Sun Valley Fly Fishing

Sun Valley Area Fishing Report - June 14, 2018

Time to switch Drakes! Brown Drakes are winding down for the season on Silver Creek. With that said, a warm day at Silver Creek West and anglers could still expect to see some Brown Drake action. A few Green Drakes have been hatching most days and that’s all it takes to get the fish interested in them. The Green Drake on Silver Creek is a much brighter color green than the Drakes you would find on the Big Wood and Upper Lost. We like to use the Renee Harrop patterns on the Creek because of this. Once the Big Wood is fishable, the Green Drakes here should show up in huge numbers. Patterns like the Colorado Green Drake, Green Drake Cripples, and the Epoxy Back Green Drake Nymph are awesome flies on these rivers.

Silver Creek is also fishing well with PMDs, Baetis and Callibaetis on the hot days in the slow water sections. In addition anglers can cast Ant and Beetle patterns. The Mouse fishing at night has been productive for those late night sessions! There aren’t many anglers around between now and the 4th of July, so it’s a great time to come down to the Creek and get some quiet days. If you’ve never fished the Creek, now is the time to give it a try! The fish are still happy to eat, the hatches and great and the angler numbers are at a minimum.

The Big Wood and the Upper Lost have come down a lot with the cooler weather early in the week. Watch the color as well as the flows. The color is the most important as we look for the glacier green run-off. That is the first sign that the river is about to unlock. The fish will be hungry when the rivers do finally drop. Green Drakes, Stoneflies, Salmon Flies, Yellow Sallies, and Crane Flies are all “must haves” in your fly box!

The South Fork of the Boise is fishing pretty well for driftboat anglers. Small stoneflies and some Cicadas are in the mix. The flows have dropped to normal boating levels. Be ready as the Salmon Flies are the next bug to appear here. We are probably a week to two weeks away from this event, depending on what section of the river you fish. Odds are that the next few warm days down there will get the Salmon Flies in the Canyon Section going strong.

Happy Fishing Everyone!

Sun Valley Fly Fishing

Sun Valley Area Fishing Report - June 7, 2018

For the second year in a row, we got a several day Brown Drake tease, with just a few bugs on the water each night and each morning. Anglers can expect this action to continue through the weekend. The best hatches and spinner falls will slowly move upstream. By the weekend, the epicenter of the action should be all the way up to the Hwy 20 Bridge.

There is plenty of room for everyone out there as long as we all remain kind to one another! Please keep this in mind, especially if this is your first Drake experience. Peace, Love and Drakes is what we celebrate here. Please take this to heart and help your fellow angler whenever you can!

During the daylight hours on Silver Creek the fishing has been fantastic. PMD and Baetis are hatching and the Callibaetis action should grow quickly with the heat. The best surface action has probably been on Black Ants. When the wind comes up anglers have been fishing Ants and PMD’s in tandem. This seems to work well, if there are no specific targets to cast at.

Moving forward expect to see the Green Drakes on the Nature Conservancy waters with the warmer days. This can be an incredible pattern to fish on the Preserve waters, so be sure not to go to the river without a few!

When the Big Wood clears and comes into shape the Green Drake is going to be a great hatch. Be sure to get your fly box full. The Colorado Hair-Wing Drake is among our favorites, as well as the Cripple Patters. The Green Drake Epoxy Back Nymph is also a deadly fly on the Wood and Upper Lost once they clear. Fish this fly underneath a Picabo Royal Stimulator and you’re in business!

The Mormon Cricket is showing up on the South Fork of the Boise. If you see them in the water, you can try to imitate them. Some of the fish care for this bug and some could care less. It is a really big, hard bodied bug that takes a big fish to eat it. Warmer days on the South Fork also means the Salmon Flies should be coming. They are generally in the Canyon Section of the river by the second week of June!

Happy Fishing Everyone!

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 06/21/17

Summer begins anew in Picabo and Sun Valley this week as daytime highs are warm, the wind is finally coming down some and there is no return to spring like conditions in the forecast. Silver Creek continues to fish very well, despite the inconsistent weather we’ve had the past few weeks. With some consistency we should see the Creek really turn on as hatches stabilize and we see some rhythm to it all.

Currently we are seeing the Brown Drake come back to life in the Willows. This action could pick up as we head toward the weekend. It’s hard to say. It could fade away again quickly, but I know there is only one way to find out…

Green Drakes are a daily occurrence on the upstream reaches of the Creek like the Silver Creek Preserve. Some days the fish are on them and others they are being ignored. In any case, there again is only one way to truly find out…

The PMD and Callibaetis action remains strong and we should definitely see more consistent hatches and spinner falls of these bugs this week. Damsel Nymphs remain among the best subsurface flies anglers have been casting when the hatches don’t show. The adults will start getting eaten more as the weed beds reach the surface of the Creek in the next few weeks.

The flying ant remains the best fly on the river for the slowest times and for catching the biggest fish. We have heard and seen of more incredible fish being caught on ants than on any other bug thus far this season.

With the weather warming quickly, it’s time to put Tricos in your fly box and begin to watch for this incredible spinner fall in the mornings. You don’t want to be on the river when the fish lock in on this bug without some quality patterns.

There is not much else to report this week. We are waiting for the Forest Service to reopen the streamside areas and boat ramps on the South Fork of the Boise. There is good Green Drake and Brown Drake action on the Henry’s Fork. Watch the Big Wood north of Ketchum as it clears, but remain wary of strong flows and leave your dog at home until the CFS comes way down. Magic Reservoir is still worth a look near the dam and the surrounding shallow water bays.

Happy Fishing Everyone!

Brown Drake Update 06/08/17

The "Big Show" may be gone for the season as last nights action began to isolate into smaller sections. Anglers will continue to find Drakes and see big events for the next 7 - 10 days, but those will be the anglers in the right place at the right time, or those aggressive enough to pursue the hatches and spinner falls morning and night. The good news is, the Creek continues to percolate with bugs of all kinds and the fishing has never been better! Keep chasing the big brown bugs. We will stop updating the Drake today, but we will continue our reports on the Creek. Thanks everyone for a great time during one of our favorite times of the season!

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 06/06/17

The Brown Drake hatch continues to move up river. Last night was a slower night for most, with the exception of some upstream areas closer to the HWY 20. The storm two nights ago was enough to set things back a bit. There is a lot of chatter that the hatch is winding down, but we should wait for the next two hot days to make that call. It was cold last night and the combination of that with the previous storm may have slowed things down. We could easily see things perk back up. Regardless there will still be bugs through Silver Creek East and West tonight!

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 6/4/17

The Drakes are coming on strong. The hatch continues to blanket the river from top to bottom. Last night's action was a bit better on the lower waters, as the big fish have finally caught on to the bug. The action tonight should be off the charts, as more and more big fish leave the bottom to eat the Drake, and more and fish follow the hatch upstream. Keep an eye on the sky this afternoon and if any big clouds roll in, get on the water!

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!

Sun Valley Fly Fishing

Sun Valley Area Fishing Report - May 30th, 2017

The fishing is fine on Silver Creek these days! After a wonderful opening weekend we were able to see just how positive the influx of water has been for the Creek. Anglers reported decent numbers fish being caught, but more than anything was the overwhelming volume of anglers talking about how big and how strong the fish in the Creek are right now. The months of flooding water must have put a lot of forage in the river for these fish. One angler after another keeps asking why the fish are so much bigger than last year!

The fishing is starting mid to late morning, although it should be earlier over the next week or two as daytime temperatures rise. We have been treated to Baetis hatches, PMDs and Callibaetis. The Brown Drake hasn’t appeared as of this writing, but that could change, so be ready!

The river should be very quiet the next few weeks as we await the 4th of July holiday. Anglers can find some fishing on the South Fork of the Boise, the Owyhee and the lower Henry’s Fork as well, but Silver Creek is certainly fishing the best of all of these.

The evenings on Silver Creek have seen very few anglers and this should be the norm until the Brown Drakes start, but even then, anglers that want peace and quiet will find plenty of both on the Silver Creek Preserve stretches of the river in the evenings.

If you come to the Creek, dress warm under your waders, as the water is nice and cool this season. If you have a float tube, it will open up a lot of water for you, as the depths are making fishing from the bank and tubes a little easier than trying to wade some spots.

If you are headed to the South Fork of the Boise, plan on big flows, and right now the best thing is to keep very experienced oarsmen on the sticks. The river is powerful at high flows and it’s narrow enough, there leaves little room for error.

Fishing the South Fork of the Boise with big Stonefly Nymphs will produce a few strikes. Red Copper Johns are also a good idea and you may get lucky enough to find a rising fish or two in the back channels. Ants are a great bet if you can find these subtle risers.

We’ll see you in Picabo for the Drake Hatch soon! Get ready!

Happy Fishing Everyone!

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

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!