A small logging community, St. Maries has the most amenities. It has a couple of gas stations, a few diners and restaurants, and some hotels and stores. You will want to gear up in St. Maries if you need anything.( Calder has no fuel and only one café.) Avery, which has fuel, has one small store and a fly shop. There you can get sandwiches, beverages, and ice cream. If you go, remember, beyond Avery, there are no other stores or fuel.
The Joe is very dynamic with a variety of water to choose from. During the course of its flow, from the upper end around Red Ives Ranger station down to the lake, the river changes dramatically. The upper third of the river is in a deep and narrow canyon. It has a high gradient for several miles and there are lots of gorges with big shady pools which lead into rock gardens with awesome pocket water. There is plenty of access along the entire river, including pullouts and campsites too. From Red Ives down into Marble Creek, the river has a medium gradient that mellows out after Marble creek. It then becomes a meandering stream. From St. Joe City down to the lake, the river is very slow moving and it becomes more of a bass and pike fishery.
The Joe offers many ways to fish. Plus, it is a perfect river for a walk and wade day. This is how most folks enjoy the Joe, especially from Avery upriver. I prefer to drift the Joe when I can, especially from Avery downstream, there is great drift boat fishing and plenty of access too.
There are six usable boat launches from Avery. First, in Avery, there is a launch at the local fly shop. Then, the next launch is at Fish Hook. Next, there is a launch located below the bridge at Marble Creek. This launch is then followed by Huckleberry campground, below that is Calder. After that, there is a launch at Big Eddy restaurant. And, finally, there is a launch at 16-mile bridge. As you progress from Avery down, the water changes to slower and more manageable floats. I use 7,000 cubic feet per second, at the Calder gaging station, as my general rule of thumb for good flows to float. If you are a novice on the oars, I suggest you stay below Marble creek due to the changing dynamics of the river.
THE FISH
Westslope cutthroat, whitefish, and bull trout are the main actors on the Joe. There are also a handful of rainbows and cutbows willing to eat your fly as well. However, the cutthroat and the bull trout are strictly catch and release on the Joe. If you are not sure about what fish you are catching, it is always safe and prudent to let it go. The cutthroat in the Joe are wild and native, and IDFG has been working for years to restore their populations.
I am not sure of the population of fish, or the fish per mile in the Joe, but it is common to have 20- plus fish days there. You will also find that there is a great range of sizes too. The average size is around 12 to 15-inches. In the spring, when we primarily streamer fish, we tend to see that the average size is a bit bigger in the 15 to 18-inch range, with a few over 18 inches.
Overall, westslope cutthroat are not very picky and most of the time fly selection is not critical. During the warmer months, the dry fly fishing is incredible. Streamer fishing on the river is fantastic as well, yet, we don’ t see too many folks doing it. There are also many varieties of sculpins and crayfish in the river. So, you can get away with using larger streamer patterns. As the season goes on and the water drops, we will downsize our patterns as needed.
HATCHES BY SEASON
We start fishing the river pre-runoff in late February or early March, depending on the weather and the ice flows. There are no dams on this freestone stream and this leads to the river icing up for a few months in the winter. We can usually count on fishing until early November. I’ ve fished it as late as mid- November with decent success.
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