September float trip advice

[fishing_butler]

Hi all,
New to the forum. Looking to put together an overnight fly fishing float coming up in september. Live here in Boise and am looking for a consistent stretch of floatable river within about 3 hours from here. Not sure where to head to. Have boat, father-in-law coming out from PA and wants to float! I would float the SF Boise but that is only one day. any thoughts?
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[fishing_butler]

FYI we are looking to fly fish for trout. sorry...
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[flyguy66]

Welcome to the forum!

It's longer than three hours from Boise, but an excellent overnight float trip is on the Black Canyon stetch of the South Fork of the Snake. There are limited BLM campsites available for overnight stays in the Canyon, but September would be a great time and the fishing should be quite good. Good luck.
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[fishing_butler]

Thanks flyguy...do you know anything about the salmon near stanley? is it fishable/floatable? do you need a permit to fish it?
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[flyguy66]

Personally, I have never floated the middle fork of the Salmon. Based on what I've heard and read about it's an amazing float trip, but I'm pretty sure most of the floats are longer than one night trips. Most of the floats that I have heard about are week long floats and only a certain amount of boats are allowed on the river each day. So to answer your question, you don't need a permit to fish the river, but I believe you do need one to float that section of water. Maybe some individuals from that neck of the woods can answer more decisively or have some other ideas for floats closer to your area.
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[idahopanfish]

The Salmon by Stanley is foatable and is low. The fishing should be OK. My wife & I are camping at Alturis Lake from Fri. nite to wed. and I am thinking of taking my pontoon on the Salmon and try some drift fishing in the calm parts after I cruise around in some of the lakes.
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[vegasback2id]

I agree with flyguy it is a little farther but the southfork of the Snake. Float from the Palidades dam through the canyon nice places to camp and it is a great float. Fishing should be quite good at that time.
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[BrianID]

There are many places you could have a good float. You could make a camping trip out of SF of the Boise but you might have to float the same stretch more than once if you want to spend most of your time floating.
The South Fork of the Snake is a good place if you want a long float. From Boise the South Fork is going to be 4+ hour drive. If you want a really long float you could run the South Fork of the Snake from Palies Dam to Menan. There are many boat ramps you could put in or take out at on the South Fork (Palies Creek, Conant, Spring Creek, Cotton Wood, Byington, Lorenzo and several dirt ramps that are not as well known). The cfs on the South Fork will likely be considerably reduced by the end of September. When the cfs are reduced the float will take much longer. The water might also turn off color some as Palies continues to loose water. I haven't seen this happen on the South Fork before but there isn't much water this year. Palies Reservoir is only 18% full and there is still over a month of irrigation season left. This happens on the Snake River below American Falls on a regular basis. The sediment in the river from an almost empty reservoir makes fishing difficult at best. September is normally a great time to float the South Fork but this year you might want to have a back up plan and check current reports and flows before you go.
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