Sun Valley Area Fishing Report - February 16th, 2015
Sunny days are upon us this week and anglers can count on the fish reacting to it in some places. The best fishing will most likely take place on our freestone streams and tail-waters, where riffles and other surface features will give the fish a place to hide under the bright light. The sun will also mean high pressure and slightly cooler days than the last few weeks. Expect decent hatches of Midges on the South Fork of the Boise, the Big Wood and the Big Lost River.
Anglers fishing the Big Wood River may also see decent occurrences of the Little Black Stonefly. If you see these guys crawling around on the banks, try swinging flies like Hares Ears and Prince Nymphs on a tight line. It is a fun technique and will almost always produce the biggest fish of the day. Simply cast across the river, or slightly upstream, without a strike indicator on the line. Instead put a touch of weight about 12 inches above your fly. Let the fly sink as it comes even and then past you with the current. Once the fly gets near the end of the line, throw a upstream mend in the line to get the fly to swing slowly. At this point the fly should come tight and the line, and as it is swinging across the river, the fly should also move from the bottom of the river, toward the surface. This will give the fly the appearance of emerging, and will in turn trigger the prey drive in the fish and get them to attack!
Silver Creek should continue to fish well. The daytime temps last week were high enough to form decent Midge hatches, and anglers in some places on the river were treated to rare winter dry fly activity on the Creek. Streamer fishing is still the way to go if you want to target the biggest fish in the river.
With clear skies, this will also be an excellent week to strike out for the South Fork of the Boise and the Lost River. If you head for the SFOB load for bear, as this river in the winter is anyone’s guess as to what may be taking place. Midge Dries, Nymphs and Streamers could all come into play. On the Lost, take all your same flies you would fish on the Big Wood in the winter. Be sure to have some Baetis dries as well…just in case.
Happy Fishing Everyone!