The Salmon River cuts through the central Idahoa wilderness, offering challenging rapids for rafters and hard-fighting fish for adventurous anglers. (Chris Ellis photo)
July 21, 2025
By Chris Ellis
Growing up on the banks of a well-known smallmouth bass river in West Virginia, I have been fishing for that species nearly my entire life. My introduction to fishing was a simple affair—a walk down to the riverbank when Dad got home from work with a closed-face reel to cast a worm I gathered by flipping rocks along the way.
My fishing career trajectory was boosted when float fishing replaced bank fishing, utilizing canoes and running sections between bridges that provided easy access to the river for put-ins and take-outs. Learning to paddle the shoals and minor rapids was a learning curve; doing it correctly kept us dry and prevented the canoe from sinking and losing our...
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