Q: I want to surprise a friend with a one- or two-day guided fly fishing trip for a Christmas present.
He likes the outdoors, and I have a hunch that he might really like fly fishing if he had a good experience with a knowledgeable guide sometime next summer.
I’m not sure who to contact for recommendations on good local outfitters.
Can you recommend either an outfitter or direct me to someone who can?
JACK P., via email
A: Do some fishing on the Internet and you may hook into what you want.
There are fishing guides for many areas in Idaho from the Boise River to Silver Creek and Henrys Fork and beyond.
Start with the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Licensing Board website (oglb.idaho.gov) and select Outfitter Search.
The Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association also lists outfitters at ioga.org, but it only lists outfitters who belong to the organization.
I did a quick search for some of Idaho and Oregon’s favorite rivers.
For example, you’ll find a guiding service for the nearby Owyhee River in Oregon at dreamsonthefly.com. Dreams on the Fly guides anglers on that river and the Grande Ronde in northeast Oregon.
There are guides for the Sun Valley area, too. Check out Silver Creek Outfitters at silver-creek.com and Ketchum on the Fly at ketchumonthefly.com.
Idaho Angler, a fly fishing shop in Boise, also can set you up on guided trips. Check out idahoangler.com.
The Outfitters, South Fork Lodge at theoutfitters-us.com has trips on the South Fork of the Snake River in easternIdaho.
When booking a trip, you might mention that your friend is a beginner fly angler.
Learning to fly fish over cooperative cutthroat trout can be really fun and set you off on a lifetime pursuit.
I learned most of my fly fishing for cutts in streams over in eastern Idaho where large stimulators and hopper patterns were all you needed.
I still have a lot of trouble with persnickety rainbows that are smarter than me and only want those tiny, tiny flies.
Starting out a beginner on Idaho’s famed Silver Creek may be discouraging. “The Creek” has some pretty smart trout.
TRACKING WOLF SIGHTINGS
Q: Are there any places to go to on the Web to find out where recent wolf sightings have been reported.
G.S., via email
A: Although the Idaho Department of Fish and Game gets wolf sightings from individuals on its website, the agency says it doesn’t have a way of posting it on a current map online.
Individual sightings are entered online at fishandgame.idaho.gov, and they are forwarded to wildlife staff in each region.
Local biologists assess the reports in relation to known pack territories and use the reports as a tool to detect and investigate reported wolf activity in new areas.
Not all sightings reported contain sufficient location information to plot the observation on a map, but those that do are plotted annually and are represented on the annual activity map for the year.
“We do not currently have an application that plots and displays those reports collectively on a map for viewing over the Internet,” said Niels Nokkentved, Fish and Game spokesman.
You can download a pdf of the wolf sighting map for 2010 at http://fishand game.idaho.gov/public/docs/wolves/reportAnnual10.pdf.
Pete Zimowsky: 377-6445
