The Outdoor Program at the University of Idaho is offering an Intro to Fly Fishing class followed by a boating day trip on the St. Joe River. Anyone can sign up to take the class, but students have top priority.
The purpose of the class is to learn the basics of fly fishing and practice fly fishing skills.
The St. Joe River is a 140 mile long tributary located on Coeur d’Alene Lake. It stretches from the Northern Bitterroot Range of eastern Shoshone County and flows west through the St. Joe River Valley and the communities of Avery and Calder.
“For the past few years we have partnered with White Pine Outfitters here in Moscow since they’re an outfitter that runs up on the St. Joe and down on the Salmon River,” Director of Outdoor Programs Trevor Fulton said. “We partner with them to offer this to students at a reduced cost.”
For students, the cost of the trip is $100 and the price bumps up to $150 for all others. All equipment is offered as part of the cost but participants can use their own equipment as well. White Pine Outfitters supply fly fishing equipment along with some members of the Outdoor Program. The only thing participants are responsible for bringing is lunch.
The Outdoor Program will bring three boats on the river with a maximum of six participants able to register. Inexperienced participants learn how to cast and tie the correct knots while experienced participants are able to fish. Several guides accompany participants on the trip.
“Typically, I would be giving instruction but I am personally not doing it this year,” Fulton said. “My colleague, Nathan Moody is the representative from our program. Joining him is the owner of White Pine Outfitters, Tyler Nash, and then one of his guides will join too. So there’s somebody on each boat that has the ability to give basic instruction.”
The guides will explain safety and give an introduction during the pre-trip meeting. Guides will go over clothing, general equipment and general fly fishing technique.
“It’s been very successful in the last couple of years and we’re excited to do it this year,” Fulton said. “September can be a great time to be up there fishing. Some years you can catch a lot of fish, and some years you don’t. It just depends on a lot of factors that are out of our control but we usually have a good time. Our goal is for everybody to hook into a fish and hopefully get some experience on the water.”
Registration for the trip will end on Sept. 18. The Intro to Fly Fishing Class is scheduled Sept. 24 at 5 p.m. and the trip starts as an all-day event on Sept. 27.
Armin Mesinovic can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @arminmesinovic.