and mid June and in some years can be too high to comfortably float.  We do not schedule trips for this period until we have some estimate of snowpack.  In low-water years, however, this can be an excellent time to float.
 During late June and early July, the river has begun to drop, but still is powerful.  Whitewater on the Middle Fork is best at this time.  Our floating speed is greater than later in the summer, so we have more time for hikes during the day and in camp.  In late July and August the river slows and warms, providing better fishing and swimming.  We spend longer days floating.  Whitewater on the Main Salmon is probably best at this time, after the river has dropped a little and the rapids are more defined.  During June, July and August we will see other parties of floaters.  We see bighorn sheep on the Main and Middle Fork during summer months, but other big game is less visible at this time of year.  We see golden eagles and sometimes deer or river otters in summer.  Our trips are regularly scheduled at this time.
 By Labor Day, traffic on the river thins greatly.  Days begin to cool and shorten, and there is a strong hint of high-country fall.  The Lower Salmon is a very pleasant trip at this time, after the summer heat has moderated.  In September it is still warm enough to swim and wiggle your toes in the sand--a last taste of summer.  The first half of October is normally beautiful Indian Summer.  This is our most popular period on the Lower Salmon for sportsmen.  Warm days, crisp nights, golden cottonwood and aspen, red sumac, steelhead fishing,chukar hunting, solitude--it’s a good time to be on the river. 
 Whitewater on the Middle Fork is best in the early summer, and is good through mid-August.  The total amount of whitewater on the Main Salmon does not change greatly with different water levels.  Some rapids which are major rapids in high water are minor rapids in low water, and other rapids are the reverse.  During high flows the Lower Salmon is unsafe to run.  By mid-summer, flows are more reasonable, but temperatures can be pretty hot.  Late summer and early fall is a more pleasant time to be on the Lower Salmon.

Summer Trips-Trout and Bass

 

Our best fishing is on the Middle Fork, for rainbow and cut-throat trout. A serious fisherman can catch dozens of trout, especially later in the season after the river drops and slows. We can provide two-passenger McKenzie drift boats or small rubber boats for serious fishermen. The fishing boats usually leave camp right after breakfast, before camp gear is loaded, and stay on the river longer each day, to maximize fishing opportunity. Good fishing is also available from the larger boats, though opportunity is less than in the small boats. The Middle Fork is a classic fly fishing stream, but spinning gear is also effective. The Middle Fork is catch-and-release fishing.
 
On the Main Salmon, we fish for rainbow, bull trout (formerly Dolly Varden), and cut-throat trout, usually in and around tributary streams. Either fly or spinning equipment is fine. Fishing is not a major activity on Main Salmon trips, but adds spice to the trip. We can keep hatchery rainbow trout on the Main and Lower Salmon.
 
On the Lower Salmon in mid to late summer, trout and small mouth bass fishing is very good. Trout are often larger than on the Middle Fork, and action can be as fast. This fishery is worth a drift boat. Sometimes we'll try for a 300 lb. sturgeon, but they must be released.
 
Good fly patterns include elkhair and bucktail caddis, grasshopper, and muddler minnows. Mepps spinners in gold or red/white, #2, and Panther Martins or roostertails are good.

Fall Season-Steelhead/Chukar

From late September through mid-October, we offer five-day trips on the Lower Salmon, fishing for steelhead and hunting chukar partridge. We float in two-passenger McKenzie boats, dories specially designed for river fishing. A camp boat breaks down camp after we leave in the morning, and has camp set up, with tents, kitchen shelter, chairs, dining tables, and lanterns, when we stop for the night. This enables us to start fishing early and stay on the river through evening shadows. Most of the fishing is from the boat, using lures, but fishing from the bank is also productive. Fly fishing is also an option for the expert. Wild steelhead are catch-and-release, but we can keep hatchery fish. We sometimes do a little sturgeon fishing on these trips.

Days are spent drifting, fishing from the boat in productive water, watching for a covey of chukars on the bank, sometimes tying up to walk into the hills for birds. We run some major whitewater, through remote canyon scenery.
 
Steelhead trout, weighing five to fifteen pounds, have come into the river from the Pacific, to over winter and spawn in the spring. Set your hook in a steelhead as long as your arm, and you'll know why they're the premium game fish in the Northwest. Taste fresh steelhead steaks grilled over driftwood coals... you're living good!
 

Chukar partridge are among the most challenging of western game birds. The Lower Salmon is ideal Chukar habitat. Floating enables us to hunt areas that have no other access. We hunt rugged country, but when we locate a covey, action is fast.
 
You will frequently wake up to hear chukars calling near camp at daylight. You can hunt from camp, or pull over to hunt during the day. We have dogs available or you can bring your own. During dry periods, chukars are very close to the river. If we have had rain, we find some birds close to the river, but we have to do more walking. Some hunting is in easy terrain, but serious hunters will find themselves in rugged country. Much of this area is accessible only by boat, so hunting pressure is low.
 
The Lower Salmon is excellent Chukar habitat, with populations dependent on winter and nesting conditions. Daytime temperatures in clear weather are in the 70's, with possibility of frosty mornings. We have some good rapids on this trip, but the McKenzie boats are very dry. They are the most comfortable of whitewater boats.

We can arrange steelhead trips on the Main Salmon in mid-to-late October on which we stay in lodges each night instead of camping. We use the McKenzie boats on these trips. The lodges offer a degree of comfort over camping at this time of year, especially if the weather turns marginal. We do not have much bird hunting opportunity on this section of the river. It is within the River of No Return Wilderness Area, and more isolated than the Lower Salmon. We see bighorn sheep and other wildlife here. We will see some jet boats, but they thin out a few miles from the launch sites. Usual trip length is 5 days.

Fall and Spring: One-day steelhead fishing

Our most exciting fishing is for steelhead. These 5-15 lb.fish have a life history similar to salmon, coming into the river from the Pacific in early fall to over winter and spawn in early spring.
 
From September through March, water conditions permitting, we fish for steelhead by the day near Salmon, floating in drift boats through ranch lands with only limited road access.
 
We fish Hot-shots from the boat, and stop to cast from the bank for variety. The river is smaller in this area, so fish location can be predicted with more precision than farther downstream. This benefits the fly fisherman in particular.
 
Since a drift boat carries only two fishermen, a guide can provide more individual attention than on a boat with larger capacity. This is a very scenic area, with frequent views of the Continental Divide. We may see otter, deer, geese, or bald eagles as we float.
 
Fishermen usually stay in a motel in Salmon, and fish one or more days. We furnish lunch, tackle and carry a heater in the boat. Also see our fall season river trips.

Fiddlin’ with History:

Dave Wolfe, of the Rhett Creek Wolf family, will join us on the 28 June Main Salmon trip. Dave’s knowledge of people and their way of life along the river back through the depression period and earlier, is extensive. He knew many of the old timers personally and carefully gathered family stories about others.

Monroe Hancock, early boatman and one of the major river personalities , was a frequent babysitter for the Wolf kids in his last years. Dave has collected early photos from the river, and will have some with him. His family was close to Frances Wisner of Campbell’s ferry, which also is a historical connection. Dave once showed me Jim Moore’s map to the location where he hid his gold, which had been discovered among Frances’ possessions after her death. Of course, Dave had given up trying to follow it before he showed it to me.

Dave’s parents came to the Salmon River country in the early 40’s, first to the Crowfoot ranch, then to Allison ranch. Later, in the late 50s, Dave’s mother Reho got the mining claim and cabin at Rhett Creek. She brought her large family into the cabin year-round for a year or two, homeschooling them there. She and her family maintained the cabin, visiting primarily in the summers up until her death in 1998, at the cabin. The family continues to occupy the cabin to the present. A biography of Reho is “Reho Wolfe--the End of a Salmon River Era” by her son John Wolfe, 2002. Conley’s “River of No Return” has a brief entry on Rhett Creek and the Wolfe family.

Because of its remote, rugged, terrain and public land, the Salmon River retained a frontier atmosphere up to WWII and beyond. Up through the depression, before power boats and environmental impact statements, people could find an unoccupied bench along the river, build a log cabin, raise a garden and orchard, mine a little gold, trap, try to raise and sell some livestock or produce, and do whaterver they could to scratch out the few hundred dollars a year they needed for whatever supplies they could not produce themselves. These are Dave’s roots. His grandpa ( a professional saloon gambler) is buried at Richardson Creek, his mother at Rhett Creek, his brother at Campbell’s Ferry.

In addition to being a great a story teller, Dave is a wood carver and a fiddler. Any of you musicians might want to bring an instrument, as there’ll be lots of campfire music on this trip.

A book that would help set the stage for this trip is “Gold at Dixie Gulch” by Marian Sweeney, 1982, Clearwater Valley Publishing Company, Kamiah, Idaho. It deals mostly with the history of the old mining town of Dixie, but Dixie was the closest town to that part of the Salmon River, so there is quite a bit of reference to Salmon River residents. Many people from Salmon River also lived in Dixie at various times. Another book is “My Mountains--Where the River Still Runs Downhill” by Frances Zaunmiller Wisner, 1987, Idaho County Free Press, Grangeville, Idaho. Frances lived at Campbell’s Ferry from the early 40s until 1986. She wrote a column for the weekly Grangeville newspaper, and this book is a collection of her better pieces, published soon after she died.

One-Day Scenic Floats

For those with limited time, we offer one-day or half-day scenic trips near Salmon. On these trips we float through ranch lands, with frequent views of the rocky peaks of the Continental Divide. Lewis and Clark, Jim Bridger and Kit Carson traveled along this portion of the Salmon. Whitewater is insignificant on this stretch. We furnish lunch on full-day trips. These trips are scheduled around our wilderness trips.

Horse-back/Float Combination Trips

We can arrange combination horseback/float trips on the Middle Fork. You fly into a high-country landing strip and ride through pine forests and meadows above the river, fishing in high lakes, camping in wall tents, and ride down to the river to join a float party. Your gear is carried on pack mules. Combo trips usually begin at a lodge on the edge of the wilderness area. You ride for three or four days, then float for three or four days, for a total of six or seven days. These trips are coordinated with a horse outfitter. Each trip is specially arranged, so contact us for greater detail. This trip offers a unique perspective of the Salmon River country.

Lodge Trips

We can arrange to spend nights in riverside lodges instead of camping on Main Salmon trips. These trips are specially suited to spring and fall, when nights can be chilly. Steelhead fishing can be combined with these trips. We can also arrange to mix lodge nights and camp nights on the Main. We can arrange to spend one or two nights of a Middle Fork trip at a lodge. Call us for special arrangements. We need a minimum of four people.

Watercolor Painting Workshop

Based on interest, we sometimes offer a Main Salmon trip with a watercolor painting workshop, taught by Erica Craig. Erica is a wildlife biologist by training, but has the gift of art. She has issued a number of wildlife prints. Her husband Tim, also a wildlife biologist, currently employed in Fairbanks, Alaska, often accompanies these trips. They have taught raptor ecology classes, have done a number of contract research projects including one obtaining blood samples from golden eagles, have built a couple of their own houses, taught their kids at home. Tim has worked as a predator control specialist, and a backpacker supplying grizzly bear hunting camps in Alaska, and as a wildlife biologist for the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. While their primary interest is in wildlife, Erica is a skilled artist whose background in wildlife biology makes her paintings come to life. They are "just right". In one of her paintings there are some aspen trees, and on the trees are the scars in the bark made by a black bear climbing the tree--just an example of her attention to detail. They are a very interesting couple to travel with, aside from the watercolor instruction. Erica's web page is ericacraig.com. These trips are arranged based on demand, so if you are interested, contact us and we'll develope a list.

Private Trips

We can arrange a trip for only your group, whether family, friends, or business associates. Minimum number of people required to close a trip to just your group will vary with time of year and river section. Call to discuss details and availability.