Sun Valley Area Fishing Report - March 29, 2016

With only a few days left in the season on many rivers, it is time to get creative! The Big Wood River is closed to all fishing on April 1st. Silver Creek is also closed to all fishing. Both rivers will open back up May 28th this year. Plan on the Big Wood being muddy for the opener as spring runoff should peak sometime in May. Silver Creek should be phenomenal on the opener!

In the meantime, the Lost River remains open to fish all year. Reports have been getting increasingly better on the Lower Lost. When the wind is down the Midge and Baetis fishing has been excellent. When the wind comes back up the fishery can be downright difficult. When this happens switch to Nymphing techniques and cover the water thoroughly and be prepared to use a variety of flies. Be sure to have some Pheasant Tail Nymphs to cover the Baetis and plenty of Zebra Midges for the Midge days.

Places to consider for the next few weeks include Carey Lake. This is an excellent time of year to catch a mess of Blue Gills for a fish taco fry. Small nymphs stripped through the water is all one needs. If you are in the area, the Little Wood in the desert stretch can be an o.k. place to wet a line and catch a few trout. It’s never gangbusters in this stretch, but it is beautiful and a great place to spend an afternoon.

Carp fishing in the Snake is going to get better and better as the weather gets nicer. Get your Google Earth on and search for the shallow water flats found all over the Snake River reservoirs. Try to pick the calmest days so that you can see the fish working.

The Reservoir fishing in both Mackay and Magic should be getting really good. Warming water gets those reservoir fish hungry and thinking about the pre-spawn. They will want to fatten up. Fish near the river mouths and even near seasonal Creeks. Anderson Ranch Reservoir and the Little Wood Reservoir are also great places to check out and catch a variety of fish.

Reservoirs can be fished from a boat, float tube or just off the bank. If you head out on the water, take a friend. Beware of the wind, and have proper floatation and emergency flares and whistles, just in case. Always check the weather first and have fun!

Happy Fishing Everyone!

Sun Valley Area Fishing Report - July 13, 2015

Summer continues to pass with one odd weather system after another. There has certainly been an effect on the fishing, although not in a negative way. We just need to get used to seeing things like Tricos at 2:00 p.m. or Callibaetis at 7:30 a.m. How about Pink Alberts on the South Fork before Salmon flies? The only predictable thing happening right now is the unpredictability. This in turn has really made for a fun year. The right place at the right time is a mantra all anglers should adopt right now! The only way to overcome all this unpredictability is to stay on the water all day, and at least half the night. There are worse things…

When the summer weather does act normal, plan on Tricos on Silver Creek, mixed with PMD and Baetis. This event happens when the air temps hit 70 degrees. Be on the Creek early for the day’s best mayfly activity. If you plan to stay past lunch the best hatch of the season continues to be the Damsel Fly. Look for wind breaks behind the cattails, and weed patches sticking up with trout stacking up behind them.

On our freestone streams, the Wood and the Upper Lost, expect to fish small attractors and cover lots of water. The morning activity has the most bugs, but fish will come the surface all day. Really concentrate on the banks and shaded zones when the sun is high.

The South Fork of the Boise continues to be a head scratcher with Salmon Flies reported to Indian Rock, but not much above. By the time of this writing (and reading) expect the Salmon Flies to be somewhere between Indian Rock and the Dam. Pink Alberts have started in the afternoon, although the intensity still needs to build to get the fish feeding on them.

The Little Wood continues to fish very well above the reservoir. Big attractors are the way to go when the sun isn’t on the water. Scale back a few sizes if you are fishing midday.

A quick words on our guide staff: We believe in putting the angling public first at Picabo Angler. With that said, be sure that none of our guides can be found repeatedly hitting the same spots daily. We want to share great fishing with everyone! Like our guides always say – Guiding is a skill set, not a spot.

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 8, 2015

Summer like conditions have returned to Silver Creek and the Wood River Valley. With the heat comes some additional runoff, mostly from snows left by the spring storms. Just as the rivers began to drop, this newest heat wave has brought them back up and at a flow that make our freestone streams rough to fish. The good news is, this should be the last of the runoff, and by this time next week all our rivers should be fishable, and with the beginnings of great hatches.

Coming off of the Brown Drake hatch, anglers can expect more big bugs in the form of Salmon Flies and Stoneflies. The Green Drake should be making its first appearance with the clearing of our local waters as well.

On Silver Creek the PMDs, Callibaetis and Baetis are taking turns stealing the show from each other, but with the hot weather, expect the bright bodied Green Drakes to begin showing in the mid afternoon. This insect can be a game changer on the Creek when the heat of summer settles into the afternoon hours and anglers are looking hard to find a decent hatch.

The Big Wood, the Little Wood and the upper Lost River are going to peak again this week, but get ready because some of the seasons best fishing is about to happen on these streams. A combination of Green Drakes, Stoneflies, Salmon Flies, baby Hoppers and Crane Flies should set all these systems on fire!

With high flows continuing, please wade with caution, leave your pups at home for another few weeks, fish with a friend as well as a secure wading belt and tell someone where you are fishing! Also - Wading staffs are a good idea in the early season.

The South Fork of the Boise is most likely the scene of the next big hatch, the Salmon Fly. No reports from anglers yet, but it’s always better to be the first reporting! If you go, please scout the river, be aware of all the new rapids, be liberal with your lifejacket and keep an eye on your fellow angler and boaters!

Finally, be ready for a lot of change this week. Summer heat will change the fishing dramatically. Expect the hours of great fishing to change on the Creek, and expect a few fantastic weeks on our freestones the second the water begins to drop and turn glacial green!

Happy Fishing Everyone!

Sun Valley Area Fishing Report - June 1, 2015

Silver Creek continues to fish well and astonish anglers with a prolific Brown Drake hatch! Don’t think that this event is over, as things are still happening big time through the upper end of Point of Rocks through the Willows, all the way to Highway 20. This action should continue at least until the weekend. Varying amounts of the bug will pronounce the end of the hatch, but as long as we keep seeing massive spinner falls like we saw over the weekend, we can expect to fish this hatch to some degree for at least the rest of this week and into the weekend.

On the Nature Conservancy section of the Creek, the PMD, Baetis and Callibaetis hatches have been wonderful and prolific. Midday hatches have the fish locked in and we can expect this action to last until the dry heat of summer when the Trico arrives. The fishing with Mouse flies continues to produce massive Brown Trout, and we expect this action to go on all summer as the rodents are thick as thieves on the river this year.

We want to say thank you to all of you out there for the support since opening day. Picabo Angler survives on the love of our fellow angler and your generosity has impact and deep meaning to our business! THANK YOU!

Elsewhere, the South Fork of the Boise is fishing pretty well, and the river is fishing at driftboat levels. Salmon Fly activity should begin to pick up with the heat of June almost upon us. In the meantime, fish big nymphs and the color red subsurface for decent action.

The lower Lost River is fishable and at a decent flow, as rains continue to diminish the call for water in the area. This means we have at least one more fishery running clear, just keep an eye on the CFS. The Upper Lost is not clear, with the exception of Wild Horse Creek, but the volume of water coming down makes this a tough undertaking as well.

The Big Wood and Little Wood Rivers are most likely a week or more away from coming into shape, but when they do the fishing should be extraordinary with Green Drake and Stonefly patterns. Expect the Little Wood to fish sooner than the Big Wood, but only by a few days. Once these systems clear, the Upper Lost River system should follow with clear, fishable water.

We’ll see you on the river, in the evening the rest of the week, enjoying the big brown bugs!

Happy Fishing Everyone!

Sun Valley Area Fishing Report - May 18, 2015

If you listen closely you will hear the sounds of zippers being pulled closed on wader bags, float tubes being aired up, click and pawl drags being tested, and the sound of fly boxes being snapped shut. Opening Day is upon us Idaho!

Silver Creek is the place to be this weekend as recent rains have blessed this special body of water with a nice cleansing and levels high enough to spread the fish throughout the system. Partly cloudy conditions coupled with warmish temperatures spells great mayfly activity. Expect Baetis and P.M.D.s to take center stage, but also be aware the Callibaetis has been very strong here on warm days. No matter what, be sure to have Beetle and Ant patterns!

The Brown Drake is still a week or more away and will most likely appear once we return to a weather pattern of warm sunny days and temperate nights. Keep an eye on the forecast, or do it the fun way and just show up at Picabo Bridge every evening after the weekend and wait for the first big night!

The Big Wood may fish a little on the weekend, it really depends on the rain and how hard it is coming down. The clarity seems to be changing day to day, and although the flows aren’t huge, there are probably better places to be for now.

The Lost River is fishable as of now, but again, there are a lot of variables here, both above and below the Mackay Dam. Keep an eye on the CFS below the dam, if it doesn’t jump to high you may find some o.k. fishing. The upper Lost will fish depending on the clarity.

The Little Wood River will have some fishing above and below the Little Wood Reservoir Dam. Think big Stone and Salmon Flies.

The South Fork of the Boise is also worth a look, but this river is generally better the later we get into June.

All in all, Opening Day presents a few challenges to finding the best fishing. Pay close attention to the details like CFS and Weather before you decide where to be. You can count on Silver Creek fishing, and of course Picabo Angler and the Nature Conservancy will  hosting our annual Opening Day parties, so no matter whether you fish or not on the opener, come on down to Picabo and enjoy a wonderful day with friends and all your brothers and sisters of the fly!

Happy Fishing Everyone!

Little Wood Reservoir

We have been in the super well needed rain cycle here and our streams are going up in water volume and the landscape is turning into a marvelous spring-green with loads of wildflowers popping up at mid to lower elevations. Pictured below is the Little Wood Reservoir.

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Little Wood Reservoir. Photo: John Huber