Picabo, Idaho

Of all of the iconic Sun Valley, Idaho area places in the fly fishing arena, I think of Picabo at the top of the heap. It has, namely, Silver Creek running through it's backyard.

The prairie landscape is striking in more subtle ways than the mountains to the north. The culture in Picabo is quite different than that of its more upscale close neighbor, Ketchum (think Sun Valley, Idaho), to the north.  Picabo, while absolutely tiny, is an amalgamation of ranchers and farmers and ranch hands and cowboys and even a few fishermen.

HWY 20 near Picabo on any given morning before the sun rises, is active with mainly the ranchers and farmers driving their respective pick-ups to work sites. 

While being very interested in the specific fishing aspects of Silver Creek, I'm also really interested in the periphery of trout streams throughout the world. The periphery to me is the human and landscape aspect near a trout stream that is not necessarily fishing-centric. Farm workers and laborers, cowboys, hunters, Chilean gauchos, shepards and anyone else who may be a stakeholder near a river are examples of the trout stream periphery.

The Queen's Crown & Picabo. Fall 2016

East Oxbow. Silver Creek.

Here's a shot from late yesterday afternoon of Silver Creek. We've had a lot of rain which is really well needed! It has also turned some of the brown back to green which will not last for long. Indian summer though for the rest of the week with highs in Picabo near 60. 

East Oxbow. Silver Creek, Idaho.

A Great English Setter

Boone. The kind of English Setter everyone wants. Kind, perfectly affable, behaved, loving... All of those things. He has a great owner though who sets him loose on big land and treats him like a son. Pictured below, Boone, tries to set the land speed record for four-leggeds after waiting patiently (kind of) in the truck while his father (John Huber) and I threw a few casts on Silver Creek.

Boone Dog. Picabo, Idaho.

Silver Creek Rising Rainbow

Cool and cloudy weather and often times flat out wet weather over the last two weeks have really ramped up the hatches on Silver Creek. Baetis and Mahogany Duns have been super consistent except for the days with too much rain. The image below was taken on Silver Creek during light rain and a good Baetis emergence.

A Rainy Day On Silver Creek

The rain and sometimes wind never really seemed to stop long enough for the bugs to get going for real yesterday. There were a few moments here and there though when the rain was light enough to allow callibaetis and baetis to actually get off the water without being pummeled by rain drops. During those momemts in the late afternoon there were a few risers...

Chad Chorney trying to cull the risers and put his callibaetis in the right lane. Silver Creek, Idaho.