Louisa Behnke

About me

Anything outdoors. Fly fishing, horse packing for hunters in the fall, skiing, slipping through slot canyons.

The Best Part of My Job

Living on the river with close friends and meeting new passengers every trip. I feel lucky working for OARS, Idaho, and having the opportunity to see so many different river stretches.

How I found OARS

My husband also works for OARS, and I worked on ranches in Wyoming before becoming a guide in 2021 and joining him.

My Favorite Spot on the River/Outdoors

Loon Creek on the Middle Fork of the Salmon. There is great fishing, a hot spring, and I am lucky enough to call this drainage home in the fall too, when I work for a hunting outfit. Once you get 15 miles up the creek, there is a mountain meadow and steep cliff walls, and it’s the most gorgeous part of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness I have ever seen.

My Favorite Trip Memory

Being a guide on the Middle Fork Salmon fishing trip in the fall of 2025. Our passengers were wonderful and happily catching gorgeous, healthy cutthroat trout, and I was surrounded by some of my favorite guides. Having a three-day deadhead to start the trip was a fantastic end to a wonderful 2025 season.

Favorite River Tradition

Touching your hand into the water at the confluence of the Snake and Salmon rivers.

I Can’t Live Without

Sunscreen.

My Fun Fact

I created a documentary film with two of my friends about the plight of wild horses in Wyoming while riding/packing mustangs across the state for 30 days.