Fishing the Snake River with Grand Fishing Adventures- The Conclusion

As a reminder, we were fishing with Grand Fishing Adventures and I want to thank them for all of their hard work and accommodations!  Link to Grand Fishing Adventures: https://grandfishing.com/

After lunch we switched things up and I hopped in the boat with Will and Mark.  The differences between our guides showed through right off the bat.  During the morning, Mitch had us fish specific stretches of water and would bypass water that he said held fewer fish.  We would anchor sometimes to fish different distances and cover the water until we were sure that we had exhausted it.  Will had more of a run-and-gun approach.  There was not much down-time with Will and we focused on the banks and rarely dropped an anchor.  Both techniques produced fish and were fun.  While they were different, they weren’t good and bad, just different.

Right after we got in the boat, Mark started getting bites in the front of the boat.  He was probably getting 5 bites for every bite I got.  He landed three before I even put one in the boat and from what I understand, that was how his morning went and he was just picking up from where he left off.  I finally got on the board with a little 6 incher after a couple of misses.  I failed to mention earlier that Mitch had tied on a dropper fly with our dry.  Will had me start off with just a Circus Peanut dry fly but then added a dropper as well.  That is important to note for what happened next.

After coming through a set of rapids, Will got a smile on his face and said “Let’s go check this place out.  There’s a good hole up in here.”  He navigated us up into some calm water that was created by the peninsula that was had drifted by.  He rowed slowly but strongly in order to be as stealthy as possible.  We got to the drop-off where the pool formed and it was obvious why he put us here.  It looked really fishy and I was anxious to start making casts. 

A little luck fell into my lap right before I could start fishing. Mark had a tangle in his line which gave me the entire hole to fish.  I ended up catching two fish that each went 14 inches and one came on a long drift.  What also made things interesting was the fact that I “flossed” both of them as well.  The term “flossed” was something that I was unfamiliar with prior to Will’s explanation.  A fish gets “flossed” when they attempt to take the dry fly, miss it, but end up getting hooked around the mouth with the dropper fly.  The fact that the leader passes through the mouth before the hook is buried would probably look like a person flossing their teeth.  I found that term to be pretty comical to picture and still laugh whenever I think about it.  After Mark got rigged up, I caught another 10 inch fish before our drift was over.

From there, we went back to fishing the banks and I caught a 6 inch fish and a 10 inch fish before we got to the take-out.  By the time we got to the boat ramp, I was exhausted.  My right hand felt like I had arthritis and I was pooped even though I didn’t row a single stroke.  I am in awe of the shape that Mitch, Will, and all of the other guides are in.  They work hard all day and have a lot of skill to go along with their physical abilities.

Aside from the fishing, we also some a variety of wildlife.  We saw an osprey at the boat ramp and a deer at the edge of the water as we drove back upstream.  Two otter pups entertained us for a while too. 

The thrill of watching these fish come up and take down a great big stonefly imitation is unlike anything I have ever experienced before.  I cannot thank Mitch and Will for their teaching, guidance, and hard work.  I am also in awe of their patience.  Watching all of us miss fish that they probably would have landed must have been taxing but they never had a negative word for any of us.  They always kept things from getting too serious and were outstanding guides.  I would recommend their services and Grand Fishing Adventures to anyone wanting to catch Snake River Cutthroat.

Also, I found out the day after the trip that a small part of A River Runs Through It was filmed on a tributary that empties into the Snake River.  It was the scene when the two brothers steal the boat and “Shoot the chutes.”  So that was a pretty cool detail about the trip too.