Anyone hiked or fished Hells Canyon Idaho?

[mcseal2]

I got invited to go on a backpack fishing trip for sturgeon in Hells Canyon this summer. One of the guys I'm going with went last year and had a good adventure. I met him catfishing last summer when my boat motor broke down and I ended up sharing his camp. He has a YouTube channel Chasing the Moby and likes to fish remote places. This year he's looking to go further and spend 6 days camping and fishing.

I have just started researching for the trip. I am new to that area, and new to sturgeon altogether. Any advice on what to bring, how to fish, anything that could help would be welcome. We are looking at going in late June.

A few specific questions I had:

From what he saw on the shorter hike, there was no great spot to sleep near the water on the ground. Lots of larger rock and nowhere close enough to be woke up by a bite alarm or bell on a rod reliably. Is this common along the river? I have a cot I can bring, but it weighs about 5lbs.

Are bugs enough of an issue to need a tent instead of a tarp? Enough to bring a Thermacell and not just bug spray? I'm looking at taking a Seek DST 10'x10' tarp mainly for shade and not a tent.

Is the canyon usually warmer than the temps outside it? A search shows the average temp at the nearest town to be 80's for highs and mid 40's for lows that time of year. My friend said after the rocks bake in the sun all day, the canyon never felt that cool. He said he slept in shorts under a light fleece blanket.

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[Wrench]

Summer temps can get wicked hot. The inversion can bring up the breeze and drop the temps.....but nobody complains about hells canyon being cold in the summer.

If mtnbiker208 doesn’t chime in, message him. I know he's floated it enough to tell you about camping.

If you look up hells canyon jet boat there's a ton of vids to give you some ideas about the shore.

 

[LongWayAround]

I haven't hiked in there, but we fished the mouth of the canyon with a guide a few years ago. It was a blast catching seven-foot sturgeon, salmon, and steelhead.

That was early October and it was very warm. Fortunately, my uncle and his buddy brought about 400 Coors light.

On the cot, I strongly recommend the helinox ultralight. Watch the classifieds.

 

[Pony Soldier]

I can't vouch for now but I was with a crew in 1975 that evaluated all the minerals in Hells Canyon from the Hells Canyon Dam to the Washington border. We lived at Pittsburg landing from late June till early October. We had a pack string, a jet boat and a helicopter. I remember July 4th at 114 degrees. I don't remember the bugs to speak of, but the rattlesnakes were intense and got worse as the summer progressed.

By August, we had to have tents that zipped shut to keep the rattlers from moving in with you at night. I slept on top of my land cruiser for a month.

By Sept. they would be on the outcrops in the morning but too cold to move. A lot of the vegetation was poison ivey and poison oak. Some places up to 7 ft tall.

Our boat contractor caught lots of bass and a couple of sturgeon. We watched. Lots of gold but low grades.

 

[N.ID7803]

Contact James Nash of 6Ranch Outfitters he’s knowledgeable about the canyon. Or contact any of the river guides that run the river. Hammer Down, Snake Dancer Excursions, etc.

 

[mcseal2]

Thanks all I’ll do that.

 

[BluMtn]

Your best bet is contacting the Jet Boat guides. My nephew runs the canyon with his boat and one of the things he does is if he has someone new on the boat he has some honey holes that he can pull into and have a sturgeon on in about 15 min and everyone gets a picture with it. You are either going to have a jet boat take you to one on the sandbars or go to Pittsburg or Kirkwood and camp there or use those locations to hike up river. About 10 years ago we rode into Kirkwood and you have to walk in the last 1/4 mile. Between the walk in and a stop at the moonshiners cabin we killed 6 rattlers. Not uncommon to kill a couple a day wondering around the canyon.

 

[BAKPAKR]

My brother has a cabin in Hells Canyon. My daughter and I usually visit it by jet boat on our annual summer trip to Idaho. There are lots of sandbars that you could camp on, but getting to neat spots would be tough on foot. I haven’t noticed bugs being bad late June to early August.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Be aware of snakes. Lots of them in Hells Canyon. Never really had a bug problem.

 

[mcseal2]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Are snakes enough of an issue that I need a mesh bug bivy or tent for sleeping to keep snakes from visiting at night? I had thought of just using my Seek DST tarp and no tent to make it easier to get to a rod in a hurry.

Thanks!

 

[HunterGatherer]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Are snakes enough of an issue that I need a mesh bug bivy or tent for sleeping to keep snakes from visiting at night? I had thought of just using my Seek DST tarp and no tent to make it easier to get to a rod in a hurry.

Thanks!

Yes, and scorpions

 

[BAKPAKR]

Yes, and scorpions

I had to look up scorpions in Idaho as that was news to me.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Very regular occurrence.

 

[ianpadron]

Bugs are really never bad in HC, snakes and big creepy crawlies (spiders and scorps) would definitely have me in a tent versus tarp all summer long. It's hot as all get out with the big black rocks that line the river banks and canyon walls, especially since the high summer sun can actually cook them long enough.

I spend more time there in the fall and winter, but have a bro in law who is obsessed with sturgeon fishing there. It's pretty much a sure thing for anyone that knows what they're doing, and the smallmouth bass fishing is as good as anywhere.

For the sturgeon, big ol pyramid or egg weights (eggs don't get stuck as much) with cut bait or miracle threaded smelt, bass, sucker, whatever really. Big ol circle/big river bait hooks, like 4/0 and up range. Careful with the regs because I don't think you can use certain types of fish like salmon/steelhead. Let em sit in deep holes. Once you have a fish, let out some line to let them swallow and then let em have it. The circle hooks will keep things from getting too deep. Bring the stiffest rods you have to drive the hooks home, the current and size of the fish is enough to keep a nice healthy bend in a pool cue.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Plenty of sneks too.

 

[mtnbiker208]

I have floated it a few times, to me the spiders are fricking big! And I do mean Big!
I have never slept in a tent there, but have used cots. We did have black bear walk into camp one night.
Hiking along the river would be tough. Old school tip is using chuck taylor's for shoes there.
super steep country that is for sure.

 

[mtnbiker208]

Not that this means anything, a few years ago, i wanted to do a solo mutli day float trip.
Hells canyon it was. Great trip and great place to escape from reality.
Just know, there is a lot of jet boats that run that country.

 

[wowzers]

I used to backpack in there a lot. Mostly from Pittsburgh up to Granite Creek. I always went in the spring though to minimize snakes. It will be hot in the summer all night.

 

[BigBird69]

I've done float trips through Hell's Canyon during the summer months.

We always camped right along the river in mesh tents. Bugs weren't an issue but the heat was. Most of the time I had to take a quick dip in the river before jumping into the tent for the night. It eventually cools down but it felt like I was sleeping in an oven for the first few hours.

The only other potential issue we experienced was smoke from forest fires but it didn't really bother me all that much.

It's an amazing place and you'll have no problem catching all the fish you want.

 

[Kimber33]

The snakes can be a problem but the fishing is amazing. If you go in the early summer you’ll probably see some great velvet bucks along the river!