Three anglers from different walks of life come together in one of the country's most storied fisheries
of FLY-FISHING
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Henry’s Fork of the Snake River
So famous, locals just call it “The Hank.” You can fish the Box Canyon of the Henry’s Fork, but everyone gets excited when The Ranch section of the river opens on June 15, running through Harriman State Park. You’ll need a drift boat to do this river justice.
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Matt Mendes understands how fortunate he is. The 32-year-old owns Spin the Handle, a fly
fishing guide business on Oregon’s Warm Springs Reservation that enables him to have his
boots in the water 180 days out of the year. Mostly, he’s fishing for steelhead, a legendary
species that’s been known to drive anglers to either depression or ecstasy. Sometimes both
in the same day. Mendes has one of the few commercial permits to work on the same
ancestral fishing grounds of the Deschutes River where he learned the art from his grandfather.
“There aren’t too many places in the U.S. where you can go and feel like you’re the only one out there,” Mendes says of his ancestral fishing waters. “That solitude is rare, and you’re back in the mountain range where about 700 wild horses are running around, and there are deer, antelope…you name it. It’s like a mini Yellowstone.”
Mendes has been working the Deschutes since he was 12, when he first started driving shuttles for his grandfather’s fly fishing business. A few years later, he was guiding and would eventually purchase that business and run it as his own. Now, Mendes sees his guiding as a pathway to help save the fishery he grew up loving.
Matt Mendes: Inspiring the Next Generation of Conservationists
Katie Cahn is brutally honest, especially when it comes to her personal struggles. Not just
the fact that she survived cancer or that she grew up without a strong male role model or
that her family battles addiction. She’s honest about the fact that being a mom is hard;
that being a wife is hard. That it takes effort and therapy and a little bit of fishing for her
to succeed at these roles that demand so much. Not that she gets to fish as much as she’d
like—she’s honest about that, too.
“I probably haven’t fished in three months,” Cahn says from her home along the edge of the Chattooga River in the Southern Appalachians. “I used to be able to take my daughter to the river and fish because she would sleep, but now she’s three and a half so she wants me to play Elsa and Anna with her in the sand.”
Cahn grew up paddling the Chattooga, where she did stints as a rafting guide. She has also led fishing trips with the non-profit Casting for Recovery, which teaches cancer patients and survivors how to fly fish. But fishing is not Cahn’s job. It’s her release.
Katie Cahn: Fishing for Mental Health
Fishing didn’t necessarily change Austin Campbell’s life so much as it has defined it, at least
since he got his driver’s license when he was a teenager living in Denver. “When I got a car
in high school, it changed the game for me,” Campbell says. “I just started fishing too much.”
And he hasn’t stopped fishing “too much.” Campbell was a high school track star with his
choice of college programs. Watching videos of anglers fishing the spring creeks around
campus was what made his choice to attend Penn State an easy one. He managed to fish three
times a week between classes, practice, and meets, then spent his summers as a fly fishing instructor
with Lincoln Hills Cares, a nonprofit that introduces inner city kids to the sport.
Austin Campbell: Casting a Wider Net
Consider Highway 20 a treasure map. But instead of gold, it points to fish. What starts as a two lane road traces a smiley-face arc across Idaho as it connects Montana with Oregon, delivering anglers to more than a dozen high-quality trout streams and trophy lakes. Follow this interactive map for the best the Trout Highway has to offer.
Explore the Trout Highway
Henry’s Lake
This shallow lake in Eastern Idaho is known for its oversized hybrids and Yellowstone cutthroat. Scientists estimate there are more than a million trout living in the lake, so your odds are pretty good. If you’re looking to catch a trophy on a fly, this is your spot.
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Madison River
A 120-mile-long Blue Ribbon Trout Stream, the water on the Madison shifts from smooth, drift boat-friendly to class V hair-boating. The water is shallow and full of trout—an estimated 5,000 of them per mile. If you’re into drifting, head to the Upper Madison.
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Hebgen Lake
This 16-mile-long lake near West Yellowstone sees plenty of action, and for good reason; the lake is full of big rainbows and browns. If all goes well, you’ll be hauling in browns that are 18 inches long and rainbows well over a foot. Whitefish and westslope cutthroat also thrive in this lake.
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Yellowstone River
The longest undammed river in the lower 48, with its headwaters are in Yellowstone National Park, the Yellowstone is “wild” in every sense of the word. It gets thick with whitewater in Yankee Jim Canyon, but you can drift boat the mellow stretches or raft the whitewater in rafts with fly fishing frames. Guides can point you towards sections you can wade fish, too. You’ll fish for rainbow, brown, and native cutthroat trout. It’s all about the dry fly from Spring through Fall.
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Firehole River
Inside Yellowstone National Park, the Firehole flows through three active geyser basins (thus, the name), so if you’re wade fishing, you’ll encounter hot springs and the occasional mud pit. The wildlife spotting might be as good as the fishing: elk, bison, and bear all love the place. The river is loaded with small and feisty brown and rainbow trout.
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Fall River
A tributary of the Henry’s Fork Snake River, the headwaters begin in Yellowstone National Park and the river stays relatively primitive throughout its course. This is backcountry fishing at its best with mostly walk-in access with little traffic. The river is punctuated with waterfalls too, like the 20-foot Cave Falls.
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Teton River
A tributary to Henry’s Fork, the Teton gets a ton of rainfall and boasts rainbow, cutthroat, brook, and whitefish that grow large thanks to the big hatches from spring to fall. The spring-fed river has one of the strongest populations of native cutthroat trout in the west. The upper section of the Teton is mellow as it wends through forests of aspen while the lower section is punctuated with big whitewater.
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South Fork of the Snake
The Upper South Fork is the most accessible stretch of this pristine tailwaters fishery and has excellent wade fishing opportunities for fish that are actively hunting for dry flies. If you want to float, hit the lower South Fork, dubbed the Canyon, which offers a day’s worth of casual casting and floating. The scenery is top notch, as you’ll witness a mix of farmland, mountains and rugged canyons. July means stonefly hatches which drives the fish crazy.
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Big Lost River
The Upper Big Lost is a true wilderness experience known for its high diversity of fish. The remote river lures hardy anglers looking to score the “Lost River Slam,” by catching a rainbow, west slope cutthroat, Snake River Fine Spotted Cutthroat, Brook, Cutt-Bow, Grayling, and Mountain Whitefish in a single day.
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Silver Creek
Close to Sun Valley, Silver Creek is a spring-fed river that’s gin-clear and ripe with brown and rainbow trout. You have plenty of wade-fishing opportunities and small mayflies hatch through spring and summer. The river snakes through Picabo Valley, a wide, green valley flanked by rolling hills. Bonus: You’ll get to fish the same banks that Ernest Hemingway fished back in the day.
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The Big Wood River
A central Idaho gem full of wild trout that rambles between the Boulder and Smoky Mountains north of Sun Valley, the upper reaches are a walk and wade stream amongst cottonwoods, providing for a scenic setting while you’re casting for large browns and rainbows.
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South Fork of Boise River
It’s all about the massive rainbows on this river that’s surrounded by national forest and BLM land making it an ideal candidate for an overnight backpacking or ATV fishing trip. No guiding is allowed on this river, so it’s up to you to find gold. There’s a 10-mile section below Anderson Dam with constant dirt road access, making it an ideal spot for wade access.
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Boise River
An urban trout fishery with wild and stocked rainbow and brown trout, the Boise offers quick and easy access via city parks and green spaces. Choose your method, whether it’s walk and wade or float and cast.
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Owyhee River
Just on the other side of the border in Eastern Oregon, the Lower Owyhee is known for its large brown trout, rainbows, and carp. Focus on the 10-mile stretch above Snively Hot Springs, which passes through a scenic canyon. And come with grasshoppers in the summer.
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Slocum Campground
Oregon’s Slocum Creek Campground has sites inside the Owyhee Canyon putting you within striking distance of the Lower Owyhee and the steaming pools of Snively Hot Springs. Sites are primitive, free, and first come/first serve.
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Fish Fact
Idaho is the only landlocked state in
the west where salmon and steelhead trout
can be found.
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Montana Angling Co.
Montana Angling Co. knows the ins and outs of the Madison and Yellowstone Rivers and will put you on the native cutthroat.
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Jimmy’s Fly Shop
Jimmy’s Fly Shop has real time fishing reports for waters from Henry’s Lake to Yellowstone Park. They offer classes on casting and fly tying and have every fly you’ll need to match the hatch.
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Three Rivers Ranch Outfitters
Three Rivers Ranch Outfitters has fly shops in five locations across Idaho, from Driggs to Boise.
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Picabo Angler
The Picabo Angler is located directly on Silver Creek, offering a full service fly shop and guided adventures.
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Driggs, Idaho
In the heart of Teton Valley surrounded by the Tetons and Big Hole Mountains, Driggs is an epicenter of adventure with hiking and mountain biking trails starting just outside of town. Catch a movie at Spud Drive In, which is only open in the summer, or get some lift-served downhill bike laps in at nearby Grand Targhee Resort.
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Idaho Falls
The Snake River runs through the heart of downtown Idaho Falls, and the city has made the most of it, developing five miles of paved trails along both sides of the river connecting parks, neighborhoods, restaurants, and shops.
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Mackay
Tiny Mackay is a launching point for exploring ghost towns in the mountains. It’s also a hotbed of rodeo culture with regular rodeos most weekends during the summer.
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ketchum
Ketchum is the cultural hub of Sun Valley, with a downtown along the Big Wood River, big-name festivals (come back for the Jazz and Music Festival in October), and the most eclectic food scene you’ll find in the mountains. Hit the Rickshaw for Southeast Asian inspired small plates.
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BOISE
The state capitol and arguably one of the coolest mountain cities in the west, Boise is a hotbed of culture, food and adventure. The city’s Ridge to Rivers trail system offers 190 miles of trails connecting neighborhoods with the foothills surrounding town. Make time for Boise’s Whitewater Park, a man-made wave on the Boise River that changes shape daily to accommodate surfers or kayakers.
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Big Springs Campground
On the headwaters of the Snake River, where 20 million gallons of water come bubbling out of the earth, this primitive Forest Service campground is set within a stand of lodgepole pines and meadows that are full of wildflowers in the summer.
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Warm River Campground
Inside the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, this developed campground has all the amenities, but the real draw is the immediate access to the Warm River, which is a hotbed of fishing and tubing.
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Big Lost River Lower Access Campground
This campground offers dispersed camping on forest service land mostly used by guides looking to get an early start. The fishing access is right out of your tent, there are views of towering cliffs, and the entrance road is narrow enough to keep bigger RVs out. Plus it’s free. Off Highway 93, just outside of Mackay.
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wood River Campground
The Big Wood River flows right through the middle of this 30-site campground (all first come, first serve). And that’s just the obvious draw. Hiking trails lead to remote lakes and the Hemingway-Boulder Wilderness. Ketchum is 10 miles away.
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Fish Fact
The salmonfly hatches at the end of June each year, giving you a chance to catch really large fish on a really large dry fly on the Madison.
Fish Fact
65% of Idaho is public land
Fish Fact
The Pale Morning Dun, a mayfly, hatches on the Teton River at the end of June.
Fish Fact
The Brown Drake hatch, on Silver Creek, is an experiential event as the insects are so active, and so numerous, they’ve been known to obscure the sun.
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Feature 6
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FPO
Fly fishing is experiencing a renaissance. A new generation of anglers is helping to recast the pastime as the accessible, life-changing sport it has always been. To learn more about how fly fishing is evolving, we brought together three anglers who are driving that change for a trip along Idaho's storied Trout Highway. These are their stories.
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“I’m completely self-taught, learning how to fish by watching YouTube videos and using Walmart rods,” Campbell says of his own trajectory within the sport. “I didn’t have a mentor on the river growing up. Other anglers looked at me and wondered what I was doing out there, because the river wasn’t ‘our space.’ Being able to step into that mentor role for those kids was fun, but it was also important for me to show them that they do belong out there on the river, that there is someone like them who enjoys this sport. A light needs to be shed on that.”
Campbell is still actively shedding that light. He’s now a full-time guide and advocate for getting youth outdoors, continuing his relationship with Lincoln Hills Cares and establishing his own free clinics that introduce fly fishing to residents of Denver neighborhoods that would otherwise have no contact with the sport.
“The outdoors is for everyone,” Campbell says. “Being out there and connected with nature, it just does something. All my other problems, I’m not thinking about them. I’m just in the moment. Everyone should have that opportunity. If we can keep pushing the ball in the right direction in this industry, I hope that in five to 10 years from now, you’ll see everyone on the river.”
“I think fly fishing is the most meditative thing I’ve ever done,” Cahn says. “I can wash the rest of my life out for a period of time when I’m on the river and get back to being who I am. If I strive to find that time for me, even if it’s just a few hours, or a day, I get to be Katie again. Not a wife or mother. Just Katie.”
Cahn believes this sort of transparency will help other women cope with their own struggles and hopefully normalize the notion that a woman should take time for herself. She believes fly fishing could help more women rediscover themselves after years of putting others first.
“I’m aware that this river is a sanctuary, and I work to make it a better place for everyone, not just the anglers, but the fish,” Mendes says. “Educating my clients plays a big role in that stewardship. I want people to go home and have a better gauge of the fishery from a conservation standpoint. Spreading the awareness through the several hundred clients I deal with every year is a way I can put a tiny dent in the major problem we’re having.”
River stewardship hits close to home for Mendes. Not only has he been making his living on the ancestral waters of the Deschutes since he was 12, he now has a 12-year-old son of his own who’s learning to fish on the same river. Mendes cherishes that role as educator, whether it’s with a client, his own son, or one of the tribal youth to which he provides free instruction and gear.
“I like watching other people catch fish,” Mendes says. “If I can be out all day with a buddy, or a client or a kid and watch him swing a line, I’m happy. I get more stoked when that person gets a fish than if I get a fish.”
2022 CHEVY SILVERADO ZR2
Idaho
Oregon
Montana
*Always use the brake pedal when you need to stop immediately
Matt Mendes understands
how fortunate he is. The
32-year-old owns Spin
the Handle, a fly fishing
guide business on Oregon’s
Warm Springs Reservation
that enables him to have his
boots in the water 180 days out of the year. Mostly, he’s fishing for steelhead, a legendary
species that’s been known to drive anglers to either depression or ecstasy. Sometimes both
in the same day. Mendes has one of the few commercial permits to work on the same ancestral fishing grounds of the Deschutes River where he learned the art from his grandfather.
“There aren’t too many places in the U.S. where you can go and feel like you’re the only one out there,” Mendes says of his ancestral fishing waters. “That solitude is rare, and you’re back in the mountain range where about 700 wild horses are running around, and there are deer, antelope…you name it. It’s like a mini Yellowstone.”
Mendes has been working the Deschutes since he was 12, when he first started driving shuttles for his grandfather’s fly fishing business. A few years later, he was guiding and would eventually purchase that business and run it as his own. Now, Mendes sees his guiding as a pathway to help save the fishery he grew up loving.
