Lochsa Selway Report

In case you've been wondering about the Locsha and the Selway here is a first hand report from Tim L. (one of our friends on WFF):


When we first arrived, word around the campground was guys were getting blanked and it wasn't worth trying in all the high water. After all the "encouragement" we started up the Selway and weren't finding a lot of accessible water, as most holes were too far across to wade. We hit one spot and found a good sample of fish in all sizes, but since that was it for several miles we turned back and went up the Lochsa. Not a lot better and, as you described, the canyon-like layout made it tough with all that volume. We still managed to find 3 good holes in the lower stretch and decided to rotate among those. Along with that I made sure we were on the water the last 3 hrs of light every day. That little strategy served us really well as it turned out. During Tuesday night's rainstorm I went out alone and saw the best action of the entire week. As it poured the bite really came on at the surface. The Lochsa also had a very good mix of fish, mostly cutts, in every size from a few inches to great big. Tried a little nymphing but everything came at the surface, and pretty much any pattern worked (I was still biased toward those emergers though).



In 3 days of fishing I managed almost 30, a lot more than I had figured in those conditions, and both my in-laws also did well for themselves. Overall, both rivers looked to be full of really nice fish so it was just a matter of getting to them. The drop was noticeable over the week as you could tell the seams were moving outward with each day. The only real slow time was early morning...I remembered what you said about those cutts coming out later on. You hit the nail on the head there.
(There is a saying in the Clark Family that, "The Cutthroat is a gentleman's fish. Rarely will you find him active before 11:00 a.m.)