by Sasha Thelen

I must admit; as a new fly fisherman I was truly excited about my upcoming relocation to Idaho. I had only been fly fishing for a short time and was overcome with the thought of fly fishing completely new waters. Shortly before my departure I started talking to a few people that lived in the area I was relocating to. Each was very friendly and offered to take me out fly fishing once my transition was complete.

Idaho has so many different choices when it comes to fly fishing that it's hard to figure out where to start. There is everything from small creeks and streams to large rivers and everything in between.

I began my Idaho fly fishing adventures on a nice stretch of running water called South Fork of the Boise River. It was a cold and early winter trip, but I was not disappointed. The SFB (as it is known to natives of the area) is by no means a secret spot. My first thought upon seeing this stretch of water was, “Man, this place is clean for such a well known spot.”

SFB holds a lot of nice trout and is fairly close to town. But after a few more trips to that same stretch, I decided that I wanted to see what else was out there. A short time thereafter I met up with another fly fisherman that promised he would show me the, “O”. The “O” is also no kept secret to fly fisherman up here, and even though it is well known you can expect good size browns to come from her. The “O” is also very clean for a well-known river. My initial thoughts were that the people up here must be different because like the SFB, I have not seen trash along this river either. The “O” is also fairly close to town, and again I began to wonder what else was out there.

After several more excursions to the “O” and the SFB, a friend of mine called me and said that the Salmon numbers were great this year and that we should go up soon. I asked him what I would need because at this point the only rod I owned was a 5WT. He said that I should look at something in the 8-9wt range. I remember thinking to myself, “Man that has to be one big rod.” After a quick trip to one of my local fly shops, I returned home with my new 9WT rod. Together we headed up to the Salmon River to try our hand at fishing for these guys.

The River was literally choked with spin fishermen standing elbow-to-elbow with each other. We found a spot that wasn’t choked with activity and began to fish. I never managed to hook up with one, but the two other guys I went with did. I can tell you that the bend those fish put into their rods were amazing. I will admit that I was a bit jealous that I didn’t get to experience one on the end of my own fly rod. This type of fly fishing was alright, but I really didn’t care for it as much as fishing the smaller waters. My friend told me not to worry about it, and that the 9WT would come in handy for the upcoming Steelhead season. I was thinking the whole time how I just wanted to find some nice water that I can fish without the crowds.

After the Salmon extravaganza I really concentrated on looking for spots where the crowds didn’t exist. My first trip on this quest was to a little creek that I will choose not to name here. My research on this stream indicated that it held a good population of native Redband trout. The first time I saw my no-name creek I knew I had found a home. No Name is a small creek that must be reached with some effort. The Redbands in this tiny creek were small but feisty, and they were willing to take almost any dry fly that was tossed at them. There were no other fisherman in sight and I only saw one other person the entire day. Since discovering this tiny gem, I have returned to her nearly once every ten days or so, and it has always produced amazingly well.

Wanting to get out and try some different waters I ventured high into the mountains. The river I chose to fish was nice and out of the way. The country surrounding her was beautiful and I had a blast. This river was full of Cutthroats and they were very eager to take my dry flies. These particular little guys were not huge (averaging 11-12 inches in length with the occasional trout in the 15-16 inch range just to keep things interesting), but each put up a great fight. The water was clear and cold and the setting was beautiful. I have been back several times and have never been disappointed.

Not too long after that trip I decided to try and find some Brook Trout up here. I checked out several creeks but did not manage to find any - although I found many rainbows that kept me entertained. One of the creeks held a healthy population of Redbands, and with that find I was happy. I fly fished that creek all the way to the river it merged with. Looking toward the merge I spied a large grouping of red-colored fish in the main river. Yes, it was a Kokanee salmon run that I managed to uncover. I quickly grabbed my larger rod and desperately attempted to make one angry enough to strike. After a short while I managed to get one healthy strike and fought him for a short time until my line went limp. I couldn’t believe that I had lost the monster, but was thrilled at the memory of actually hooking into one.

My most recent find was an interesting river that can run as high as 1300CFS during the peak runoff, or as low as 19 CFS during off-peak. This river is an amazing place. It not only holds some of the largest Redbands that I have found up here so far, but also carries Bull Trout. On my last trip I had a sweet little Redband on when all of a sudden from the depths; a large Bull appeared and hit the Redband that was on my line.

In the short time I have lived in Idaho I have had the pleasure of fishing many different types of waters. This area has some of the most beautiful country that I have ever seen, and fly fishing that is nothing short of awesome. I know that I have only scratched the surface of the treasures of this state and look forward to what else lies ahead for me.