Family vacation Red Fish lake.

[mikkfin80]

My family and I were at Red Fish Lake from the 15th to the 21st. We all had a great time and I think they all approved of Dads idea to go there. I planned this trip around the salmon run and it was a pretty good success for me to catch chinook and keeping the family happy. We were able to get a 1st come 1st serve spot right on Red Fish lake and stayed there the whole time. It was great for me to be able to go hit the river when I wanted and the wife and kiddos could go swimming, hiking, fishing, and bike riding when ever they wanted.
The salmon fishing was a little slow but I still had a lot of fun with all the other activities that Stanley has to offer. I hooked 5 fish and landed 3 in the 5 days that I fished the river. Also caught a nice bull trout and a couple of rainbows. There were alot of tribal fisherman below the weir snagging and spearing the chinook. It looks like there are plenty of fish in the river right now they are just very tight lipped. It seemed like the fishing got slower every day I was there. My kids had a blast over at the Stanley hatchery pond. They keep it stocked with lots of hungry rainbows.
Only bad part of the trip was 2 blow outs on the camp trailer. 1 going over and one coming home. The blowout on the way home tore up the siding on the trailer so I get to spend some cash to fix that and get a couple new tires. Always somethin I guess.
This was by far one of our favorite vacations and the family is already talking about the next trip to Red fish.
[signature]

[Mac7]

Looks like a great time. Other than the tire issues.
[signature]

[CoyoteSpinner]

Ok bud - I have full on fishy envy! I know who I should have gone salmon fishing with now!!! I was at the next lake down, about the same window. Kids were in/out of camp, and I stayed at Alturas. We too had a bow-fest at Stanley, and never having tried it before, took a stab at the Salmon. Did get some Bull and Kokanee action. I think I could use a few pointers yet on the bigguns, and more time on the water.
Nice fish there. I would have been tickled with even a hookup and a breakoff! Those fish look as big as your kids! Very nice!
Were you fishing the river, or the lake?

We ran home from Stanley up via Challis and stopped at a few holes on the way - with little time, yet high hopes.

I'd love to know what kind of riggings you prefer (pm is fine). Had mixed preferences from a few I visited with. Me - I'll try anything...

Love that area. Got my boy on his first fish on a fly, and had some good fly hookups myself. Always more to explore in that area. Sure to be back next year.

My kids got a mission trip coming up, and to say he's excited would be a major understatement. Jealous am I? YO!!!!

[hulapopper]

looks like you had fun !
[signature]

[mikkfin80]

Time on the river is the key with the kings. I averaged 10 hours per fish caught. I personally like to find a hole and stay there if I know that it is holding fish. A lot of guys jump around and go from hole to hole when the bite dies off. Each to there own but I think it is more effective if you figure out the drift of a hole and stay put. The bite is usually from about sun up to 10 a.m. We did have a couple days where it turned on for a bit in the early afternoon.
Roe with yarn or tuna balls with yarn seemed to work. It didn't seem to matter what colors. It just depended on if the fish were opening there mouths and if you could get it in front of their nose.
You can learn a lot from the guys on the river. Sometimes it is worth more to just sit back and watch and strike up a conversation with a person on the hole than it is to start fishing. If you show some etiquette and a little courtesy to the guys on a hole, you will have a great experience.
[signature]

[Kodiak1]

Great pics. The salmon were still in pretty good shape. The best picture, in my humble opinion, is the last one. It just says "Idaho" to me. Thanks for sharing. Mike
[signature]