River Fish

56 miles of The Salmon River is the longest and largest river in the lower 48 States that is completely without dams. This is the last section of "The River of no Return" before it joins the Snake River on its journey to the Columbia, and the Pacific Ocean. On this section of river our trips last for 4 days and cover 56 miles. Along the way we float through three different canyons named, Cougar, Snowhole, and Blue; hence the name, Salmon River Canyons.

On the Canyons of the Salmon River our most popular river trip is 4 days. Five days is also an option by adding on Green Canyon. The canyons are immense, dramatic and huge. Flowing grass blowing in the wind on the high mountain sides, and sheer canyon walls let you know we are in the middle of nowhere. We camp by our selves on huge beaches. At night you can gaze up between the canyon walls at the multitude of stars as they lull you to sleep. These trips begin and end in Lewiston, Idaho. There are no access points once we leave the launch site. The Salmon River joins with the Snake River and most of our last day is spent on the Snake River. Our schedule is more flexible on this trip, please call with your specific date. Transportation is provided from Lewiston to our put-in at Pine Bar, and from our take out at Hellar Bar on the Snake River.

Whitewater and Beaches

Of all the different sections of the Salmon, these canyons offer the most idyllic rafting and camping conditions. Day time temperatures are between 85 - 100 degrees, and night time temps stay in the 70's. The water is warm, and great for swimming. We camp on large pure white sand beaches. Along the way there's plenty of time for hiking, fishing, beach volleyball, or just relaxing with a good book. And of course there is the whitewater. Ranging from class II - IV, it is a great river for first timers or experienced whitewater junkies. Needless to say they are lots of fun, and perfect for paddle rafts, and inflatable kayaks. You'll run through rapids such as; Demon's Drop, Pine Bar, Bodacious Bounce, Half &Half, Snow Hole, China, Zig Zag, Slide, Sluicebox, Checkerboard, Eye of the Needle, and countless more.

Ancient and Modern History

During the trip, you'll visit several sites of historic significance. Rock paintings, called pictographs, pit house remains, used by the Nez Perce, and stories of their struggle. There are also old mining sites worked by the Chinese during the late 1800's. Through hikes, stories, and interpretation we hope you'll gain an appreciation of these historic treasures.

Wildlife

These Canyon's are also home to a variety of wildlife including whitetail and mule deer, black bear, the loveable river otter, Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, a variety of birds of prey, song birds, and waterfowl. We are sure to see plenty of birds, and if we are lucky we will see some of the larger land mammals.

Fishing

We provide everything for you to catch a fish. It is almost a guarantee if you have never caught a fish we can help you. Our guides will help the kids with their tangles and baiting hooks. If you are an avid fisherperson expect to catch your fill. Smallmouth bass, catfish, steelhead, salmon, and catch and release white sturgeon. We usually practice catch and release for all fish however, if would like us to cook a big one we are happy to serve it up.

Cast and Blast

These canyon are also home to chukar partridge, and steelhead, which gives us great opportunity for cast and blast trips in the fall. Call or email for availability and information.

Salmon River Service

This is a full service trip; each day our gear boat travels ahead to set up camp, and secure the best beaches. When we arrive in camp, around 4:00 your tents are pitched, bags are up the bank, and the camp is all ready for you to settle in for the night. The guides set up and take down your tents, fill your wine glass, serve appetizers, make incredible meals, and do all the camp chores.

Trip logistics

Trips begin and end in Lewiston, Idaho. Accommodations are provided the night before the trip. We have a pre-trip meeting around 7:00 PM to hand out river bags and answer any last minute questions. Early the next morning breakfast is provided by the hotel. We will leave at about 8:00 AM and have about a 2 hour drive to the launch site. Transportation is provided round trip from Lewiston. Extra luggage and your car can be stored at the hotel in Lewiston.

Getting to Lewiston is easy. It is served by Alaska Airlines, and Delta. You can also fly into Spokane, Washington. It is just a two hour drive from Lewiston. We can help set up transportation from there. You can also rent a car in Spokane, and leave it at the Sacajawea while we are on the trip.

Once you reserve your space for the trip we will send you a complete packing list, travel directions, and a trip itinerary. We are also happy to help with any pre or post trip travel plans. We know the area. Come join us!

One and Two Day Trips

1 Day Whitewater Adventure

Spring Bar to Lucile Recreation Site
20 miles
Join us at Riggins, the Whitewater Capital. Ride the waves in Time Zone, Tight Squeeze, Traps Creek and Black Rock, just to name a few. If our self-bailing paddle and rowing rafts aren't exciting enough to suit your thrill level, hop into an inflatable kayak. The "pool and drop" Salmon River offers calm pools between rapids; a great time for photos or just lounging around. For lunch, no one puts on a better riverside deli lunch than HCR. We serve up plenty of deli turkey, ham, roast beef, hummus, cheeses, fresh salads, breads, fruits, vegetables, chips, and cookies. We provide waterproof containers for cameras and other items. We also arrange with a local professional photographer to take your picture at Time Zone Rapids. This one day whitewater adventure is perfect for groups, reunions, and parties, as well as adventurous individuals. Trips run almost everyday June - September, call for availability.
image provided by SR photo

2 Day Whitewater Adventure

Vinegar Creek to Lucile Recreation Site
38 miles

Add a new dimension to your whitewater adventure - like camping along the river on a beautiful sandy beach; enjoying a great steak dinner, Idaho garlic mashed potatoes, a garden salad, and Dutch oven treats, (maybe even a s'more). Camaraderie around the campfire, and falling asleep out under the open summer skies, it doesn't get much better. We raft 19 miles per day and camp near Spring Bar Campground. The first day is spent floating the more scenic upper section and the second day rafting the more challenging Riggins stretch where we run our 1-day adventures. Try your hand at the inflatable kayaks, join the crew in a paddle boat, or kick back on an oar-boat the view and the ride are spectacular. We provide all the camping equipment (tents, mattresses, and freshly laundered sleeping bags) which makes it easy for you to just show up with your clothing. We take care of the rest. This trip meets in Riggins and ends in Riggins. Trips can be started most any time; call with your specific date.

They don’t call them “persistent” environmental poisons for nothing!
More than three decades after the manufacture of chemicals like PCBs, Mirex and a trichlorophenol-based herbicide that produced the most toxic form of dioxin as an unwanted byproduct was banned in North America, they continue to menace the waters of the Lower Niagara River and Lake Ontario.
According to the most recent guide booklets released by the New York State and Ontario governments for consuming fish caught in state and provincial waters, there are still fish in the lower Niagara and Lake Ontario the governments are advising people to limit their consumption of or not eat at all due to an accumulation of high levels of toxic chemicals in their flesh.
This remains the case despite many years of cleanup work by governments and industries on both sides that have reduced the flow of hazardous chemicals to the Niagara River by well over 50 per cent.
That’s right, despite all of the cleanup successes the governments can rightfully boast about, a person is advised not to eat a lake trout from the lower Niagara River that is over two feet long due to the presence of worrisome levels of chemicals like PCBs, Mires and Dioxin the meat of the fish. The same is true for many other larger species of fish from the lower river and the downstream waters of Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence River.
 In other cases, both the New York and Ontario fish eating guides advise people to limit their consumption of larger fish like smallmouth bass, rainbow trout, coho salmon and other species to once a month. Children and women of child-bearing age are still being advised, after all these years, not to eat some of these fish at all.
This is a sad legacy of decades of reckless industrial waste disposal practices that took place through most of the first seven decades of the last century and are still occurring to some degree. Chemicals like Dioxin, Mirex and others that were discharged from industrial pipes and that leaked from toxic waste dumps, most of them located along the American side of the Niagara River, are slow to break down when they are released in the environment, and they are still there to haunt us.
It was a little over three decades ago, in the late 1970s that the irresponsible industrial waste practices occurring along the Niagara River finally received the widespread attention they deserved with the leakage of toxic chemicals through a neighbourhood in Niagara County, New York from a dump called Love Canal. In short order, residents on both sides of the river learned about other massive dumps in that county leaking poisons to the river – dumps with names like Hyde Park, S-Area and 102nd Street, all burial sites for tens-of-thousands of some of the most hazardous man-made substances known to modern science and all located virtually along the shore of the river or on fractured bedrock a short distance away.
By the early to mid 1980s, environmental agencies on both sides of the border had tracked the presence of these chemicals throughout Lake Ontario and hundreds of miles downstream in the St. Lawrence River where high concentrations of them had accumulated in the flesh of beluga whales.
Those findings and years of pressure from citizens in New York and Ontario finally led to the signing in 1987of a U.S/Canada “declaration of intent” to cut the flow of chemicals to the river by at least 50 per cent. There is all kinds of evidence that a great deal has been achieved since the signing of this agreement. Some monitoring by agency scientists in both countries have shown levels of chemicals down by as much as 80 to 90 per cent in the flesh of fish and the eggs of fish-eating birds like herring gulls and cormorants.
But the information in the latest New York and Ontario fish guides serve as a stark reminder that we still have a way to go in dealing with the chemicals that are still out their, cycling through water and air, embedded in the bottom sediment of our creeks, rivers and lakes, and accumulating in the flesh of fish, birds and other members of the food chain, right up to and including humans.
The fish guide warnings are also a reminder that large quantities of Dioxin and other toxic chemicals remain entombed in Love Canal, Hyde Park and other massive dumps on or near the shores of one of the world’s great rivers. These dumps have been surrounding over and capped over the past few decades with “containment systems” the engineers who built them assure us should last three or four decades before they have to be repaired or replaced.
The problem with that is the persistence of the chemicals the systems were installed to hold back. A chemist can tell you that many of these chemicals may remain dangerous for hundreds of years and that begs a few worrisome questions.
Who is going to be there in the decades ahead to make sure these containment systems remain intact enough to keep these chemicals from bleeding into our shared waters in the quantities they did 30 years ago? Will the media be doing its job as a watchdog on this one?
A year ago this June, when the International Joint Commission – the official Canada/U.S. watchdog on Great Lakes environmental issues – was in Niagara Falls, N.Y. to hear residents’ concerns about issues around the Niagara River and adjoining water bodies, there was no one from the mainstream newspapers or broadcast media there.
Let’s hope, for the sake of future generations, that the environmental issues that still need to be addressed in and around the Niagara River watershed are not forgotten.

There are many realtors that post images of fish caught out of the lake or river from where they have property listed.  The Sunfish (above left) is from a nice, but expensive lake property.  The Bass (above right) is from the Menominee River.  For exciting, fun fishing I’ll take the Menominee River over any Wisconsin lake any day.
Well before Ernest Hemingway popularized Michigan’s rivers and streams as settings and backdrops for his early short stories, Michigan was known as a trout fishing paradise.  However, there is more to Michigan than just the Big Two-Hearted River.  Other famous Michigan rivers and streams include Bear Creek, the Little Manistee River, the Pine River, the Boardman River, the Au Sable River and the Pere Marquette.  This list wouldn’t be complete without mention of the Manistee River.
Located in the western lower peninsula of northern Michigan, the Manistee River offers over two hundred thirty miles of the finest steelhead, salmon and trout fishing that can be found anywhere in the lower forty eight states.  Who better to offer insight and knowledge about the Big Manistee than someone who makes their living by offering fly fishing guide services?  Schmidt Outfitters has an excellent article about the Manistee River on their website: 



Northeast Wisconsin’s Menominee River is home to a diverse and robust fishery, including Walleye, Northern Pike and Sturgeon,  but when you’re fishing with Mike Mladenik the big attraction is Smallmouth Bass.  Here’s a recent article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Outdoors section on jsonline.com:  Menominee River Smallmouth
 
Opening day for Wisconsin fishing is traditionally the first Saturday in May, May 7th during 2011. Hook and line fishing for many species of fish on many Wisconsin waters begins the first Saturday in May. However, to better manage Wisconsin fisheries, season dates are often specific to the species of fish as well as the water body.
Here’s the link to the. Have a fun and safe time on enjoying Wisconsin’s beautiful lakes and rivers.

'There is rice in the fields and fish in the waters' runs a stone-carved inscription dating back to the Sukhothai period of Thailand. Those waters include rivers, lakes, ponds, canals, klongs and the flooded rice paddies. So freshwater fish have long been an integral part of the Thai diet. Of course, Thailand also has an abundance of saltwater fish thanks to the long coastline of the southern provinces but we will restrict ourselves to the freshwater fish of northern Thailand in this description.
Visitors from Europe and the U.S. are probably more familiar with trout as a freshwater fish and, in recent years, these fish have been farmed and produced at one of the Royal Projects on Doi Inthanon. Trout are 'specialty' fish so the market tends to cater to the more prestigious hotels and restaurants in Chiangmai and Bangkok. However, although not so familiar to visitors, the freshwater fish commonly enjoyed by local Thai when they are cooking at home, or dining out, can be every bit as delicious. Also, because the flesh of river fish tends to taste more bland than their sea born cousins, it lends itself to the subtle combinations of herbs and spices so appreciated in Thai cuisine. The following lists some of the fish served in traditional Thai restaurants. By the way, 'Pla' is the Thai word for 'fish'; 'Nam Pla' (fish sauce) is the substitute for salt used in most Thai cooking.
Pla Chorn : Of the catfish family, it is prepared as a soup or in savory 'cups'. The soup Tohm Yaam Pla Chorn is lemony spicy and thick with chunks of fish meat, chopped tomato and baby white onions. The savory 'cups' Hor Mok Pla Chorn are actually small casings crafted from banana leaves. Fish meat and shredded cabbage is layered in the 'cup' and gently steamed.
Pla Nin : Originally from the River Nile, and was raised in several countries including Japan. The Crown Prince Aki Hito gave this fish as his gift to H.M. King Bhumibol on 25 March 1965. He raised the fish in the palace and gave the name as Nin or Nil which means valuable dark sapphire. The King later assigned the Fishery Department to reproduce well in Thai waters and became popular nowadays. The fish can be raised easily and gives good meat with high nutritional value. A one year old fish is about 30 cms in length and 500 grams in weight. After cleaning and gutting, the whole fish is deep fried Pla Nin Tawd to a light crispiness on the outside and succulent flesh within. After deep frying other dishes can be prepared : Pla Nin Shoo Shee crispy fish topped with curry sauce. It the sauce is rather thick sweet and sour, the whole dish is Pla Nin Saam Rot.
Pla Doog : Usually about 30 CMS in length, this catfish can be prepared in two different styles. In the first Yaam Pla Doog Foo the fish is steamed and the flesh is separated from the carcass. The meat is 'teased' into thread-thin strips which are flash-fried to a crunchy crispness. This 'nest' of golden crispiness is served on a bed of lettuce with a spicy sauce of lime juice, chilli and peanuts. The second method of cooking Pla Doog Tawd Paad Prig deep fried chunks of the meaty flesh which, when crisp, are combined with a platter of fried vegetables, chillies and herbs.
Pla Grai : Up to 60 CMS in length, this fish is uniquely marked with a line of 5 to 10 'eyes' along the underside. As the meat is of a very soft texture, it is usually ground/minced and mixed with flavor some herbs before being shaped into small patties. These fish cakes are deep-fried until cooked through and served with a sweet dipping sauce as a starter. The dish is called Tawd Mun Pla Grai.
Pla Boo : A smaller and excellent alternative to Pla Chorn, this fish is usually served whole. In the dish Pla Boo Neung Manow the fish is placed on a flat fish-kettle and gently poached, over charcoal or low heat, in a piquant broth of its own juices, limes and slivers of fresh ginger. Served on the fish-kettle and garnished perhaps with finely chopped spring onions and minced garlic, this dish makes a flavorful and aromatic centerpiece for any dining table.
Pla Yeesok : Average 30-60 CMS in length, beautiful gold scale rows between the long black rows. This fish has delicious meat with some bone and can be cooked in lemony spicy soup Tohm Yaam Pla Yeesok. It can be prepared for a Thai-styled salad, Laab Pla marinated minced fish meat with herbs, peppermint, chilli, and vegetable.
Pla Tapian : Usually about 20 CMS in length, tasty meat but plenty of skinny bones. This fish can be prepared in three different categories. First, the fish can be prepared as soup, 'Tohm' depending on the directions of taste. Tohm Kem Pla Tapian is a salty-sweet soup. Tohm Yaam Pla Tapian is a hot spicy sour soup. And Tohm Sohm Pla Tapian is a soup with mild tamarind and ginger. Second, Pla Tapian Tawd is a deep fried dish with garlic. Third, the fish is grill smoked Pla Tapian Yaang and cooked in different ways.
Pla Taypo and Pla Sawai : Both fish are in the same family with similar size and do not have scales. The former has black marks on left and right sides over each fin. The 2-3 kilogram fish can eat everything including manure of both animals and human beings. The meat is tasty but rather strong odor which can be eliminated by using garlic, spice, and herbs along with deep frying Pla Taypo (or Pla Swai) Tawd. A second choice could be Pla Taypo (or Pla Sawai) Raad Prig fried and topped with chilli sauce. A third choice is red curry fish Gaeng Ped Pla Taypo (or Pla Sawai). A last choice would be grill smoked Pla Taypo (or Pla Sawai) Yaang.
Pla Goad : Average 30 CMS in length without scales but nice skin and a big single dorsal fin. This fish can be cooked similarly to Pla Taypo or Pla Sawai, but it is better in term of less odor. Mild spicy and sour soup of vegetables with this fish Gaeng Sohm Pla Goad is quite popular up-country.

Pla Raed : This beautiful fish is up to 45 CMS in length. Long vertical fins get higher and higher to the single tail. Long maxillary barbel reaching the ventral fins. There are 9 oblique bands pointing downwards from back to abdomen. This fish can be steamed and an alternative to Pla Boo Pla Raed Neung Manow.
Pla Salid : This fish is only half size of Pla Raed but with long shape. Not much meat on this fish. Sun dried fish Pla Salid Daed Diew is deep fried and is popular served along with other dishes eaten with white rice soup.
Pla Tabtim : His Majesty the King granted the development project of the palace's Pla Nin to Charoen Pokkabhan Co., Ltd. since 1989. The goal was to gain more quantity of flesh, better nutritional value, easy to raise in only 4 months time that gives good profit. Throughout 10 years of crossed breeding, it became very successful and the fish looks beautiful with pink color and clean. The new name was granted by the king as Tabtim 'Pink Ruby'. Our 3 article series in January, February, March 2002 issues  recommends at least 16 excellent dishes : .. Tawd Grathium Prig Thai, .. Raad Prig, .. Saam Rot, .. Paad Priew Waan, .. Shoob Paeng Tawd, .. Tawd Khamin, .. Daed Diew, .. Phao, .. Yaang Gluea, .. Neung Manow, .. Neung Buay/Neung Zee Ew, .. Pae Za, .. Tohm Sohm, .. Tohm Kloang, .. Gaeng Sohm, Gaeng Pa.
If you are a fish lover, you shouldn't hesitate to try some of these very Thai fish dishes. Don't be dismayed by fish which are not familiar to you or their strange sounding Thai names, but do enjoy some of the bounty and goodness from the rivers and lakes of northern Thailand.
SHAWAAN SEO ....