Sun Valley Fishing Report - October 5th, 2016

A big elephant walked into the room and I didn’t even know it was there! This week’s fishing report is dedicated to shoving the pachyderm right back out the door. Last week I was told, and quite understandably, that when I report on fishing I “Always say the fishing is great!” I stopped to think about that…

Well it’s true, I pretty much always write that the fishing is great. Not every time, but often enough. So with that admission let me explain. The fact of the matter is fish are living breathing creatures that have to eat to survive. Not unlike you and I, skipping a meal, skipping a day of eating, or skipping several days is a very uncomfortable and even a scary proposition! So, we can all agree fish have to eat.

There are days when a fish has opportunity to eat more than on other days, based on the strength and timing of hatches and spinner falls. There are days when there is very little natural food to eat and the fish eat opportunistically. In either condition they are eating what is available to them.

We, as fly anglers are trying to match these food sources and cash in on the fishes need and will to feed. When we pay very close attention to the details we can almost always solve the riddle of what a fish wants to eat, or what they are willing to eat when there isn’t much natural food in the system. When an angler dedicates their life to solving these daily riddles, they become less of a riddle and more of “an action.” Furthermore these riddles that repeat themselves annually aren’t even riddles to the full time angler anymore, again they become action plans, more so than riddles.

So for an angler to meet these conditions head on, with a head full of this knowledge, the angler is going to be at a large advantage over the fish. If that angler works in the fly fishing industry (Me!) then they normally make a living by helping other anglers solve these riddles quickly and efficiently. So this angler is now going to report on the fishing and because fish have to eat and because the angler knows what they are eating and when they are eating, because it’s their livelihood to know, then yes the fishing is going to be described as great.

So, get out there and fish today. The fishing is going to be great!

Happy Fishing Everyone!