Flavs and Wildflowers

Here are a few pics of flav spinners (Drunella Flavilinea).  While the larger green drakes (Drunella Doddsi and Drunella Grandis) garner more attention locally, I have often found a fly sized more closely to a #14 flav works FAR better on the Wood and nearby streams.  The dog days of Summer have started with the high today in Ketchum somewhere near 90. Here are a few flav spinner pics:

 

 

 

 

Here's a pic of Bitterroot taken around 7,500 feet:

 

Larkspur:

 

Stonecrop:

 

Royal Stimulator.  I don't have many guide days where not a single fly is lost or changed, but yesterday, we managed to fish the entire day with just this stimulator:

 

 

Black & White Clouds

Here are a few captures I took today of clouds.  We had a steady north wind all day with virtually no clouds until we were changing at the car.  I converted the pics to B & W using NIK's Silver Efex Pro.

 

 

 

 

Here's an image of a flowering brittle cactus.  These flowers typically last just two days.

Green Drakes Are Still Popping...

So I guided the Big Wood today and saw some green drakes and a pink albert here and a golden stone there.  At least where I was, the fish acted as though they had seen MANY green drake patterns.  Good fun though and a perfect 80 degrees and no clouds.  Here's a shot of a 'bow that took an undersized green drake:

 

Adipose fin on a moving cutbow:

 

Some flower shots.  The higher elevation flowers at the moment are spectacular.  The echinacea pic is from my garden.

 

 

 

Higher Elevation Fishing

Here's a black and white of Porphry Peak near the Copper Basin.  No thunderstorms today but we have certainly been in the pattern.

 

Here's another whitefish pic.  Why another?  Well, I found a dead Whitefish on the bank of the E. Fork of the Lost today and it was obviously the result of an unhappy fisherman.  Here's the logic: "The whitefish is getting in the way of catching what I want to catch so I'll just throw it on the bank to die and that's one less to worry about."  Despite the negative stigma, the whitefish, not trout, is believed to be the only indigenous fish to the Lost River watershed.  Treat them with respect.  Don't nymph and you'll catch FAR fewer.  Or, better yet, learn to appreciate their presence.

 

Bahamas or Idaho?

End of June Hatches... In July

Well... the fishing is reaching it's early Summer peak.  Thunderstorms today with more forecast for tomorrow.  Mid-day green drakes on the Wood.  Water flows are still dropping making for far better south of Ketchum fishing.  It's really worth getting out now before the heat-of-the-day doldrums set in sometime around the end of the month.  Here are a few from today:

 

The whitefish:

 

Fence Post Caddis

 

Now That The Water is Dropping For Real...

Our rivers have cleared up and are finally starting to fish.  We are in the middle of green drake madness on the Wood.  Yeah, it's still super swift and less so in other spots but it's fishing well with the brunt of the action showing up around 1 or 2 PM.  Think fast water and rising fish.  Golden stones too.  Here's a pic of new golden stone shucks:

 

 

I am now officially on the river pretty much every day.  I'll have to look at my calendar but I have guided for about 17 consecutive days with many more to come.  I am finding it a bit more challenging to take the shots I am looking for while guiding.  Here are a few I have snuck in the last couple of days:

 

A slower pace in the Lost River drainage...

 

The flowers up high have been and still are spectacular.  Bitterroot is pictured above. 

 

 

Hailey Rodeo & Vastly Improved Water Flows

Here are some 4th of July Rodeo shots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a fishing note the water levels have GREATLY improved.  The Wood is finally wadeable near Ketchum and even crossable for the bold.  Green drakes are mainly in the Ketchum area where the water is clear and lower than below the mouth of Warm Springs Creek.  Fish apparently like to eat green drakes, especially in the moderately fast water.  On a more serious note, fish are still spawning on the Wood and in the Copper Basin. Hard to believe given it's after the 4th of July.  The higher than normal water levels coupled with cooler weather has stalled almost everything but the hatches.  Silver Creek is still unpredictable as far as hatch time and wind, etc...  Today, at least where I was, there was essentially NO hatch.  I counted 3 green drakes.  Didn't have baetis or pmd's.  Only a sailor would have liked the weather...

Silver Creek & Green Drakes

OK, here are a few pics of baetis taken at Silver Creek this morning.  Pmd's, baetis and green drakes with a bit more consistency than last week.  The green drake thing makes for some pretty good early afternoon blind casting opportunity after the AM baetis and pmd smorgasboard. The Big Wood looks like it is FINALLY on its way down and is 1,190 as I write this.  The strongest part of the green drakes has blown through Hailey and is starting to show up in and north of Ketchum.  The Lost is flowing at 1,090 cfs.

 

Baetis:

 

Water Levels and Mate' On The River

At 2PM or so, even on the river, some caffeine is nice.  I just fished with two gentlemen for three days, one of whom is from Argentina and carries the often social tradition of drinking mate.  There is an accent mark after the "e" in mate but I cannot figure out how to show it.  Anyway, the fine art of distributing the yerba properly in the gourd, pouring the hot water in such a way some yerba is left dry until later on and the overall process and social aspect made for some fun caffenated afternoons.  Here's a shot of the gourd and bombilla (straw).

 

 

On a fishing note, the Big Wood was even higher today at a nice crisp 1,620 cfs this AM (the median for today is 1,020) and the advanced hydrologic prediction shows a VERY gradual decline in streamflow over the next ten days.  Green Drakes are starting to show up on the Wood and if you have the guts and wading will-power to fish it, it could prove worthwhile.  The Big Lost is also flowing on the high side at about 1,120 cfs.  Silver Creek has been pretty inconsistent.  A few tricos are starting to show up in the AM along with baetis, pmd's, some callibaetis and thank goodness for the few but noticeable green drakes.

Big Wood side channel:

 

Just what in the world is this?

...A thunderhead above Silver Creek I captured today.

Silver Creek

Ok, so the Lost bumped up to over 1,000 cfs and the Wood also saw a bump to about 1,500 cfs.  Warm weather and high elevation snow equates to more runoff.  The only bump that Silver Creek seems to be getting is in the number of people.  Unfortunately there are just not that many choices at the moment and as a result Silver Creek gets a little extra traffic. 

The weather on the creek today was ideal with very little rain and overcast conditions.  Pmd's, baetis and quite a few green drakes.  We used all three of those with success.  The weather outlook is for sun and warm conditions--like 80 degrees in Picabo-- for at least the next three days.  Here are a few shots from today:

For whatever reason I kinda like small fish pics.

 

Wild Iris are still in bloom and usually by the time they are just dessicated stalks the green drakes are over and small numbers of tricos on their way.

 

Focus...

 

 

 

 

Side Channels

Tis the season for side channels.  As yesterday's warm weather burned off yet more high elevation snow we saw another bump in both the Lost and Wood streamflows.  If it was not for branches, side channels, forks etc.. it would be tough to be on anything but Silver Creek at the moment.  Here's a single frame from a side channel today.  Narrow and swift and stuffed with overhanging branches calling for your flies, these side channels are a great challenge for anyone and often can be quite rewarding.

 

Post Summer Solstice & Water Conditions

OK, so just how are our water conditions compared to the past?  If it was not for the USGS streamflow updates online I would say the water is much higher than normal.  The water clarity, however, is turning for the better and there is some visibility.  I guess I am just antsy for lower water as the flow on the Big Wood as I write this is 1,260 cfs and the 94 year median for now is 1,280 cfs.  We are essentially right on the mark for this time of year.  I also just took a look at the advanced hydrologic prediction for the Wood and IF it is close to accurate the river will be very slowly dropping and should be somewhere around 975 CFS by June 30th.  We'll see.

The Big Lost is running at a cool 816 cfs and the 94 year median for now is 815 cfs.  The good news is the Mackay reservoir is FULL.

While the water conditions seem to be on par at Silver Creek the fishing/hatches have not been very consistent on a day to day basis.  In other words, the creek has been tough.  A few green drakes, some baetis and some pmd's...  A callibaetis or two through the s-turns as well.

 

Big Sky and Big Clouds and Contrast Too

Thunderheads and cool weather.  Just got back from Silver Creek.  It's 10 PM.  Brown Drake spinners and prairie caddis in the willows.  Beautiful cool evening. After driving through the willows, I decided to fish the Preserve and saw just two other cars.  Both cars were parked at the top of the s-turns and I had the section from the cabin up to myself.  A few risers and wind though.  Lost my mouse pattern to some bushes and called it a night.  Here are a few snow, mountain and cloud shots:

11,051 feet.  Still high elevation snow left.  Devil's Bedstead.

 

Rock 'N Roll Peak

 

Road & clouds near Gannett

 

As seen from the road to Point of Rocks.

Silver Creek & Silver Creek and The First Two Weeks of June

Here's a frame that to me sums up our early June:

 

And then starting a little later than normal, the brown drakes, which to me is the official start to Summer.  Here's a single vibrant spinner amid the less colorful duns.

 

Earlier in the week I took my kids down to Silver Creek to witness brown drakes for the first time.  There were as many drakes in the grass as I have ever seen.

While my two boys cautiously walked through waves of bugs in the grass two fisherman from Boise showed up.  They were hoping to catch the brown drake thing and, well, they happened to come on the biggest spinner fall night of the year.  The fish were not always feeding frenetically as they just might get full on the overly abundant giant mayfly.  Here's one of the two very affable fisherman who managed to be at the right place at the right time:

 

 

Spinner Madness

After last night's prolific emergence it was certainly easier to predict that there would be an incredible number of bugs in the grass today.  And there were.  Big time.  The fish may have acted a little full last night and today on top of that just about every other living creature that relies on eating bugs for a living acted as though the meal of a lifetime had come.  Gluttony.  Satiated.  Spider webs were full and heavy.  Red Wing Blackbirds flew less and called less and mainly ignored the smorgasbord in the tall spring-green grass.  This ephemeral phenomenon is unlike anything else.  I'll be posting here at least for the next five or so days brown drake shots.  I have only sorted through a dozen or so of over 600 frames I have taken in the last two days.

 

Here's one from last night as the stream of fifty to sixty nearby cars files out.  I left the creek just before 1 AM and as the clouds started to conceal the no moon, bright star, night.

 

I captured this next frame after all the cars had left for home or campsites.

 

Zac Mayhew trying to get that cripple 6 and 1/3 inches from the far bank.

 

 

 

 

 

Turkish moon and Jupiter and headlamp help.  Note the tiny headlamp lights in the background.

 

Brown drakes anyone?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brown Drakes!

Finally a great night of bugs.  A medium to light spinner fall where I was and a LARGE emergence.  There was a blanket of brown drake shucks on the water well after midnight.  Could have been over eighty to ninety cars from the Picabo bridge all the way upstream through the willows to the highway 20 bridge.  The downside?  May have been too many bugs and the fish acted as though they may have been overfed before the largest part of the emergence happened.  I'll post some pics tomorrow.  For now, here's a wild iris shot I made tonight using a 105 2.8 macro.

 

11:30 PM at Silver Creek

While it's past midnight as I write this, here's one from tonight around 11 or so PM as folks were leaving.  It's always kinda cool to be one of the few left on the water.  The Turkish moon set around 10:20 and then it was all stars and headlamps from fisherman retying and car headlights filing out.  The emergence was small and late, at least where I was.  But...there were plenty of feeding fish between 10 and 11 PM.  This is a 15 minute exposure taken wide open at F2.8 at 21mm.

 

 

Here's a 9 minute exposure also taken at 2.8 and 21mm.  Three headlamps and star trails...  The north star is the least "blurry" of all the stars in this frame and the most prominent.

 

 

Moonset and a red sky.  The moonset was not too long after the sunset tonight and as a result there was a surreal quality to the sliver of the moon and the reddish light.  Taken at 300mm at just over a second at f5.

 

 

Just after sundown and as more brown drakes started emerging the sky was taking on a life of its own.