Macro Images Of A Morphing PMD On Silver Creek

With just over a week to go until the opener, a few of us have been seining Silver Creek and taking a closer look at where the brown drakes might be in their maturity. While we have observed no brown drake nymphs with dark wing cases (meaning more mature) we have seen many damselfly nymphs and scuds.

At the same time, Callibaetis, Baetis, and PMD’s have been regularly emerging in the afternoons and the fish have been on them up and down the Creek, from downstream of the Picabo Bridge, through Point of Rocks and The Willows all the way through The Nature Conservancy.

Below is a series of images of a PMD morphing from nymph to dun shot on Silver Creek a few days ago by Nick Price:

Sun Valley / Picabo Area Fishing Report - June 15, 2016

A massive hole has been left in the Sun Valley fly fishing community. Dave Faltings from Silver Creek Outfitters passed after a hell of a fight against ALS. Dave will be entered into fishing lore as a true legend. A guy that could bring Steelhead to his dry fly, while the rest of us tried to get a strike any way we could. If Dave met you, he knew you and remembered you each time he saw you. His prowess as a fly angler only being surpassed by his prowess as a kind hearted friend to many. If you knew Dave, take some time this week to catch a fish in his honor then sit quietly and reflect on how we can all be more like him. We may never get there, but people like Dave are rare, and anything we can do to emulate him will make us, and the people around us, better.

Silver Creek was loved dearly by Dave. If you go to fish this week, plan on cooler temperatures bringing the Baetis hatches and Spinner Falls to the forefront. Hot weather bugs like the Green Drake, Callibaetis, and Blue Damsel may come into play, but it will be late afternoon before temps are right for these insects. PMD action should continue to show late in the day and some in the morning. Ants and Beetles are still hot patterns and should remain so for the better part of the summer. Expect the action to move toward the Ant and away from the Beetle as summer progresses.

The Big Wood is dropping in a hurry and the cool temperatures this week should provide us a fishery! Plan on Stimulators with Prince Nymph droppers, or Colorado Green Drakes with Epoxy Back Green Drake droppers. If the water clears and stays clear the Green Drake action should explode with the warm days forecast for Sunday and early next week.

The Upper Lost is following the same path as the Big Wood. Normally the Lost would clear after the Wood, but with the higher elevation and cold nights this week, we can probably plan on some fishing up there by weeks end.

The South Fork of the Boise should be coming on this week. Salmon Flies and Caddis are due on the river and the current Cicada situation looks very good! Midweek fishing will help you avoid the crowds on the weekend. If you have a strong skill set on the oars, start on the lower river. If not, stay up high.

Happy Fishing Everyone!

Sun Valley / Picabo Area Fishing Update - June 14, 2016

Clouds and wind have made the Creek anyone's guess today. A slow morning should be followed by a great afternoon. Yesterday's biggest hatches began around 5:00 p.m. Although most anglers show up on the Creek in the morning, the afternoon hours have had the best fishing ever since Opening Day several weeks ago. 

If you have the time, show up on the Creek around 3:00 p.m. and stay until dark for the best fishing of the day. If you are restricted to morning and afternoon fishing then load up on all the options; PMD, BWO, Ant, Beetle, Green Drake, Callibaetis and Damsel Fly. 

The Mouse fishing is as good as ever if you plan to stay past dark! We'll see you in Picabo!

John

Sun Valley / Picabo Area Fishing Update - June 10, 2016

Silver Creek continues to be one of the only games in town for anglers. The good news is the fishing is still great! The wind yesterday kept the hatches from bringing a lot of fish to the surface, but anglers in the Sloughs did well. Guide Chad Chorney put some of his guests on beautiful Rainbows despite the wind. 

The weekend should be cooler on the Creek. Expect more Baetis and a continuation of PMD madness! The Green Drakes are showing more and more as well as the Blue Damsels. 

Ants and Beetles are still your best friend when things get tough on the river. 

Our other local rivers remain high, off color and dangerous. Hopefully  cooler temps will brig the flows down and we can be fishing these rivers sometime next week. We'll wait and see and report back on Monday.

Have a great weekend. Be safe. Be kind. Have fun!

Sun Valley Area Fishing Report - August 17, 2015

August continues to provide dramatic weather and excellent fishing! Although, upon first glance at the Wood River Valley, first time visitors may see the Big Wood running dirty and smoke in the air. This is simply “smoke and mirrors” trying to hide wonderful fishing everywhere else!

Silver Creek continues to put on epic morning shows that consist of Trico Spinner Falls, but each morning other bugs and sometimes all the other bugs join in. Don’t head to the river without Trico, Baetis, P.M.D. and Callibaetis. In the afternoon the game is Hoppers and Callibaetis. The evening brings back all the bugs except Trico, and the Mousing remains as god as we’ve ever seen it. We’re only a few short weeks from Mahogany Duns, so get your patterns now. Most area fly shops stock very little of this fly, so the best patterns to be had are available now, and may be hard to find in a few weeks.

Trico continues on the Lower Lost as well, but don’t leave your Hoppers, Crane Flies, and Ants at home! The flows have been sporadic, but mostly fishable. Expect to see plenty of your fellow angler, but a weekday and an early start will get you on the fish.

The Big Wood continues to run muddy, then clear, then muddy, then clear…I’d continue but “word count.” When it is clear, Hoppers, Streamers, Rusty Spinners, Caddis and Trico are all must have flies.

The Upper Lost is fishing well if you are willing to walk. The falling water levels make the holding water spotty and far between. Small Attractors, Hoppers, Ants and some Trico will continue to take fish.

The South Fork of the Boise remains relatively quiet. Pink Albert is the hatch and some excellent Hopper fishing can be had out of a boat. Water levels remain near 1800 CFS, which is excellent for boating, although new rapids remain in place, so scout the river once if you haven’t been down since the fires there.

A word about Ants. This must be the most prolific Flying Ant year we have ever seen. Take this bug on any body of water right now and you are in business. We can only chalk this up to some natural / cyclical event. In any case we don’t care why it is happening, just that it is. Fish that seemingly won’t come to the surface, have been rocketing off the bottom to ingest size 16 /14 cinnamon and black Ants!

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 - July 7, 2015

Trico time is upon us at Silver Creek! Couple that insect with fantastic afternoon Damsel Fly activity, then sprinkle in some late night Mouse fishing and anglers are set up for some great spring creek fishing! We love that the Trico is happening early this year. The peak activity can be found in the S-Turns on the Nature Conservancy property and by weeks end we can expect to find this Spinner Fall up and down the entire river. When the Trico “feed” begins to taper off, expect to see PMD and Baetis for at least another hour or so before the afternoon lull. Once you are done fishing the morning hatches and spinner falls, come on by Picabo Angler for some lunch at our Grill and the head back out for the banner year of Damsel Fly fishing we’ve been having! If you still aren’t sated after that, look to hang in there until dark and try Mouse fishing. The Big Browns have been eating Mouse Flies better than ever this year!

On the Wood and Upper Lost Rivers, the Green Drakes are well up the systems and should be wrapping up for the season by weeks end. Fishing Stonefly and Salmon Fly imitations remains viable on most rivers, especially the South Fork of the Boise where the Salmon Flies are making their way to the dam! This is the week to fish if you want to hit the Salmon Fly on this awesome river.

The Salmon River is fishing very well and is another great place to go cast big attractor flies at nice sized Cutts and Rainbows. Floating the river is the best way to fish it. If you don’t have a boat and want to see the river up close and personal, let one of our great guides row you down and put you over these hungry fish.

The Lower Lost continues to fish in spots with nymph and double nymph rigs. Wading can be tough, but jumping from spot to spot by vehicle can be productive. Copper Johns are a great way to go, and if you need to fish dries, try skating a Crane Fly. We have some excellent imitations in the store this year.

Over all we can expect another great week of fishing throughout the Sun Valley area. Temps should be more comfortable for fish and anglers alike, and the water conditions and hatches are as good as it gets right now!

Happy Fishing Everyone!