Grand Opening of Picabo Angler!
While we officially began operations on April 1st, Saturday May 25th will be our Grand Opening! For those of you who are not familiar with the new ownership, here's the lowdown: The Purdy family of Picabo, Idaho purchased the Ketchum On The Fly business. There are no ownership connections between the old and the new. Picabo Angler is a full Fly Shop and outfitter offering a lot more than your typical fly shop. We are located near the banks of Silver Creek in Picabo, Idaho and offer everything from the full fly shop amenities, guided services, to a cafe, espresso, gas, beer, wine, and great local knowledge, plus an airstrip just meters behind the shop. We also have miles of private water on Silver Creek and the perfect flies to make your day more successful.
This will be the place to visit for up to date Sun Valley area fly fishing reports from our local waters including our backyard, Silver Creek. This Saturday, May 25th is opening day on Silver Creek and we look forward to seeing you down here!
As far as what to expect for river/hatch conditions on opening weekend here's Our Outlook:
Silver Creek:
High temps are slated to be anywhere from the mid to upper 60's and even potentially hitting the low 70's. Our weather is usually unpredictable on opening weekend but this has been a far drier and warmer spring. Look for sporadic #16 pmd's, #16 callibaetis, and #20 baetis. Believe it or not but callibaetis have been coming off in the Killpatrick pond area on the warmer days. It's also anyone's guess as to when Brown Drakes will come off. Given the dry and warm year we have had to this point and the way the wildflowers have started to go into full blown bloom, we think (it's always super hard to predict) the Brown Drakes should start a bit earlier--that's anywhere from opening weekend to the 12th of June. We are fully stocked on Brown Drake patterns.
Big Wood River:
As it is, the flow on the Big Wood River is 898 cfs and will likely be higher on opening weekend. It's really hard to say at the moment how fishable the Wood will be. It does have two feet or so of clarity at the moment but that will likely decrease. Should you plan on heading out to the Big Wood look for side channels or head north of Ketchum where flows and clarity should be a little better. Think #8 and #10 stone fly nymphs, #12 green drake nymphs, #12 Copper Johns. Big parachute Adams and Royal Stimulators are great indicators. Carry plenty of 3X and 4X leader and tippet. We are big fans of the relatively new Trout Hunter leader and tippet material and we are fully stocked. What's pretty cool is Trout Hunter offers half sizes in some of their more popular tippet sizes. Have you ever tried 5.5X or even 6.5X? Be careful wading...
Big Lost River:
The Lower Big Lost is currently at 432 cfs. Look for flows to gradually increase to the point of not being fishable by some time in mid-June. Remember, the Lost River watershed is open year around which means we are fishing it now. While there have been a few baetis on the water the fish have been reluctant to come to the surface. It's only been about ten days since the winter flow of 110 cfs or so has come up to its current flow. As a result, the fish are in a bit of a funk but it's doable. Smaller patterns like #16 & #18 zebra midges, #16 & #18 pheasant tails, and #16 lightning bugs and copper Johns have been working. Check the stream flow prior to heading over as the river has been changing daily. Here's our page on the Lost River which includes a link to the USGS stream flow gauge: HERE
As for the Copper Basin area it's probably too early to make for decent fishing not to mention it's too high to realistically wade/fish at the moment. Look for the fishing to improve around the 1st of July or later.
In The Press:
We were just featured by Times-News. Here's the link to the great article: HERE