Sun Valley Fly Fishing

Sun Valley / Picabo Area Fishing Report - June

 Anglers in the Sun Valley area are coming out of a week of tough weather, although very good fishing. The coming week should be warmer and new opportunities should be presenting themselves daily. With the freestone streams clearing and dropping ever so slowly, new areas and new hatches will present themselves.

The most anticipated hatch is the Green Drake. We have been seeing them on Silver Creek for several weeks already. When we see them on the Big Wood and Upper Lost it is almost always accompanied by a hot day. Chances are the first really true hatches will begin this coming week. There is still a danger to fishing the Wood right now at the current volume but use common sense, fish with a friend, keep your wader belt tight and leave your dog at home! You should be able to find some fishable water in side channels and along shorelines with good riffle water. The big back eddies are worth fishing as well, especially with a nymph dropper.

Expect a variety of Stoneflies and Little Yellow Sallies on the water as well. If you want to run a dropper rig of your big dry flies, the Epoxy Back Green Drake is a solid choice. Fish this beneath a Colorado Green Drake or Picabo Royal Stimulator!

The South Fork of the Boise is on the cusp of the Salmon Fly hatch and the Cicada action is as good as it has been in years. Expect to see a few Mormon Crickets and a lot of Caddis in the evening. The flows are at good boatable levels, with limited wade fishing opportunities where you find them.

Silver Creek remains the best place to fish this week. The Baetis hatches have been outstanding. They come and go throughout the day, so if the fish aren’t rising, fish the sloughs and check back in on the river periodically. Green Drakes are still in play on the Upper Stretches of the Nature Conservancy. PMD and Callibaetis are making daily appearances as well.

The Baby Hoppers have hatched this week and it is apparent we are in for another outstanding Hopper season! We are still a month away from fishing the adult Hopper, but it has been hard to keep these flies in stock the past few seasons with their abundance on the rivers, so if you’re in Picabo Angler grab some patterns now. We are currently well stocked with a lot of great Hoppers!

Happy Fishing Everyone!

Sun Valley Area Fishing Report - June 29, 2015

Green Drake madness continues throughout the Sun Valley area! Valley wide we are seeing great hatches and spinner falls of the Green Drake. On the Big Wood expect to see the Drake hatching strong mid-valley with a push up into Ketchum and North by weeks end. The timing of the hatch this year is generally 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. The Drake loves to hatch in the heat of the day, and with all the “extra” heat this summer the timing of the hatch has moved to an earlier time. Normally 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. would be more like it. The Green Drake can also be found first thing in the morning, before the sun gets on the water. Look to fish the spinner fall of Drakes over very fast, choppy water. One of the best techniques for fishing the spinner fall is to drown your dry fly at the bottom of the heavy water where you see them flying. Fish it with an indicator or sight fish it, looking for the flash of the fish eating just under the surface.

Anglers will also find Green Drakes on the Little Wood River and the Upper Lost River, as well as Silver Creek. On the Little Wood and the Lost, expect to see some bugs, but not like you would find on the Big Wood. Our favorite flies for this event on all the rivers except Silver Creek is the Colorado Green Drake and the Cripple. On Silver Creek the Green Drake is brighter in color and the fish really prefer the Harrop patterns like the Last Chance Cripple or even a nice extended body fly.

This is really a fun time of the year as we can finally rig up big, bushy dry flies and wet wade the rivers, searching for fish as we go! It is a brief amount of time that we can do this, so get out there every day this week, every evening after work, or whenever you can squeeze a few moments on the rivers.

The “other” hatch that is happening right now, and not being talked about as much as the Drake is the Damsel Fly action. This has really been gaining momentum on the Creek the past few hot days and this action should last well into the summer. Coupled with the morning PMD, Callibaetis and the first few sightings of Tricos, the Creek is about to come into the summer season in all its glory, and with all its awesome challenges!

Happy Fishing Everyone!

Sun Valley Area Fishing Report - June 22, 2015

A great week is ahead of us as we experience a plethora of water opening up and becoming fishable for the first time this season. Brown Drakes are officially replaced by Green Drakes, and the Greens can be found on The Nature Conservancy portion of Silver Creek, the lower reaches of the Big Wood and the upper Lost River.

The Green Drake on Silver Creek is a bright colored bug, so have something to match it that isn’t the dull Green colors we would use on the Wood and Lost Rivers. We have Drakes for all the rivers and have a lot of the Colorado Green Drake that works magic on the Wood now and again when the Western Red Quills arrive in the fall. This fly matches both hatches wonderfully.

Silver Creek continues to percolate with Baetis, PMD and a lot of Callibaetis. Despite having excellent hatches and spinner falls the timing of these events has been the hardest part of fishing. Anglers willing to stay from 7:00 a.m. until total darkness will find great fishing at multiple points during these hours, but whether the best fishing is morning, noon, or night, is anyone’s guess. Anglers willing to stay until darkness will find that we are having one heck of a good mouse fishing year!

The Big Wood and the upper Lost will fish this week, but like we keep saying – Please leave your dogs at home right now. There is too much volume in the river for our four legged friends to fight. Pease wear a wading belt, or better yet, wet wade. Fish with a friend. Use a wading staff. Be Careful out there!

Beyond the Green Drake plan on seeing a lot of Stoneflies and Salmon Flies in the coming weeks. Stimulators in a variety of sizes and colors are a must have. They are also great flies to use when fishing a dropper. Droppers can be simple bead head Prince Nymphs and Hares Ears.

The South Fork of the Boise should start producing Salmon Flies this week, if not already. The Caddis activity should also be ramping up! If you have the itch to fish from a driftboat, look no further. Our other driftboat river, the Salmon, is also fishing well and getting better by the day. Big dries and droppers are all you need up here. If you go to either river, boat safely and enjoy all the sights and sounds that come with these wonderful day trips through Idaho canyons!

Happy Fishing Everyone!

June 23 Fishing Report

Green Drakes on the Big Wood and more and more fishable water appearing every day means happy anglers throughout the Wood River and Silver Creek Valleys.  The heat of summer is finally upon us and with it comes a return to almost all our fisheries. The freestone streams like the Big Wood and the Upper Lost are entering one of the most prime times of the season to fish them! Stoneflies and Green Drakes are the bugs with a mix of Caddis and BWOs also.

Expect the Green Drakes to begin moving north on the Wood. Anglers have been seeing a few mid-valley, but it is early enough they could show anywhere on the river given the right day. Keep in mind the Green Drake is a fair weather insect that likes to hatch in the heat of the day. Often this happens in the afternoon around 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. Sometimes it will be earlier on a really hot day. Another thing to keep in mind is the Green Drake likes to spin in the early morning coolness. 8:00 a.m. is not uncommon. The Drakes spin over heavy fast water and the fish know it. If you see a lot of Drakes flying in the a.m. and you don’t see a lot of fish taking them then try this: Take a Colorado Green Drake and pull the wing apart so it looks like two wings. Then soak the fly and even put a little split shot above it. Now place an indicator on the line and fish the drowned dry fly like a nymph. Fish the fast water and especially the water where the rapids slow to deep or glassy water at the end of the fast water!

Silver Creek is fishing better and better as the more consistent warm days are making for more consistent hatches and spinner falls. The Baetis and PMD are still the two main bugs out there, but the Hoppers and Trico are coming on strong. The evening Caddis action has been getting fish to the surface as well. Skating a Goddard Caddis is our favorite technique when we see lots of Caddis activity on the Creek.  

It’s a great time of year out there! There are lots of places to fish and anglers can spread out all over the valley. We expect some great fish this week. If you get a great pic, send it to us for our blog at info@picaboangler.com.

Happy Fishing Everyone!

Big Wood River Update

Happy 4th of July! Quick update for the Big Wood River:   Sometime on the night of July 2nd there was a severe mudslide that has kept the Big Wood River chocolate colored for the last two days and it is still lacking any clarity from Ketchum downstream... You should check on the clarity prior to making any fishing plans on the Wood. Hopefully we will still get a few more great days of Green Drake madness which has been happening anywhere from 9:30 to 1 PM. There have also been Caddis & Drakes in the evening.

Big Wood River Fishing Report

Just a quick update for the Big Wood River: The Wood has dropped to 620 cfs and should drop even more as cooler weather moves in. While the Wood is fishable now, it should be far easier to wade in another week or so about when the Green Drakes should happen. This really should be one of the better Green Drake years we have had in recent times on the Wood due to the lower/fishable water levels. Stuff your boxes now and stay tuned. Meanwhile, there are a ton of Green Drake nymphs in shin deep water up and down the Wood and the nymphing has not been bad despite the swift water. Below is an image of a small sampling of Green Drake Nymphs found in the Big Wood River yesterday near Hailey, Idaho. Our favorite Green Drake Nymph pattern is Umpqua's #12 Epoxy Back Green Drake Nymph.

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Green Drake Nymphs. Big Wood River, Idaho.