Wednesday 9/12
Got going around 10:00am with a stop at Sportsman Warehouse and Walmart. Nice day with puffy clouds and the sun shining bright. Had to take the interstate to St. Regis then St. Joe’s Road, which was 14 miles of #3 gravel. A lot of washboard to rattle your teeth and verify my ability to have everything secure. At the top of the pass and Idaho state line the road is paved. Nice!
The road follows a small creek on the Idaho side, so I went fairly slow, looking for fishing spots. Really too small to have any pockets that looked fishable. About 10 miles down till you hit St Joe River Road. I stopped, checked the map and decided to look at Conrad Crossing CG a couple of miles west. I had it in my mind that there wouldn’t be many campers. Not! The campground had 10 sites and all the riverside ones occupied. The good and the bad of paved roads. Checked everything out and headed back east. A few wild spots but nothing that turned my crank. There is Fly Flat CG 5 or 6 miles away. You cross a little bridge and the road narrows down but still paved. Lots of RV, all with trailers and ATV wild camping in every flat spot. Hmmm. Keep truckin’ and pass a spot right on the river, tight and small. Go a hundred yards by and the “you don’t need to go to the end of the road” thought kicks in. So i stopped and walked back, and it’s perfect. Good spot to fish right there and a little beach to boot. Back Bill in and get situated and it starts to rain! WTF? Oh well.
Rained for 1/2 hour or so and got everything muddy. Cleared off, so i sat on the green stool on the beach and damn if i didn’t see a fish rise! Tried the tenkara rod first but without waders on i couldn’t reach the spot. Got the fly rod out with a elk hair caddis and copper john dropper…..went fishing with Jake and Mike last Sunday on the Bitteroot and got spoiled. Mike tied all my flies on for me… first cast, bam, a hit. Lost him. No barb hooks on the river, so i have bent them over…..unless i forgot a time or two. Couldn’t get the drift right fishing from shore, so finally got waders on and caught 3 cutthroats, one a 18”, and numerous hook ups that i couldn’t land. Things were going good and decided to walk up river to the next good spot. Ya right, slipped and fell in over my waders and got soaked. Temp in mid 50 w/ a little wind, took the wind right out of my sails. Spent rest of the evening drying things out. All in all, not a bad day!
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