Fishing - Middle Fork of the Salmon

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Middle Fork of the Salmon

A few years ago I brought my grandson to the Middle Fork of the Salmon
for a camping trip of three days. We fished to our hearts content,
catching some very nice cuts.

Now it's his sister's turn. She is 16 and I am in the process of
planning a drift boat (not a raft) trip down the Middle Fork. There
are so many outfitters that I don't know who to use. There is an
Orvis endorsed outfitter that looks pretty good, but there are others
that also look good.

Any recommendations from roffians who have done this float? And, what
is the best time of year?

Dave

Middle Fork of the Salmon

Dave LaCourse wrote:
A few years ago I brought my grandson to the Middle Fork of the Salmon
for a camping trip of three days. We fished to our hearts content,
catching some very nice cuts.

Now it's his sister's turn. She is 16 and I am in the process of
planning a drift boat (not a raft) trip down the Middle Fork. There
are so many outfitters that I don't know who to use. There is an
Orvis endorsed outfitter that looks pretty good, but there are others
that also look good.

Any recommendations from roffians who have done this float? And, what
is the best time of year?

I've done it several times with several different outfitters and on
private trips. I've never done it with a fishing-oriented outfitter. If
you like I can make some inquiries to find out what outfitters are
highly recommended for fishing.

The best time of the year is right now, but it depends on the amount of
water we have. This year we have plenty. In a low water year the drift
boats are pretty dicey later in the season.

I recommend wade fishing the larger tributaries -- Loon Creek, Camas
Creek, and Big Creek. Loon Creek has an excellent hot spring, and there
are many hot springs along the river.

There was a real mess of a log jam on the Middle Fork last week:

http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005111572

You would not want to have been there then. Aside from stranding 200
people for days, the all the junk in the water must have ruined the
fishing all the way down to the take out.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Middle Fork of the Salmon

rw wrote:

I've done it several times with several different outfitters and on
private trips. I've never done it with a fishing-oriented outfitter. If
you like I can make some inquiries to find out what outfitters are
highly recommended for fishing.

I was just told that the Orvis-endorsed outfitter, Solitude,

http://tinyurl.com/nqz2o

is the only outfitter that uses drift boats. That makes your choice
easier. I see their Orvis-green boats in town a lot.

I recall seeing another outfitter on the river some years ago that used
wood drift boats. He must have busted holes in all of them and given up. :-)

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Middle Fork of the Salmon

On Sat, 05 Aug 2006 10:13:17 -0600, rw
wrote:

I was just told that the Orvis-endorsed outfitter, Solitude,

http://tinyurl.com/nqz2o

is the only outfitter that uses drift boats. That makes your choice
easier. I see their Orvis-green boats in town a lot.

Solitude is the only one I can find that uses drift boats. I'd rather
use the boat instead of the raft because it is far easier to stop and
fish a good spot.

From what I can see, most outfitters stop at the different streams and
hot springs.

Thanks for your help.

Dave

Middle Fork of the Salmon

Dave LaCourse wrote:

Solitude is the only one I can find that uses drift boats. I'd rather
use the boat instead of the raft because it is far easier to stop and
fish a good spot.

From what I can see, most outfitters stop at the different streams and
hot springs.

Ideally, you should try to camp at Loon Creek and near Camas Creek so
you can fish them in the morning and the evening. There's no camping at
Big Creek.

A problem with the outfitters I've used, who are mainly focused on
whitewater, is that they break camp late in the morning and make camp in
the afternoon, missing the prime fishing times. Solitude may do it
differently.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Middle Fork of the Salmon

Dave LaCourse wrote:
On Sat, 05 Aug 2006 10:13:17 -0600, rw
wrote:

I was just told that the Orvis-endorsed outfitter, Solitude,

http://tinyurl.com/nqz2o

is the only outfitter that uses drift boats. That makes your choice
easier. I see their Orvis-green boats in town a lot.

Solitude is the only one I can find that uses drift boats. I'd rather
use the boat instead of the raft because it is far easier to stop and
fish a good spot.

Here are two mo

http://www.helfrich.com/helfrichmiddlesalmontrips.htm
http://helfrichriver.com/Salmon_Mid/index.php

I believe that there used to be three Helfrich brothers who had their
own outfitting businesses on the Middle Fork, and that one of them sold
the business to Solitude.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Middle Fork of the Salmon

rw wrote:
Jonathan Cook wrote:

rw wrote:

Dave LaCourse wrote:

On Sat, 05 Aug 2006 10:13:17 -0600, rw
wrote:

[bunch of MF dialog]

I have to say that this thread is what ROFF is _really_ all about. Us
regulars know that the two involved have
no love lost between them, but when it comes to helping
out on fishing advice, rw steps right in.
Wonderful!

I hope ...

.... Dave ...

has a great Middle Fork trip, and I'd like him to tell me when
he'll be in Stanley so I can be somewhere else. :-)

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Middle Fork of the Salmon

Jonathan Cook wrote:
rw wrote:

Dave LaCourse wrote:

On Sat, 05 Aug 2006 10:13:17 -0600, rw
wrote:

[bunch of MF dialog]

I have to say that this thread is what ROFF is _really_
all about. Us regulars know that the two involved have
no love lost between them, but when it comes to helping
out on fishing advice, rw steps right in.

Wonderful!

I should also mention that Dave doesn't need any "fishing advice" from
me. I know he's an excellent fisherman. And the guides for Solitude or
the two Helfrich outfits will know at least as much as I do about the
Middle Fork.

From the boat during the day, while floating, I'd fish large
terrestrials along the bank. I'd expect a lot of caddis in the morning
and the evening. There are some mayfly hatches, but they're sporadic and
sparse in my experience. A stonefly nymph followed by a PT or a GRHE is
a good choice when the fishing is slow on top. Also a big gaudy dry fly
fished in the holes -- Madam X and Turk's Tarantula are local favorites.
Don't pull the trigger too soon when you see the fish come up from ten
feet down.

There are big Bull Trout in the Middle fork, so a streamer might be
productive. Or you could keep a small cutt on the hook for awhile and
get lucky. Just kidding!

Dirty water will put the fish down. The Middle Fork is usually crystal
clear, but there are blowouts if it rains where there have been large
fires in recent years. If the main river is dirty the tributaries will
fish very well. I think the fish move into them to escape the silt.

The nature of the river is that there are long stretches of unproductive
water with few or only small fish. Any decent fish will most probably be
along the banks on these stretches, but it's also worth casting to the
rocks. The deep holes below the rapids and along the rock-face bends
hold most of the good fish.

A good cutt on the Middle Fork is 18".

When the fishing is really on it's possible to have a 100-fish day on
the Middle Fork, but we all know that that is very wrong. :-)

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Middle Fork of the Salmon