Don’t Skip a Guided Fly-Fishing Trip in Stanley

Tucked deep in the mountains of central Idaho, the picturesque town of Stanley lies preserved in time, nestled against the formidable Sawtooth Mountain Range. This small mountain town has endless outdoor recreation opportunities, but one experience stands as a must-do adventure, fly-fishing the Salmon River.

Spending time on the river is an Idaho staple, and it’s an incredible opportunity to spend an entire day mesmerized by the beauty and pristine water on the Salmon River. In Stanley, you will find multiple water recreation companies offering river excursion trips, and you can’t go wrong with any of them.

Load In

For this late June morning start on the Salmon, I partnered up with The River Company. The guided fishing trip typically has seats for two people and a guide in each boat, so I was joined by a new friend Rob Annis who I’d met the day before. Rob and I met up around 6am, grabbed gear and headed over to one of my favorite breakfast spots in the area, Stanley Baking Company. There’s not a much better way to fuel up for a day on the water like pancake, eggs, and bacon, and don’t forget to grab a couple cinnamon rolls for later! From there we drove to The River Company headquarters and met our guide for the day, Maggie! She explained that we’d be on the river for about half the day, getting to the takeout in mid-to-late afternoon. She provided us an overview of the river, asked if we needed fly rods or any additional gear as they do provide that with the experience, and got us loaded and set to head out.

At the boat ramp, Maggie impressively wrangled the raft down to the water’s edge where we received our safety briefing, tightened up lifejackets and climbed into our raft for the day. Almost immediately Maggie informed us that instead of pulling rods out we should hold on tight because we’d be hitting our largest rapid of the day right off the rip. I’d love to tell you the water was warm and refreshing, but it was 8:30 am and my body was not ready for those first big waves to come crashing over the edge of the raft. It was over quickly, and even though it was a little chilly, it was fun and enjoyable!

Fish On

Having made it over the rapid, we pulled out our fly rods and started trying to lure a Native Westslope Cutthroat or Rainbow trout to take our offerings. It wasn’t long and we had a nice little rainbow on the line! Maggie eddied us into a nice cove, and we grabbed some photos with the little trout before sending him on his way. And that’s basically how the day continued, we’d take Maggie’s advice on where to cast and most of the time, BOOM, trout on the line! We’d occasionally pull our rods up for a quick rapid, nothing to stressful, and then continue downstream. Maggie made all the difference for this trip, her expert guiding provided us with knowledge about what the fish were eating, where they were in the river, and she made sure to row us into a good position to catch them. I’ve fished the Salmon River in these same stretches of water on my own and had decent luck, but with Maggie guiding us “Fish on!” became the theme of the day.

We stopped for lunch at a picnic site tucked into the trees and dug into fantastic ham and cheese sandwiches, cold drinks, and tangy BBQ chips, all perks of being on a guided trip. After a nice lunch and bathroom break, we packed up for the homestretch of river time. We continued to catch more fish, and then Maggie called out that the takeout was just around the bend. It felt surreal, I spent the entire day on the river, and I couldn’t believe it was ending. And more importantly, I couldn’t wait to come back. River time is magical.

Tight Lines

Exploring the rivers and mountains of Idaho bring joy into your life in a way that few other things can. This guided fly-fishing trip in Stanley is something I still talk about almost on a weekly basis, and I can’t help but smile every time I think about it. The rivers of Idaho provide so many great avenues for recreation, find an adventure that makes you smile and daydream about changing your occupation. Tight lines and hope to see you on the river!