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I am heading up to ID Falls to pick up my drift boat with the lady. We are going to make a weekend out of it and go over to Jackson Hole after we pick it up. Anyone have any info on lodging and fishing that they would like to share? We can float or wade I don't really mind one way or the other since I'll be floating as much as possible now. If you recommend a float the easier the better.
Thanks in advance,
Nick
chanceb
08-11-2008, 10:25 PM
wtf, she's has "The Lady" title now! This sounds serious my brotha!
wtf, she's has "The Lady" title now! This sounds serious my brotha!
It's ok Chance it won't cut into fishing time and you still have a place in the boat. So you can put the gun down ; )
chanceb
08-11-2008, 10:31 PM
It's ok Chance it won't cut into fishing time
Famous last words, but as Long as I have a place in the boat I'm good :)
MickG
08-11-2008, 10:47 PM
Email has been sent....
Email has been sent....
My gmail is down for the time being I'll let you know if I got it.
Jason
08-11-2008, 11:21 PM
Nich, there's a couple KOA campgrounds in the jackson area you might want to consider....for cheap. As for a float....put in at the Wilson Bridge (i think that's what it's called) and float down to the next pull out. Beautiful stretch to float...and it's easy. Fishing isn't bad either this time of year with big attractor flies up along the banks. Lots of bald eagles and wildlife. You will just have to find a shuttle service to drive you back up.
Nich, there's a couple KOA campgrounds in the jackson area you might want to consider....for cheap. As for a float....put in at the Wilson Bridge (i think that's what it's called) and float down to the next pull out. Beautiful stretch to float...and it's easy. Fishing isn't bad either this time of year with big attractor flies up along the banks. Lots of bald eagles and wildlife. You will just have to find a shuttle service to drive you back up.
Sweet I'll look into that and thanks. How long is the float? I assume it's the Snake?
Grizz
08-11-2008, 11:53 PM
Nick, are you guys doing the JH Music Fest? or......just there to fish? Ben Harper, Wilco, Black Crowes...etc.
Check into the Deadman's bar to Moose landing float. Go see the guys at High Country Flies, they can supply a map & take care of your shuttle.
I think I'm heading that way myself.
peace
Nick, are you guys doing the JH Music Fest? or......just there to fish? Ben Harper, Wilco, Black Crowes...etc.
Check into the Deadman's bar to Moose landing float. Go see the guys at High Country Flies, they can supply a map & take care of your shuttle.
I think I'm heading that way myself.
peace
Sounds good and thanks for the info.
Nich...
Congrats on the new purchase. One quick bit of advise be super carefull of Log jams in the JH area.
After purchasing my brand new drift boat years ago, I think my Second float was from Wilson bridge all the way down to the KOA by by the HOBAK junction. (great place to stay by the way) the float was about 8-10 miles of river. Looking back I used up 8 of my 9 lives on that streatch in one float. I'm lucky I didn't flip my boat and even more lucky since I was with my Wife and young daughter at the time. If you are not confident in your rowing skills use extreme caution as a rookie rower, and try to get as much info from the shops on what the river is flowing like.
2 main things that cause trouble in the JH area...
1) Changing gravel bars and side chanels year to year. When I floated it as a Rookie I was trying to stay in the main channel. The problem was the river split in what appeared to be in half. I choose to go right, since it looked like the bigger channel, problem was it split again and again, and before I knew it as a rookie rower I was in a side channel smaller than the Weber, I ended up taking out a chunk of gel coat, and had to drag my boat 50 yds to get it back into the main channel.
2) Root balls/ downed trees. These are your number one threat as a rower. Rocks you will bounce off of most of the time... Root balls hang you up and will flip you faster than you can blink. The tree branches act as a strainer, pinning you and your boat in them. If your not 100% confident you can row your way around a drowned tree walk your boat around it if possible.
On my 2nd float, I came out of side channel and into the main current and happend to be about 50 yards behind a big rubber raft. It was blocking my view down river. All of sudden everyone in the rubber raft jumps out of the raft and tries to stop it. We were in about 2-3 feet of water at the time but the water is flowing fast. I start to move to the right in the river to go around the people in the ruber raft, when I look down stream and see two big log jams with only a 8-10 foot gap in between the two, the water flowing over the tree's was too deep to wade through so there was no way to jump out of my boat and walk it around the log jam. I start rowing with everything I have to try to get to shore so I can walk my boat around the log jam when I hit a boulder just under the surface. It ends up knocking an oar out of my hand, and my boat goes sideways. We're about 20 feet away from the log jam at this point. I grab the oar, straighten us up and prepare for inpact when I look up and realize the jolt by the rock lined me up perfect to hit the 10 foot wide gap. My father in law who was with me and my wife looks at me and says "nice rowing" little did he realize how close to taking a swim he was, and possibly being pinned in a log jam. It scared me so bad I had the shakes for 30 minutes when I realized how close I was to dumping my wife and daughter into the middle of log jam with no life jacket on me or my wife. As a rookie rower, there was no way I had the experience to hit a gap like that. As a rookie I would have put us in the log jam 9 out of 10 times. One of the few times in my life I can say it was a "miracle"...
I don't mean to scare you but make sure you have a respect for the river and the power it holds. Once you get in trouble there is no "time out". I'm not sure of your rowing background so this may be old news to you.. but at the time when I was a rookie I was overconfident and it almost cost me dearly....
Other than that.... have fun!
On other bit of advice, go as much as possible with people who are experienced rowers. You will learn better and faster by watching people row in the boat you are in and how they set up for different sitations, then by reading any books or watching any DVD's. When you fish out of a boat with a guy who knows how to set up correctly vs a hack who is just trying to get you down the river without dumping it, there is a huge difference. There is a distinct talent and art to rowing, some learn it some don't. You could be a kick ass fly fisherman, but if your rower can't get the boat in the right positions, and set up correctly for fishing the prime holding lies of trout, your wasting time and opportunity of catching fish, and you might as well be wading.
Ok.. there's my .02
Sladewagon
08-12-2008, 05:01 AM
Nick, are you guys doing the JH Music Fest? or......just there to fish? Ben Harper, Wilco, Black Crowes...etc.
Damn, if I wasn't tied down to the ball and chain, I would make a road trip for that show in a heartbeat. Wilco is one of my faves!
rodrick
08-12-2008, 02:48 PM
2) Root balls/ downed trees. These are your number one threat as a rower. Rocks you will bounce off of most of the time... Root balls hang you up and will flip you faster than you can blink. The tree branches act as a strainer, pinning you and your boat in them. If your not 100% confident you can row your way around a drowned tree walk your boat around it if possible.
That dumped a boat on the SF Saturday. Luckily everyone was OK and the boat was retrieved- beat up but rowable.
Don,
Thanks for the advise. I have been floating river in my pontoon for about 4 years now and I have the hang of that. Drift boats are definitely a different beast! I haven't rowed a difficult river in a drift boat yet, I've just hit the upper Maddison for 3 days and the Green below Fontanel. I have floated both those a lot of times in my pontoon. Like mentioned the the thing that intimidates me the most is how to navigate a large river and what channels to chose.
Any rowing techniques or other words of wisdom that anyone would like to throw out?
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