Sun Valley Fly Fishing

Sun Valley Area Fishing Report - June 1, 2018

The Brown Drakes will make a strong showing over the next few nights. Expect things to ramp up into Sunday and Monday. Those are days you probably don’t want to miss. Where you fish shouldn’t matter by then. The weather has caused just a trickle of bugs over the past 48 hours. With the sun out and high pressure rolling in, expect things to go back to the normal low light activity we are all use to.

Most importantly when fishing the Drake – Please Be Kind! The Drake hatch is as much about kindness as it is fishing. Watching the show with friends and helping those that need it is the essence of this hatch. It’s an opportunity to make someone’s memory banks for a lifetime. Make memories on this river, not enemies! Peace, Love and Drakes!

Elsewhere on Silver Creek, the PMD, Baetis, Callibaetis and Beetles are still making a strong showing. Fishing reports up and down the river have been very positive. Plan on ramping up your stealth with the bright light and think about Finesse Leaders as the fish wise up over the coming week.

Enjoy the weekend. Stop by the shop for flies and beverages. We’d love to see you!

Sun Valley Fly Fishing

Sun Valley Area Fishing Report - June 14, 2017

THE SUN IS OUT! A slow return to summer temperatures means we can expect a slow return to the epic fishing we saw on Silver Creek the first two weeks of the season. Plan on seeing a large variety of bugs and plenty of rising fish with each warming day.

Anglers should expect to see quite a few Green Drakes on the Creek this week. The Brown Drakes are all but gone for the season, but with the warmth, if we saw a freak occurrence some nights this week, we would not be surprised. The PMD “Pale Morning Dun” should also begin to come off in force this week. The Callibaetis action remains strong as well as the small Baetis “Blue Winged Olive” hatches and spinner falls.

Terrestrials are still a great bet and a few Damsel flies should appear with the sun. Baby Hoppers have made their way onto the scene and we should be able to cast smaller patterns in the next few weeks. The Streamer action on the Creek has been really good under the cloudy weather, but bright sun is the forecast, so this action may drop off a bit.

Elsewhere, our freestone rivers, the Big Wood and Upper Big Lost remain really high and really dangerous. Flows should increase all week. Stay away from this water, and be sure to keep your dog miles from this mess! If you want to swim them, take them to a local lake, pond or reservoir.

The South Fork of the Boise flows have been dropped some. The outflows below the dam could increase if the flows coming in increase, so keep your eyes on the CFS before you make the commitment to go. If the flows haven’t been stable for a day or two, it’s probably not going to fish well. If the flows remain constant, we may begin to see the Salmon Flies on the lower river.

Reaching way out, the Henry’s Fork and the Owyhee are two outlying rivers from our area, but they are at least fishing. For up to the minute reports on the Owyhee you can check out Idaho Angler in Boise, and the Trout Hunter in Island Park can fill you in on everything Henry’s Fork.

Magic Reservoir continues to fish well and it is a nice alternative and change from fishing the same areas until the waters drop on our local rivers. Finally, we are blessed in the sense that we may not have a lot of places to fish, but Silver Creek has been a world class fishery since opening day!

Happy Fishing Everyone!

Brown Drake Update 06/07/17

The Drakes revved back up again last night. Anglers in the Silver Creek East and West access points were treated to a big spinner fall. Anglers closer to Picabo were greeted with fewer bugs, but plenty of rising fish and all the elbow room they wanted! Tonight should be even more epic in the same upstream areas as last night. There are still bugs from top to bottom and fish eating them, so don't hesitate to spread out, if it's fish you are after. If you want see "The Show" stay closer to Highway 20! See you later today!

Brown Drake Update 6/5/17

Last night was an epic evening of Drakes! Stormy weather drove the bugs and anglers off the water early, but not before a lot of nice fish were caught. The action continued to turn off and on all night, and there is no reason we shouldn't expect another great event tonight. Things will most likely ramp back up over the next few nights, with many more BIG events to come this week. A lot of the crowds have left and anglers can expect more room on the river. Get ready for a wonderful week of Drake action!

Brown Drake Update 6/3/17

The Drake pattern seemed to normalize yesterday. There were huge Spinner Falls on the lower river and the mid-lower river. The bigger Emergence was upstream. Anglers fishing tonight should expect another huge event as the hatch begins to make its way upstream. The heaviest action should appear in the Point of Rocks area, although there should be Drakes from Picabo Bridge all the way up to Highway 20! So far all angler reports are consistent in regards to people being good to each other! Thanks Everyone! Let's continue to enjoy the Drake together as a tight knit  angling community!

Brown Drake Update 6/2/17

Mother Nature pulled a fast one on us last night. The massive spinner fall we were counting on never materialized. The stormy, windy, cool weather may have killed some of them, and the rest did there thing this morning. A few lucky anglers saw some of that action! There was a good emergence last night, and our weather is getting better. Don't give up because last night was tough. We should begin to see the show again tonight!

Brown Drake Update

We continue to sit by the river each night awaiting the first big emergence of the Brown Drake. We have yet to see more than one here and one there...In the meantime the Callibaetis and Baetis hatches in the evening have got plenty of fish up. We figure we are still a few days away from any giant Spinner Falls, and of course the first big emergence will mostly happen in the dark, but that could come on any night, or maybe even during an afternoon storm...We will continue to wait and keep you posted!

Silver Creek Brown Drakes

Today was the second time this season we seined Silver Creek for Brown Drake nymphs. We have gone both times to the Picabo Bridge which is located only a few hundred yards from the store. While each time we have found plenty of Brown Drake nymphs, their wing pads have yet to darken which essentially means we have some time before they start their annual emergence.

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Picabo Angler employee, Wade Thomas, holds a handful of Brown Drake nymphs today, May 16th, at the Picabo Bridge on Silver Creek.

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Brown Drake nymphs also found in Silver Creek at the Picabo Bridge one week ago.

Brown Drake Update - May 31, 2016

A strange Drake season continues to baffle us. The bugs are here but the hatch is moving up river in the most condensed fashion I've ever seen. Anglers in the right zone are reporting epic fishing, while anglers that may be 1/2 mile a way are seeing very little.

There was a medium to fair Spinner Fall in the Picabo Bridge area last night, until one big gust of wind put an end to it. The lower Creek never really saw "The Show" that we are used to seeing. INstead a slow 4 or 5 day trickle of insects was the new norm. 

The Hatch epicenter was without a doubt the bottom end of Point of Rocks (Silver Creek East) last night. A major emergence took place in that area. Without question there will be a big Spinner Fall at Point of Rocks and the lower end of the Willows. This will be the true "Show." 

Picabo Angler will be open until 8:00 p.m. We have plenty of Drakes, Beer, Ice and Food!

Brown Drake Update - May 30, 2016

The Brown Drake emerged with some vigor on the Creek last night. A fair spinner fall was followed by a very late emergence on the lower stretches. Expect the Drake action to peak sometime in the middle of this week. 

Point of Rocks saw some Drakes last night, but the center of the action remains slightly down stream. This could change tonight as a hot day is going to turn the river into shuck stew at dark. I don't think there is going to be a bad place to be tonight. 

Like always, we ask that everyone please be kind, communicative and generous with fellow anglers. It's a great chance to back log some great karma!

Have a ton of fun!

John

Opening Weekend and Brown Drakes - May 29, 2016

THANK YOU ANGLERS! 

We wanted to say thank you to all of you for all of your generous support these past few days. Our dream of a quality fly shop focused on the Creek and Kindness could not happen without you! 

By Saturday afternoon the crowds had left the Nature Conservancy waters and the Creek blew up with a PMD hatch to beat the band. We would expect a similar event today. Think 3:00 - 4:00 in the afternoon. 

The Brown Drake continues to trickle off and baffle us like always. With warm days head for the next two weeks. and being that the hatch is following the same pattern as last season, expect major occurrences to take place every night in the coming week. I would be shocked if we didn't see the first major emergence tonight or Monday night. 

Thanks Again everyone and we look forward to seeing you all at Picabo Angler again soon!

John

Brown Drake / Opening Day Update - May, 2016

Hello Anglers! 

It's time! We are hours away from Opening Day on Silver Creek! 

The Brown Drake came off very, very light last night. No one missed anything. IN fact it looks like a replay of last year. A few days of Drakes trickling off and then the big BOOM! With the weather doing what it is doing I would expect Saturday night, Sunday night to be pretty darn good and by next week we should be in full blown Drake mode! 

Upstream the PMD and Baetis went nuts last night on the Conservancy Waters. The weather set off great hatches and spinner falls, and we expect a lot more of the same. 

This is going to be an epic opening weekend. We hope you can join us. 

Don't forget tonight is MYSTERY OF THE CUTTYRAINBROWN TROUT, HOSTED BY HANK PATTERSON. 8:30 p.m. $5 at the door!

Sun Valley Area Fishing Report - Opening Day Forecast, 2016

Listen Idaho, you can hear the sounds of tailgates slamming shut and the hiss of float tubes being aired up. You can hear the slow click of reels as line gets strung through rod guides. You can hear the crisp snap of a fly box being closed. Under those tones you can hear muted noises like oars being shuffled into place and strapped into boats, and the distinct crinkling of waders as they come out of a bag totally dry for the first time this year. Soon these sounds will be replaced by the swish of legs in water and whisps of casts placed far over the water. Opening Day is upon us!

Silver Creek is the place to be for Opening Weekend! Join Picabo Angler on Friday night for the Picabo Premiere of Hank Patterson’s “Mystery of the Cuttyrainbrown Trout.” Showing in our airplane hangar at 8:30 p.m. Bring a camp chair and your hardiest laugh! Saturday the festivities continue with our Opening Day BBQ! Starting at 11:30.

If you are fishing Silver Creek this weekend plan on seeing a few hatches. Callibaetis have been the most prolific as of late. Baetis is always a possibility especially if we see a lot of cloud cover and have a few P.M.D. patterns just in case…

Regardless of the hatches you can count on Terrestrials caring the day. Be sure to have plenty of Ants and Beetles in a variety of sizes. Large Chernobyl patterns can be good in adverse weather, and smaller flies like Flying Ants and Crowe Beetles will be effective if the water stays glassed over.

Anglers sticking around for the night fishing will find Mouse Patterns effective, and Brown Drakes will be coming into the mix soon enough. Probably not this weekend, but probably not far behind either. Anglers that don’t want to be out late can opt for getting up early and fishing Streamers in the gray morning light.

The South Fork of the Boise will also be fishable on the opener. The river is at driftboat levels and Nymphing with big flies like Girdle Bugs and Salmon Fly Nymphs is your best bet. Smaller nymphs like Copper Johns and Hares Ears are also excellent choices.

Plan on run-off effecting most of our rivers over the weekend, which will make places like Silver Creek busier than normal. Please remember to be kind and share your experiences as best you can with your fellow anglers!

Happy Opening Day Everyone!

Brown Drake Update - May 19, 2016

Hello Anglers! 

We went and kicked a few Drake nymphs out of Silver Creek yesterday. Here are some photos of what we saw. We did not find a lot of nymphs in the upper stratus of the mud and gravel, so they are still making their way up. You will see in the pictures that the wing cases are starting to turn dark, although you can also see they are not completely dark. Notice the the top of the wing case, you can see a much more opaque color. 

Now, I can't predict a bugs life to the day, looking at these nymphs I would have to think there is no way these bugs hatch before Opening Day, and it could be as much as a week after or even two. I will try to keep this updated and we will look at the nymph again in a week. Stay tuned! Mother Nature could still surprise us! 

Thanks to Rachel Sayre for taking these splendid images.

Sun Valley Area Fishing Report - May 18, 2016

There is less than 2 weeks before fishing season opens. With spring run-off on our local freestone rivers expected to last into the first part of June coupled with a likely showing of the Brown Drake on Silver Creek will mean the Creek could be a busy place for a few weeks. With that said, and with not a lot to report on just yet, we’d like to take a minute and chat about a “busy” Creek.

First off let’s remember we are all brothers and sisters of the fly rod. That means at our core we fish for a lot of the same reasons. Fun, adventure, to reduce stress, to hang with friends, to search for quarry. Mainly we fly fish, because we love it and it speaks to us. It may be something slightly different that we get from the sport, but we can all agree to respect it, and each other’s reasons for doing it.

So when you encounter your fellow angler on the Creek there are two courses you can take. We can choose to be quiet and standoffish, which could lead to tension and no fun at all. The other route is to say hello, be outgoing and communicate with one another. Despite the stigma of a “solitary” sport, we still need to take a few minutes prior to that emersion to address our fellow anglers to make sure we maximize our time and fun as well as theirs!

Do you want to be the angler that stands in the sweet spot during the Drake and ropes one fish after another while those around you are getting skunked from being in the wrong place? The flip side is you could be the angler that catches a few really nice fish and then says to a complete stranger, “Hey, come on over here and make a cast!”

At the end of the day, the first angler can go brag and thump their chest about being a fishing hero, or they can be the second angler content in the knowledge that they caught great fish, and also made someone else’s night, or week, or month, or lifetime. Being able to catch a nice fish on the Creek is not easy. During the Drake it can be. It is worth sharing. You never know how your 2 minutes of grace can make years of someone else’s life better, more exciting, and full of fish tales! It is the right and kind thing to do.

Happy Fishing Everyone!

Spring Weather and the Brown Drake

We received the following question through the interwebs today. We figured it was a very good question and one many anglers are curious about. So everyone thank Thayne, for putting this out there:

"I know we are still several weeks away from talking drakes but I was curious how conditions compare to last year for Drake timing. Has your spring been a little behind compared to last? Thanks again!"

Soooo, Drake timing. The big question! This spring Picabo has been more "normal" than it has been in sometime. We are bouncing back and forth between cold, warm, wet and dry. The saying about wait five minutes and the spring weather will change in the Rocky Mts. is spot on this year. Despite the rapid change, we haven't had any crazy events like heatwaves or weeks of rain. 

The past few seasons the Drake has gone off around May 25. Last season it went on the 23rd, then paused two days, then exploded on the 25th or 26th, just after opening weekend. It did trickle off the Friday night before the season opened!

This year the opener is on the 28th. The Drake is traditionally a June 7 - 12 kick off date when things are normal. We are crossing our fingers that is the case this year.

With that said there is no way in hell I won't have Drake patterns in my box the night of the 28th whether we've seen the bug or not. We will have our full selection out on the opener. 

(Don't forget Friday the 27th, Hank Patterson will be here showing "Mystery of the Cuttyrainbrown Trout." at 8:30 in our airplane hangar. Bring a chair! We will also have our traditional opening day BBQ on Saturday!)

Check back with us frequently. I'll go kick some Drake Nymphs up in the next few days and see how mature they look and how high up in the mud column they are. 

With 100% snow pack and a great season last year, things are looking wonderful for the coming year!

See you at the end of the month!

John Huber