My regular fishing buddy John, is my go-to for all of my southeast Idaho adventures. John is actually one of my newer fishing buddies, but we hit it off right from the start. My wife introduced us at a Music on Main event about three summers ago. John and I hit it off right away and a major driver for the initial attraction is we are both drift boat owners. The situation we face with others is when you take people fishing who do not row, you end up rowing and they end up fishing. When John and I do a float, we are always switching seats and taking turns on the sticks, which is just great!
Next to having a fishing buddy who rows, the next best thing is to have one who lives in the same town. John lives in Victor! And he’s retired! John is also a fly tyer and a skier, two other things that we share in common. But the fact that we are both in Victor is what makes it all work. My other friends have to come and visit me and be a house guest in order for us to fish SE Idaho together.
One of our early outings together took place at The Ranch on the Henry’s Fork. It was a beautiful, July 5th day, but fishing was tough. We had worked our way down toward the islands. We found a few rising fish and John took aim and delivered his fly right in their path and then it was fly change after fly change and nada! Of course, these are some of the more educated fish on the planet! But, it is still a goal of mine to be better at figuring it out. At the end of what turned out to be a very slow day, as we walked back to the truck with our rods rigged for caddis, I spotted a big fish slurping caddis along the bank. John told me to cast to the fish and I said no, that is your fish. John measured the cast on his first attempt and got it dialed in on his second. The rainbow ate and the fight was on! I knew right away that this was a big fish! So I got the net ready. Several runs later, John was able to guide the fish toward my awaiting net. The result is that beautiful rainbow at the top of this post. John’s first big fish at the ranch and I was happy to be a part of that! I’m confident there will be many more!
In the years that John has been fishing the Teton Valley and surrounding area, he has been much more ambitious than I when it comes to exploring new water. And,further, he has been selfless in sharing these places with me. The partnership has really worked well for both of us and I am looking forward to fishing with John for many years to come!
