Teton River - St. Anthony ID

[JohnScott]

Last year I spent a fair amount of time reading maps looking for public access to the Teton River between the old Teton Dam Site and Hog Hollow, which is just a few miles south and east of St. Anthony. Finally found a road which looked like it was a county road that went to the edge of the bluffs above the river. Scouted it one day last summer, but never got back to actually fish the area - until today.

Standing on the bluff above the river gave me a great view of a large flat ( some of my friends refer to it as "frog water" ) just downstream of the parking area. Too far off to see much with the naked eye, but with a pair of ten power binoculars, I could actually see cutthroat rising to take naturals, on the far side of the river, of course. There was a pretty good pod working a small area, and several of the fish were large. My guess is that they were in the mid to upper teens in length. Could actually see them coming to the natural from several feet down and away - that was pretty cool.

Made my way down from the bluff on a section that was steep but provided decent footing. Walked upstream through some mixed foliage - trees, brush, thistles, grass - until I found a spot that looked promising. A good sized hole that had some depth to it. Rigged up a double nymph rig with a weighted size 10 prince nymph trailing a weighted size 6 stonefly nymph under an indicator.



First fish was a medium size whitefish.



Next up was a 15" cutthroat.



Over the next hour, I landed a small rainbow and another six whitefish. Two of the whitefish were foul hooked, but, as I like to say, "You have to do a lot of things right to foul hook a whitefish." To the best of my knowledge, there are the only cutts, bows and whitefish in the Teton - so I labeled the spot Grandslam Hole. One large whitefish took the stonefly nymph. All the other fish took ( or got took by ) the prince nymph. It seems the curse of the prince nymph that I've had for ages may be gone for good ??

Worked upstream a way, sometimes wading and sometimes walking through the brush and trees, which at times took me quite a way from the water. Fished a few places with no results. Found another huge flat, but there were very few rising fish, and the rises were sporadic and too far out to reach from wadeable water.

Did notice a fair number of large caddis, and managed to capture one. A Teton River October Caddis. Took a couple macro pics for my album.

The foliage has started to turn - not all, but lots of it is already close to peak color.

The access I found and used today accesses almost a mile of river. Unfortunately, it doesn't access the best water, which was the big flat downstream of where I parked, and a lot of the water it does access is either not all that good or not wadeable / fishable.

Will likely give it another try one of these days. Not a high priority. Although with a toon ...

Click on the photo for a few more scenes of the river and the foliage, and a couple pics of October Caddis.

[JeffHamm]

Hi John,

Some good looking water there. And sounds like you've got some even better spots to get too as well. That can be half the fun, the exploration side of things!

I've never seen a whitefish before, although I've heard of them. I'm curious if they are edible? Do they put up much of a fight (I seem to recall hearing they start off strong but fade quickly?)

Anyway, you're certainly near some great rivers. The fall colours are great. Don't get much here in the North Island, though the South Island has some good patches.

- Jeff

[MrFishingToughGuy]

Jeff,

Whitefish are QUITE edible! In fact, they are dang tasty. They fight hard, and I find them to be a very respectable fish in their own right. If the trout aren't biting, I'll take a few whitefish over nothing any day.

Marty

[JohnScott]

Jeff -

Quite a few people I know do like to eat whitefish - most of them smoke them. I suspect there are many ways to prepare them. Sounds like Marty has some good recipes.

Whitefish are just very different from trout. Usually, the take on a nymph is pretty subtle. The indicator just stops moving but there is little movement by the fish. When they do feel pressure they have a very strong initial move, but they do tend to give it up pretty quickly, although the bigger ones can put up quite a tussle.

They are basically a bottom feeder ( which is why they fight the way they do ) but at times they will take a dry fly. Sight fishing to them or to the area of rises is just as enjoyable as any other dry fly fishing. Their rise is very distinctive, so if you don't want to fish to them, it is easy to avoid them

The other thing that is very different from trout is that they immediately go for the bottom and their whole effort while they are fighting seems to be to stay at the bottom. It is pretty obvious when fishing water with both trout and whitefish what you have on within a matter of seconds.

One of my most memorable outings of this year involved a whitefish. Last March, I was nymph fishing the South Fork in an area with a mix of good size browns and whitefish. I got a take, and immediately thought "Wow, that's a good size brown." Then I thought it was a whitefish, from the way it was fighting. But it was so strong, I'm thinking it has to be a big brown. And it fought for several minutes before finally coming to the surface, all the time I'm wondering brown or whitefish ??

Finally, it came up. BIG whitefish. I was standing hip deep in the river and when I finally got him to hand and started to lift him, he came almost to shoulder height - measured right at 23", was really fat and healthy, and weighed over five pounds, probably close to six.

The U.S. record mountain whitefish was 22.5" long and 5 lb 14.5 ounces, caught at Island Park Reservoir here in Idaho. The longest mountain whitefish on record in the U.S., is the Montana state record at 23", also taken from a lake.

No doubt that a lot of other fisherman have thrown back potential U.S. record mountain whitefish. A friend of mine released a 23 incher taken from Henry's Fork last year, and DG mentioned a while back that he has had some that were in that range.

There is one post on my Fishing Reports for the South Fork of the Snake that shows four rather different whitefish, in case you are interested.

John

[JeffHamm]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the info! Sounds like they are a lot of fun, and provide for some variety of expectations and oppertunities. I must say, smoked fish is very nice. Here in NZ the wood to use for smoking is manuka, adds a very nice flavour. I will typically coat the trout, salmon, or kahawai (a NZ salt water fish; much maligned in terms of it's table qualities in my view) fillets with salt and brown sugar and leave in the fridge over night if I remember to do it the day before. Otherwise, I try and make sure it sits for at least a couple hours before I hot smoke it (don't have a cold smoker). I've used soya sauce and honey as well, and that makes for a good maranade too.

Anyway, thanks again for the info. I'll have a look for the other photos John!

- Jeff

[JeffHamm]

Hi John,

Found the thread and photo's with the white fish. Thanks for the pointer (they are on page 6 of your South Fork thread).

- Jeff

[soloman]

Refresh my knowledge. What are the "public access" rules in idaho. I've only fished areas of public land, ie national forest areas, blm, etc. in Idaho.

[jiggin]

Nice pictures and nice fish. beautiful area love to fish that one of these days

[brhoff]

Just one beautiful stretch of water...worlds apart from our generally slow moving murky waters on this side of the country. Thanks for the pics!

[JohnScott]

Refresh my knowledge. What are the "public access" rules in idaho. I've only fished areas of public land, ie national forest areas, blm, etc. in Idaho.

Wouldn't want you to get in trouble taking my word for "rules" that apply out here. So, before you fish anywhere other than the public lands, check with Idaho Fish and Game for the regs and definitions that apply.

Having said that, generally, you can access any navigable moving water from bridge easements and at places posted as open by the property owner, or with permission from the owner. I believe that you can also cross undeveloped land that is not posted, even if fenced, but that is one that you really want to check carefully. Also, note that painting the top of fence posts red at regular intervals is the equivalent of putting up no trespassing signs.

Bridge easements are generally 60' wide so there is typically a fair amount of room on either side of the road to get to the water.

There are quite a few places around this area where property owners cooperate with F & G to provide access contingent on continuing good compliance with any posted restrictions and respect for the property and those who occupy it.

Lots of people will grant permission, if asked politely. Some aren't so nice.

Once you get to the water, you must stay within the usual high water mark. Some adjoining owners might give you some grief, so it is up to the individual how much he / she wants to push the issue. ( You can always use my line "Do you want to call the sherrif now or after you shoot me?" Just kidding. I've come close a couple times, but got the situation under control before uttering those words !! )

Like I said, it is up to you to read and understand the regs and ask for clarification if you are not sure. The above is intended only to give you a basis from which to consider visiting Idaho with the prospect of fishing public waters bounded by private land.

John