South Fork Snake River - Oct 2019

First time fishing the South Fork Snake River back in October. Fished in the upper section below the dam in the braided section. Big River! can't imagine what it is like during the spring/summer. They bring the flows down during the fall & winter. 

Got so excited on my second cast on the river when I felt a solid fish. Turned out to be a whitefish unfortunately--it was the first of many that day. 

Hooked into a very nice cutthroat or rainbow in the area above in the photo, but didn't get it on camera--lost it anyway. Make a long run and was probably 17-18 inches. 

Quite a few drift boats went by with guides & their clients, though I am sure it was a fraction of what you would see in the summer. Saw a female guide float by, which was a first for me.
Fishing was fairly slow. I think the cold water temps and most likely wary fish on a river that got flogged all summer made for tough fishing. I did see a few fish rising to small #20-22 baetis and maybe a few midges here and there. Fish were small though so I kept nymphing. 

Some of the side channels turned into almost like oxbows and they had quite a few fish in them.

Landed my first Fine-spotted Snake River Cutthroat. Fought very well--more like a rainbow and less like their cousins the Yellowstone Cutthroat.