Selway/Lochsa

My wife and I are heading out there from Seattle on Thursday afternoon and will probably be looking for lodging that night before tent camping for three nights and returning to Seattle on Monday.

We usually drive to the NF and Kelly Creek to camp and fish but have decided to fish new waters this year. I know many of you have fished this area, particularily the Three Rivers area.

There are many choices and my question relates to safe camping (where we can leave stuff unattended and have a reasonable expectation it will still be there after a day of fishing)as much as to where to fish.

We can read water and are not novices and have everything. Should we concentrate on the Lochsa or Selway and how far up river? And where should we set up our base camp? How much are fees? Is there running water and clean outhouses? Are there legal firepits?

Any helpful suggestions would be most appreciated.

Varden

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Varden,
Click on Fish-Ins* on the left hand menu,
then Fish-In '05 Idaho. All the information you requested is there.

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LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL

Varden,
Both the Selway and Lochsa fish well. You can camp quite comfortably at the Three Rivers Resort. This time of year (read after Labor Day) you can almost have your pick of camp sites. Safe firepits, clean showers and restrooms, and even a swimming pool and sauna. There is a great little cafe right across the street, and I never worried about thievery while out fishing. I was there for 9 days. The Selway has better access to the water, but the Lochsa has bigger fish. If you hike in about a mile past trailhead on the Selway, you can find more and bigger fish. I don't know if the October Caddis hatch will have started by then, but taking some along would be a good idea. Other than that you might want to take some, Red & Yellow Humpies, Elk Hair Caddis, Adams and even Royal Coachmen do well. As far as wet flies go, I never go anywhere without Wooly Buggers, Phesant Tail Nymphs, Hare's Ear Nymphs and Princes Nymphs. Al Campbell's SHWAPF is a good bet for wet or dry use.
Have fun. Give us a report. And, God's speed.


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A free gift waits for those who ask.
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Lotech Joe



[This message has been edited by LotechJoe (edited 04 September 2005).]

Thanks guys. I think based on info gleaned from this site that we will concentrate on the Selway this trip. I'll give a report when we get back.

Varden

Varden,

Do I know you from another local site?

Ron Eagle Elk

Yes, Ron. On most sites, I just go by my name, Randy Knapp or just Randy.

Liz and I just got back from the Selway. It was terrific despite some occasional wind and rain.

We both got lots of action. My biggest cutt was 15" and I landed several that went 14. My smallest cutt was 10". My biggest Cutt-bow was 16 inches and I also landed rainbows between 7 and 11". We had action on size 14 yellow bodied Troth Elk Hair Caddis, size 14 all orange Stimulator, size 14 Renegade, size 14 yellow soft hackle (the kind with muskrat dubbing behind the partridge), size 14 shiny black winged ant as a dropper off a big dry, and last but not least, a size 14 traditional Royal Coachman. If I was limited to one fly it would be the Royal Coachman as it repeatedly took fish whether dry or wet, dead drift, and on the swing. My second choice would be the Renegade (also worked wet and dry) and my third would be the black ant (probably worked well because I didn't see the take and therefore didn't strike too soon which can be a problem with these cutts. The big October caddis were all still crawling around in their little stone and debris houses.

I will edit with pictures later.

The best fishing was in drifts that included slower water over rocks about 1 to 3' deep with deeper and/or faster water near.

We caught no fish on nymphs or streamers but we didn't try that for very long.

Best time to fish was 3 hours before sunset which meant within 3PM to 7PM for us.

These fish no how to throw a barbless hook. Pause before striking on fish you see take your fly and don't horse them in right away. Keep side pressure on them with your rod low and to the side strip them in until they get close and tired and then put them on the reel keeping a tight line the whole time.

Take your favorite rod and reel and a floating line. You don't need a lot. I used an old 7' 4pc Fenwick 6wt glass rod and Pflueger Medalist 1494 with and old braided nylon level line (it is thin, green, still floats, and makes this wonderful singing sound as it goes through the guides kind of like silk but without the maintenance hassel). I tied my own leaders out of Maxima ending in 4lb 4x tippet and had no proble with the tougher Chameleon. I will admit that there were a couple of times when I wanted a longer lever to reach fish on the far bank when I was too lazy to go up or downstream to fin a fordable spot to cross to the other side.

You can wade wet in midday but it cools off fast when the sun disappears. I wore a down vest, scarf, and jacket in the evening.

You could probably do well with hip boots as long as they were felted. There rocks are not washed clean like ours.

The river is very healthy with every class size of fry abundent. There were plenty of natural predators like otters, osprey, kingfishers, and heron but there were also plent of invertebrates for them to dine upon besides fish and the shoreline was covered with discarded sun dried crawfish claws.

We saw plenty of deer (be careful) and wild turkeys (everywhere).

The people at Three Rivers were great. Firewood is up $5 a bundle and you need cash for a license.

Randy

Great report. Reading it was almost as good as being there. I'm glad you had fun.



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He Knocks. You Only Have To Ask.

Hey Varden,

Glad you folks had a great time! Thanks also for a great report. VEE and I are really looking forward to our trip there on the 25th.

I'm off to the bench.

REE

Don't forget about those wonderfull hot springs up on the Lochsa. They are very refreshing after a long day in the cold water.