South Fork Lodge

South Fork Lodge fishes the South Fork of the Snake River in Swan Valley, eastern Idaho, from a building set on a productive bend of the river along the canyon section. The guide team breaks the river into five working stretches: the Upper, the Canyon, the Lower Canyon, Brown Town, and Lorenzo to Menan. Guided days run from high water in spring and early summer through to the low flows of fall, and the guides pick the section to match the water on a given day. The fish are wild, with cutthroat, rainbow and brown trout plus mountain whitefish in the river. A guided day includes lunch and cold drinks on the water, and the guides work as instructors as well, with the stated aim of sending anglers home fishing better than they arrived. The staff runs to 26 guides, several of them Jackson Hole One Fly honorees and professional fly tiers on manufacturer pro staffs, with Brad Kreager serving as head guide since 2003.