08/29/2026
One week away from Thunder on the Snake 2026! Huge thanks to Northwest River Runners for sponsoring our event this year! We also want to thank all of our gold and silver sponsors for their continued support over the years.
The list of competitors is growing, with several teams making the trip down from Canada and joining the local teams from Idaho, Washington and Oregon. So far we have close to 20 teams locked in to lay down some fast times up the Snake River!
This year's race is in memory of an amazing individual. This year, Thunder on the Snake is dedicated to one of our dearest supporters, who we lost a couple of years ago. Jim Carlstrom was nothing less than amazing. He was a proud veteran who fought for this country and the rights that we enjoy. He absolutely loved jet boat racing, well, most anything that went fast, and then there was fishing. He had raced years ago and had some amazing stories, but never lost his love of the sport. He was a devout supporter and one of the first to volunteer every year to be a safety boat at Riggins, St. Maries and his home race here in Lewiston. His boat proudly wore the SB 1 placard for more years than we can remember.
It didn't matter if it was a person, place or animal. Jim always wanted to leave things better than he found them. And anyone that was a friend of his would tell you that same thing. One of the proudest things he'd ever done during the races, was organize a trash pickup along the river. Every safety boat was outfitted with garbage bags and one simple assignment; between legs, go on a walkabout and pick up whatever trash you could find along the river that somebody else had left behind and bring it back with you at the end of the day. He got sponsors and gift cards to give out to those who participated because loving and taking pride in where he lived was important to him. There was enough trash collected that year to fill a large dumpster, and Hells Canyon was better for it.
His other passion was fishing and he was quite competitive. He didn't enjoy getting outfished, especially with his own gear that he loaned you. So it wasn't surprising that if you did out fish him, on his next trip to the VA hospital to Portland, it wasn't surprising for him to show up with new rods, reels and gear as gifts for you so he couldn't be outfished anymore with his own gear.
Fishing trips with coffee and donut holes in the morning, and shrimp cocktail in the afternoons were the norm, and were full of stories of his adventurous life and memories of people and places he never forgot. Among the favorites were stories of Alaska and fishing there. He definitely had a knack for storytelling.
He had a love of horsepower whether it was motorcycles, snowmobiles, muscle cars and boats which landed him smack dab in the racing family which we all welcomed him with open arms because we knew we'd be better for it. Jim, you are truly missed and hope you're saving some fish for the rest of us! Eternal checkered flags and tight lines our dear friend! Until we meet again 🏁🎣🏁
