Lochsa River

[st.croixguy]

Any one care to coment or elaborate on fishing the Lochsa River in Idaho? I am planning a couple of days there in mid July. Any info will be appreaciated.

SCG

[MontanaMoose]

Hello SCG, I've been there a few times and you'll love it. Call Three Rivers Resort in Lowell, ID at 1-888-926-4430 and you'll get all the information you need and then some. If that's not enough, PM me with specific questions and I'll be happy to help out. Oh and be sure to ask about the rafting population on the dates you plan on going. Also there's an FAOL fish in at Lowell in Sept.

Cheers,

MontanaMoose

[djo]

The Lochsa River is a long time favorite of mine. I usually stay at the Ryan's Wilderness Inn across from the 3 Rivers Inn. Route 12 runs along the river so access is very good. You park at any of the pull offs and climb down to the river. The environment is a strange combination of a wilderness river within casting distance of a well travelled highway. You will hear trucks and motorcylces and just need to learn to ignore them. The climb down tends to be pretty rocky but not usually too far. The river is in general pretty fast so you tend to do relatively little wading. Below the Wilderness Gateway campground there is a limited catch and kill fishery. Above the campground it is all C&R. The fish are almost all westslope cutts and your average fish is 10 to 14". I am still looking to take a 20" out of there but have never seen one. You may see a few old salmon and the occasional bull trout. The best information (although it is now 3 years out of date) is from the old Twin Rivers Anglers website (http://www.traflyfish.com/). If you are in the area you might also consider the Selway River. You can get to the wilderness trail head with 30 miles of bad road and then hike a trail along the river. The Selway is much quieter water - both in terms of river flow and with the absense of truck traffic - but does require a bit more effort.


Here is the Lochsa in May (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7GtTizpR08&NR=1). Most of the crazies and most of the water are gone by July.


It is beautiful country - enjoy.
David