Sun Valley Fly Fishing

The fishing windows are shrinking by the day! That is the dry fly window. We can expect the Nymphing and streamer fishing to continue to remain strong until the return of the winter dry fly season. With colder temperatures heading our way we can expect some of these dry fly windows to close completely, except on the nicest days.

On Silver Creek, currently the hours of 11:00 a.m. until around 2:00 p.m. seem to be the time to be on the water. The Fall Baetis is among the last of the bugs still hatching, with quite a bit of Midge activity filling in the gaps. Silver Creek Brown Trout are still spawning, but many fish are coming off their Redds and they will come off hungry and aggressive. The darkest days are the time to look for them out in the open chasing baits and bugs. If you see the cleaned gravels in the rivers, please continue to avoid them and the fish that are sitting on them.

Our freestone streams like the Big Wood and the Upper Lost are fishing day to day, depending on the weather. A large attractor like and H and L Variant or Royal Wullf will still bring a few fish to the fly, but having a dropper under one of these patterns is not a bad idea. Fish in these rivers will begin to seek winter refuge as the water drops. This means they will begin to group up in the slower runs and holes on the Big Wood, and on the Upper Lost they will be headed downstream into the main river where they can escape the impending winter ice.

Tailwaters like the South Fork of the Boise, the Lower Lost and the Lower Big Wood are all excellent fisheries in the fall. With little angling pressure and nutrient rich water, these fisheries can be a wonderful escape prior to the snow flying. They can also be great places to go catch very large fish that have spent the entire summer fattening up.

Finally, the one place every angler should try to check out every fall is Magic Reservoir. The fish here grow big, and on a calm day the fishing can be spectacular from a boat, a float tune or even from some of the banks. Most anglers fish streamers with dark backs and bright bottoms to imitate the bait that swims here. Keep an eye on the weather right now, be safe and fish hard!

Happy Fishing Everyone!