Earlier this summer I had the opportunity to fish the Driftless region of Wisconsin and attend the Wisconsin Tenkara Campout. While there, I fished with Matt Sment for Driftless browns and native brook trout. He generously showed me some amazing streams and took me along to pursue wily browns and native char jewels that populate the waters. In repayment for his time and generous knowledge, I offered to reciprocate if he were ever to head west and end up in my part of Idaho.
Well, I got the chance when Matt contacted me and said he would be coming through my part of Idaho. He would be in the area for a few days and would like the opportunity to fish eastern Idaho and western Wyoming (what we locals call Wydaho) for its native Snake River and Yellowstone cutthroat. So, with that in mind, Brent Auger and myself conspired together to show Matt around and get him into some fish.
Our regional waters are similar to other Rocky Mountain states: freestones of various sizes, spring creeks, meadow streams and larger rivers. Cutthroat inhabit them all. But to familiarize Matt with our waters, we decided to take him to the Tetons to hunt cutthroat.
The first stream we hit was one that I frequently fish, but Brent had not fished. The stream is a small freestone that drains a portion of the Teton Range. It contains Snake River cutthroat and invasive brook trout. The brook trout are generally larger than most streams in the area and the cutthroat, though fewer in number, are even larger. I took Matt with me fishing upstream and Brent headed off downstream.
The fish proved to be cooperative that morning and the stream conditions were perfect. All in all, we had wonderful time catching brook trout and cutthroat. I stuck to my usual wool body kebari, while Matt trusted in his variation of the Pass Lake Special. The fish seemed to like both types of flies.
The morning was delightful and it was wonderful to learn some new skills and presentations to use from Matt. After a few hours we met back up with Brent and went to get lunch, before heading to a different creek in the area. It was great having Matt along, and I must say he is welcome anytime to come back and fish my neck of the woods. Thanks, Matt!
Matt’s Take on the Visit
After I had such a great time fishing with Tom in in Wisconsin, I was especially excited to accept his invitation to explore “WYDAHO” water. A small enclave of Wyoming is geographically isolated from the rest of the state by high mountains – the only way to access it is through Idaho. The area hosts dozens of trout filled creeks spilling down the west side of the Tetons. Imagine a postcard perfect mountain stream tumbling from one rocky pool to the next, surrounded by lush pines and steep canyon walls. Richly colored, tannin stained brook trout grow to a sporty size, and aggressive Snake River Cutthroats’ lurk tight against submerged rocks. On this water you are more likely to be disturbed by a Moose or bear than another angler. The fish are cunning but hungry!
It was interesting to watch Tom fish his home water. He’s developed a deep knowledge of the creeks he fishes, and that’s allowed him to tune in accurately to how the trout relate to the structure and currents. While I was drifting my fly over general strike zones, Tom was targeting specfic cracks between the bowling ball sized rocks, and more than once pulled fish from those detailed zones even though I’d already prospected the water and drew nothing. We both caught a solid amount of fish, but Tom was able to draw strikes from highly specfic terrain features in a way you can only develop through extensive experience in an environment. Watching him pick apart submerged currents with unweighted kebari & wet flies was an excellent lesson to see in action!
My thanks go out to Tom for his hospitality both on the water and off! Thanks are also due to Brent Auger who also joined us, and led me on another nearby creek the next day. Couldn’t have asked for better company or better water!
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