Fishing
The Main Salmon River of No Return is the inbetween section of the Salmon River not the Headwaters but well above its confluence with the mighty Snake River. The Main Salmon experiences a change over the 81 miles of the river from aCutthroat Trout Fishery to a Small Mouth Bass Fishery.
The Top 25 Miles or so can fish quite well in the Main Stem of the stream fro Cuthroat Trout while the Middle 30 miles are more of a walk and wade section of fishing primarily the Tributaries and finally the bottom 25 miles fish well for Small Mouth Bass.
We outfit all of our trips with a variety of gear to fish for these species. We provide Fly Fishing Gear and Spin Fishign Gear on all of our Main Salmon River of No Return trips.
Fishing the Main Salmon River
All our Main Salmon River of No Return trips are outfitted for fishing. Many of our summer guests plan to include fishing as some part of their Main Salmon River trip. Experienced fishermen usually prefer to bring their own gear but it is not necessary if you'd like to leave it at home.
Included in your trip:
Fishing equipment and tackle
knowledgeable guides, pleased to provide instruction.
Fishing Pointers
Hughes guides are happy to provide instruction, and we always have tackle boxes filled with local flies, leaders, fly & line dressing as well as fully set up tackle boxes for spin fishing. Fishing for Cutthroat Trout and Smallmouth Bass is a fantastic time on the river!
Tributaries
Tributary fishing is an added treat. During your trip, we will stop to fish the mouths of varies tributaries and possibly Hike up the Island of the South Fork of the Salmon in search of some Cutthroat Trout.
The “wiley” westslope cut takes dry flies aggressively. We fish on the surface with large, easy to follow dry flies (Humpy, Stimulator, Sofa Pillow, Parachute Hopper, Buck-tailed Caddis). Westslope cutthroat are an indicator of excellent water quality, and watching them rise through gin clear water to take dry flies is thrilling.
Guest Experiences on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River
Fishing Licenses
You can purchase license at pre-trip meeting at River One.
You can also purchase an Idaho fishing license directly from Idaho Fish & Game Dept. [https://license.gooutdoorsidaho.com/Licensing/CustomerLookup.aspx] Cost is $22.75 for the 1st day, and $7/day for each additional day. Children under 14 can fish on a license of an adult parent.
We’re here to answer any and all of your questions!