The Last Resort Outfitter and Guides

Wow, we got 3 decent days of Salmon catching with all the constant and daily changes in barometric pressure. A deluge of rain, 3 inches in 2 days and more in places, has blown out the river. Went from 30,000 to 80,000 cfs in 24 hours. Still at that level for two days and if the rain stops, expected to drop precipitously. Hope to be back on the river soon, it is full of Salmon. The positive side of all this wet weather is the Morels are prolific. Morels and grilled Salmon, incredible!

River has plenty of fish, but the bite is slow. Barometric pressure with all the storm fronts moving in and out gave these fish lock-jaw. You really have to work for them and put in your time. The bite should improve soon as we get some stable weather patterns.

Guess who showed up today? Mr. CHINOOK! They are BIG, the are MEAN, and they are HUNGRY! Now is your chance to fish possibly the best run since 2001, or even better. Don’t hesitate, book now! I will be on the river from daylight until dark, so leave word on my answering machine, voice mail, or email to book a trip. It is 1st come, 1st serve, but we will accommodate you. Don’t hesitate, this is the year to catch that wild Idaho SALMON.

The weather has been very cold the last 2 weeks and pretty much all this spring except for a few warmer days.
Salmon continue to cross Bonneville Dam and Lower Granite in great numbers. Salmon river flows are down to 13,000 which means the fish have little current and they are speeding this way. They could be here in a week in catchable numbers. The least flow I have fished for them is 16,000 and the fishing was very good due to less water for them to spread out. If low flows and huge numbers continue, this could be the best Salmon season ever.

Trout streams are not open until Memorial Day week-end so no report there. Warm water species are still in winter form as water temps are to cold to trigger activity.

28 Apr. 10

Bonneville & Lower Granite damn counts for Chinook Salmon are on a avg. of 7,000 & 1,000 respectively. That means we could have Salmon here in catchable numbers in 2-3 weeks at these water flows which was less than 20,000 cfs most of this week. Better think about booking your date as this could be a year like 2001 that you don’t want to miss and does not happen often.

Steelhead finished with a lot of splash. It was great having so many fish in the system for a long time even if they were the smaller A-Run fish and of hatchery origin. I prefer the sport of catching those bigger native fish that really give you a work out like the one Rick Nelson caught last fall on a fly.- nice 35″ hen headed for the Middle Fork I assume.

We are getting ready for what looks like will be a great Salmon season in a month or so. Season opens this Sat. but will be a month before we probably have many arrivals at Riggins. 9,000 over Bonneville a couple of days ago and around 7500 all last week. Things are looking up and with lower stream flows this spring, should make for a great Salmon season. Remember to book as early as possible to get the date you want.