The Smith River in Montana. Some have heard of it, a lot of people haven’t. If you have, you know the deal. A limited entry permit is required to float the 59 miles form Camp Baker to Eden Bridge. You have about a 1 in 30 shot as an individual to draw a permit last I checked. A permit allows for 5 days and 4 nights of floating through a postcard picture of tree covered hills and white cliffs, with lots of wildflowers and a few trout thrown in.
2020. Rivers were closed, trips were canceled, but by the time the calendar rolled around to the dates planned for the Grande Ronde, things had opened up. I mean, if you can't find distance to float down a river, where can you find it? So, off we went to northeast Oregon in June. I've had some floats in June where flows were great for fishing but it seems like the last few years....not so much.…
Where do you go when you want to get out and want to stay away from people? What do you do when all your favorite rivers are closed to floating? The Fremont National Forest sounded like the solution. Far from population centers and lacking any big time tourist draws, the streams of the Fremont offered two weekend quiet late spring getaways for fishing and even a float.
First up was a float down the Sycan. Not a lot of fish, but the scenery and lack of people made up for it.
