Last week I spent several days in Idaho and Montana running the Selway, South Fork Salmon, and Salmon rivers. My friends and I planned on running the Selway with a group of rafters that had a permit for five-day access to the river.

But high river flows forced the permit holder to cancel the trip due to safety concerns. So my friends and I took their permit and ran the river in our kayaks instead of rafting it, and because I could only take gear that I could fit in a kayak, I resigned to not fish while in Idaho, a state filled with trout.

I was content with this concept until I actually got to Idaho and the reality of not fishing while paddling rivers full of trout set in. For a person that loves to fish, that reality was tough to take. Plus, how would I explain myself to my fishing buddies?

After I finally got my wits about me, we stopped at a small sporting good store and I bought a five piece rod and reel that was small enough to fit in the back of a kayak.

Fishing was slow on the Selway River, but on the South Fork of the Salmon River, I caught several good sized west slope cutthroat trout. The bright orange slash underneath their mouths shone brightly like a forest fire in the night.

The best areas were slow and foamy eddies where the fish could get fat by sipping insects off the surface, or picking nymphs and other doomed insects from the drift.

I felt lucky to have the opportunity not only to run some spectacular whitewater, but also to feel the tug of wild trout on the end of my line. Between the quality whitewater, dramatic scenery, good company, and beautiful trout, it was a great trip.

Tim Brady, of Dragonfly Outfitters in Weaverville (www.dragonflyoutfitters.net; 530-623-4999), says that the fishing for spring Chinook salmon has been spotty at Gray’s Falls for the last week. But this could all change if a pulse of fish moves through the area.

He says that after July 4, fishing for Chinook salmon on the upper-Trinity River usually picks up. He recommends waiting until that time to make the journey to areas like Junction City, Douglas City and Lewiston.

Tim also said that he recently had a great day fishing for shad on the Sacramento River downstream of Red Bluff in Los Malinos. He and two friends landed about 60 fish using small one-inch grubs on light spinning tackle.

Gary Hix, of Gary’s Guide Service (www.trinityriverfishing.com; 707-954-1004), reports slow spring Chinook salmon action from the Klamath River. A few boats are finding one or two fish, but most are scoring zeros.

Gary mentioned that there have been a few summer steelhead that have been captured while anglers were fishing for salmon. He said that he will soon switch over to fishing for these chrome torpedos as they start to pour into the river. Gary is currently taking reservations for steelhead and fall Chinook salmon trips.

There are many trout in the Stewart’s Fork of Trinity Reservoir and Lewiston Reservoir because the Department of Fish and Game recently stocked them. Both will be stocked again next week as well. However, the fish planting schedule for our region indicates that Freshwater Lagoon has not been recently stocked, and probably won’t be until July. The planting schedule can be found at www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/Hatcheries/FishPlanting/Northern.asp.

(Opinions expressed in columns do not necessarily reflect those of The Eureka Reporter or its staff.)