Fishing South Fork of the Snake River
The South Fork of the Snake boasts 4,000 fish per mile, which makes it one of the most productive rivers in the country. The quality of fishing on the South Fork has improved dramatically since a slot limit was introduced. All fish between 8 and 16 inches (the prime breeders) must be released and you are only allowed to keep two fish that aren't rainbows.
For the best dry fly action the river is best fished from July through mid August. The first half of July is the height of the prolific stone fly hatches, which brings just about all of the fish to the surface to gorge themselves on one of the largest dry flies, the largest of the Stone Flies the Salmon Fly is sometimes 3 inches in length.
By the first week of August the fish are a bit more reluctant to bite as most have been caught and released several times by then. When the fish continue to refuse dry flies, emerger and cripple patterns are highly effective, especially "when the fish are feeding in the riffles and back channels.
The warm summer days of August bring out one of the trout’s favorite foods, the grasshopper. When the fish are keying in on hoppers and are becoming weary of hopper patterns, try twitching a rubber legged hopper pattern. The twitching motion of those rubber legs can entice a wary fish into a strike.
See our photos below.