Green Drakes on the Big Wood River have not started yet, but the drake nymphs are really abundant in shin deep water up and down the river. My son, Charlie and I turned over some rocks yesterday in Hailey along the Big Wood and found a ton of green drake nymphs. The river is fishable yet swift now but expect this hatch to happen after the Wood has dropped a little more which will likely mean an incredible Green Drake year on the Big Wood. With colder weather forecast the Big Wood should drop over the next few days. Look for adult Green Drakes around the 24th or so of June...
Fly Tying & Sun Valley Fly Fishing
It's fly tying madness here along with a strong dose of spring. Highs have already hit 50˚ plus around Hailey and on Thursday the high is forecast to be near 60˚ in Ketchum. The fly fishing on our local water has been and should continue to be stellar. It's midge madness on the Big Wood River and lots of midges and baetis on the Lower Big Lost River. This is certainly the best least crowded fishing of the year in this area and it should continue through March. This is--so far at least--an unusually warm March and hopefully that continues to translate into better than normal hatches, etc.
Moose
Cow & Calf. Copper Basin, Idaho
Nikon D3s, Nikon 80-200 afs f2.8 lens
Just about all of our water is starting to fish! Green drakes are just getting going on the Big Wood River and water flows have dropped enough to make most of our rivers fishable and clear despite the fact they are still moving along and not necesarrily easy to wade. This is your chance to fish big bugs on the Big Wood. Green Drakes & Golden Stones... The water in places is high enough to keep some people away but if you are willing to poke around it could be worth every rose-thorn cut...
Sun Valley Fishing Report
Last Light. Silver Creek, Idaho. May 2012
Sunset Pano. Silver Creek, Idaho
An optimistic spider got this web ready prior to his buddies and is undoubtedly thinking of the immienent brown drake hatch. Silver Creek
Guinness, my soon-to-be 10 year old English Setter.
Nikon D3s & Nikon 24 pc-e lens
Opening day is just around the corner on our local water--May 26th. Given the fact we have had an early runoff our water should be in far better shape to start the season than we've had the past couple of years. Does that mean the Big Wood should be fishable for the opener? That's a bit contingent on our weather between now and then but it's sure looking like we should have high but fishable water. Below is a snapshot for the flow on the Wood taken from the USGS site today. Note the flow around April 27th:
Here's a snapshot from the USGS site for Silver Creek which is pretty low at the moment likely due to the earlier-than-normal call for irrigation water. The flows should gradually increase over the next 3 weeks.:
And a snapshot from the USGS site for the Lower Big Lost River (Note the Lost River drainage is open all year and is fishable at the moment. It's really hard to say when the water will increase in flow to unfishable levels, but for now it's very fishable and worth the trek. Trail Cr. is still closed and the long circuitous route through Arco is the way to go from the Ketchum area. I would imagine Trail Cr. should open up within the next two weeks. Contact Blaine County Road & Bridge for more info.):
Silver Creek Preserve
Nature Conservancy & Storm
Nikon D3S & Nikon 24 pc-e lens
I took the above 3 image pano last night. I tilted the lens down about 1.5 degrees to have the look of unlimited depth of field and shifted the lens left and right for the pano. We have been in the afternoon thunderstorm cycle for about a week or so. Highs in Ketchum have even crept over 80 degrees which has started our runoff on local rivers much earlier than normal. Below is a graph of the flow of the Salmon River. Note the average flow and how much the river went up yesterday alone. Also, note that the previous record flow for today was 3110 cfs set in 1974. All in all, this is a super early runoff and while the high water will certainly last some time, I suspect our rivers should be in great shape in early June. That means we are likely to have fishable water on the Big Wood River for our green drake hatch...
Here's a graph showing the flow on the Big Wood River:
Might as well include the flow on the Big Lost as well--which is open year round:
Big Wood River
Big Wood Winter Rainbow
Great stuff on the Big Wood River right now. Highs hovering around 32 and very few people on the river. Good midge fishing on the surface mid-day with even better nymphing. By mid-March, the dry fly fishing should be super good on the Big Wood and even better on the Lower Big Lost River if you can tolerate the longer drive.
Nikon D3S & Nikon 35 f2 lens
Silver Creek January Sunset
January. Silver Creek, Idaho
Nikon D3S & Nikon 50 f1.8 lens
The Big Wood River should be good stuff all week as we are slated to have temps near 30 degrees. The midge fishing has been about as good as it gets for January. Plenty of rising fish on many days and good nymphing too. If you want the Big Wood to yourself, now is a great time to be on the river...
Big Wood River Winter Report
Big Wood River Winter Rainbow
Nikon D3S & Nikon 35 f2 lens
Fishing on the Big Wood River recently has been exceptional. Lots of midges on the surface anywhere from 11:16 AM to 3:30 or so. The fish have been selective on the surface but at least they have been up and feeding. The nymphing has also been really good. Think zebra midges, girddle bugs, black anato mays, etc... But if you are thinking of heading out in the next two or three days you might want to check the forecast first. Looks like winter--albeit a little late--is about to start. Here's the forecast for 7 miles west of Stanley:
Sun Valley Fishing Report
Osprey Holding On To A Rainbow. Silver Creek, Idaho
Nikon D200 & Nikon 80-200 afs 2.8 lens
Thinking of hitting the river near Sun Valley? As it is we have an extremely low snow pack and relatively warm daytime highs making for really good winter fishing conditions. The Big Wood is seeing some surface midge activity and good nymphing using stone flies and midge pupa patterns. It's good stuff right now with virtually nobody on the river. There is essentially no snow on the valley floor and there is nothing substantial forecast through at least the 26th of December. Keep in mind Silver Creek below the HGWY 20 bridge stays open through February and can offer pretty good streamer fishing this time of year. Avoid days down there when we have an inversion. The easiest method I have found is to check the Sun Valley skiing report and look at the temps on the bottom and on the summit. If it's warmer on top the temps on Silver Creek located down valley could be extremley cold. Also, if you are up for the drive, the Lower Big Lost River can fish really well. The current flow on the Lower Lost is 132 cfs making for easy wading and spring creek like conditions.