A few more days and we can expect the first signs of dropping water on our freestone streams. Keep your eyes on the rivers and when you see them turn to glacier green you will know it’s time to tighten the wading belt (or skip the waders all together) grab your wading staff and leave the vest at home. Take a single box of Green Drakes and big Orange Stimulators, a spool of 3X tippet, hemostats and fly floatant, then get casting as the best two weeks of the season are going to begin! In the meantime, Silver Creek will be seeing plenty of angler pressure, but like last week, few anglers are taking advantage of downstream waters below Hwy. 20 and rather than complain about Nature Conservancy crowds think about exploring some of the Creeks best and underutilized waters.

Big Wood River

When the water drops and turns green, leave your nymph box at home. There is no greater time of the year to watch big fish take huge dry flies off the surface than the week of falling water on our freestone streams. Anglers that spend their time dredging and nymphing are going to miss out on one of the coolest events in fly fishing. Sure you may catch a few more fish underwater, but you can do that the other 345 days of the year. Get aggressive with big dries, cover a lot of water and you’ll have lasting memories of big trout heads nonchalantly plucking your large fuzzy dries off the surface. Don’t miss this event!

The more the water drops the more aggressive the fish will be. If you find a situation where the fish are looking at big dries and not taking them, simply switch to a Green Drake Cripple or Dun pattern and put it right back on them …and hold on.

With a little luck and some good weather the river will drop into fishable shape this week. If it does, and you decide to fish it; BE CAREFUL. Never fish alone at high water; be very aware of crossings in relation to log jams, rapids and blind corners. Do not take your dog until the water drops, and remember if you see a sweet spot that you can’t get to, just wait a day or two and the water will drop enough to give you access.

Silver Creek

The Creek remains the only game in town for the next few days. We’re sure you’re tired of reading this statement, but this should be the last week before we can all spread out amongst the many, many rivers and streams in our area. In the meantime it seems that everyone is getting along just fine so let’s all keep it that way.

Baetis seems to be the number one player on the Creek these last few days and weeks. Expect more of the same with intermittent Pale Morning Dun hatches and spinner falls as well. Better weather has sparked a little more Callibaetis activity on the sloughs, but we’re still a month or so out from the best of this action. Terrestrial fishing remains strong with ants and beetles. Hoppers, and Damsels are still a month out before they become major players. Typically one can start fishing these bigger flies in the afternoons following the Trico spinner falls of late July, August and early September. Tricos should begin showing in fair numbers sometime after the 4th of July.

Keep in mind as you walk the Creek, and find quite a few anglers, that fish numbers in the lower stretches of the Creek from Picabo Bridge through the Willows are way, way up this year, and a slow day down there in years past, does not mean a slow day there this year. Anyone who saw good Brown Drake action this season can attest to the number of quality fish that have been left untouched for two weeks now. Look to fish Baetis, evening Caddis and Terrestrials in these stretches. Swinging small nymphs through the turns when fish aren’t rising is also a good technique to employ.

Little Wood River

Still high and a bit off color. We haven’t heard much in the way of good reports here yet, but once the river comes into shape there should still be some big dry fly opportunities there. This may be a very good place to explore around the end of the week, especially if you notice the water dropping and clearing on the Big Wood.

South Fork of the Boise

The water has been cranked up to 1600 cfs, which is a great drift boat flow. The fish have stabilized a bit and once the Salmon Flies hit the river the fishery will explode. We haven’t had many reports of this bug yet, but normally they are found on the lower stretches now, and will work their way toward the dam in the coming weeks. Boaters may want to start at Indian Rock and float down instead of taking out at Indian Rock. This is a bit more technical rowing so only float this stretch with good rowing skills, it is significantly more technical than the Dam to Indian Rock stretch.

Lost River

The river below the dam is pumping and it may be a good idea to give this another week. The best flows for wading the Lost below the Mackay Dam are from 350 to 450 cfs. Right now the flows are 1,010 cfs more than double what we consider safe wading conditions.

Copper Basin / East Fork of the Lost River

These rivers will follow suit with the Big Wood for the most part, but when the Wood clears wait one more week before getting serious about these high altitude rivers. They can be difficult to wade with the angular rocks on the bottom and the water is typically very cold. If the rivers look un-crossable, they will not fish well, even if the water is clearing. Give this area an extra week to produce easier wading and productive fishing.

Area Ponds and Reservoirs

Why not wait a week to get serious about fishing and give all your attention to your kids, your grandkids, or your nieces and nephews and take them fishing with a nice picnic lunch and your favorite fishing dogs on any of our nearby ponds and lakes. Penny, Dollar, and Lake Creek Lake are stocked and ready to fish. The only thing more memorable than catching your first fish is watching your little loved ones catching theirs!

WATER CONDITIONS
Basin Precip. Averages
Salmon – 78%
Big Wood – 90%
Little Wood – 114%
Big Lost – 103%
Henry’s Fork – 88%

Here comes the Big Wood again! Our rewarded with some of the seasons best fishing. Silver Creek on the other hand is low right now as the annual recharge is still a month and a half away. Fishing remains decent on the Creek despite the fact that many anglers are still finding it the only game in town. The Lost River is coming up below the dam and should only be fished with caution. The East Fork of the Lost and Copper Basin waters are high and getting higher with the warm days and thunder storms. The Little Wood is running higher also.

The long and short of it: area anglers need to practice seven to ten days more patience. Once this second runoff has receded we will be rewarded with epic fishing. The Creek will be coming up as Tricos begin to show. Green Drakes and Salmon Flies will cover the Big Wood as it goes down, and Lost River waters will remind everyone why we choose to fish in paradise!second runoff has begun and should continue well into the week. The South Fork of the Boise is about to be cranked up, and boaters that give it a day or two to settle in will be

Silver Creek

The Creek is still a busy place these days, although downstream waters like Point of Rocks and the Willows have all but been deserted. Strong Caddis activity at night makes this a great opportunity to cast at big fish with few people around. The Conservancy waters are still producing strong P.M.D. and baetis activity with a limited Callibaetis opportunity on the sloughs. The midge fishing on the Creek seems to be the best and most frequent opportunity to cast at rising fish. The good news is the midge brings the fish to the surface when there is nothing else to eat. The down side is, we’ve been midge fishing all winter and a more reasonable bug in June would be nice. I guess we can consider this training for Trico season. Terrestrials and Green Drakes remain important players throughout the Conservancy stretches. The mosquito population is certainly blooming on the Creek. Don’t head down there without your bug spray and mosquito imitations.

Big Wood

The Wood continues to rise and is expected to be mostly unfishable this week. A few northern stretches and a few side channels may produce hook ups, but the “real deal” won’t get going until the water drops for good. If you consider this fishery this week, use extreme caution! We would suggest just waiting a week and keep tuning up on Silver Creek. In the meantime stockpile your Green Drake and Salmon Fly imitations. We are days away from seeing good numbers of these insects.

Little Wood

The river is coming up and not many people have been fishing the Little Wood. The highlight of the season here should be the Hoppers in another month or so. Waters above the reservoir are moving fast and there is little fishing opportunity as of now.

Lost River

The river keeps coming up above and below the dam. Both areas should begin to fish well in the coming weeks, but this week opportunities should be limited to a few soft seams and pools that can be nymphed with big bead headed Prince Nymphs under a strike indicator.

South Fork of the Boise

The flow hasn’t been cranked up as of this writing, but we were assured it would be brought up to good boatable flows in mid-June and here we are. Expect great caddis activity, Salmon Flies a few Cicadas and a few Pink Alberts to make the scene in the bottom of the canyon. Silver Creek Outfitters has some great Chernobyl style Salmon Flies, but they always sell fast so don’t wait for the hatch to load up on a few of these patterns. They are also very affective on the Big Wood.

Area Ponds and Reservoirs

All the area ponds have been stocked for the kids. The reservoirs are full and the boat ramps are accessible for the first time in years. If you have a boat or float tube and want to get some fun fishing in while you wait for area waters to drop, look no further.

In Closing

Patience, patience, patience. We will soon be rewarded with healthy fisheries, lot’s of room to spread out, and remarkable hatches.

WATER CONDITIONS
Basin Precip. Averages
Salmon – 78%
Big Wood – 91%
Little Wood – 115%
Big Lost – 104%
Henry’s Fork – 88%

A cool June continues to blanket south central Idaho. This has made the fishing interesting to say the least. Silver Creek continues to fish well despite cooler days and the occasional thunder storm. The Big Wood has cleared up a bit and the spotty fishing can be very good. The Lost continues to run high and the South Fork of the Boise is getting great evening caddis with the salmon fly emergence just around the corner. The Little Wood has been fished very sparingly with moderate results.

Silver Creek

We wondered what the cool weather would do to our namesake the first few weeks of the season, and now we know; nothing. The fishing continues to be top shelf on the Creek. The Brown Drake has trickled off over the last few weeks and fish will continue to take the Drake for probably another 7 to 10 days. Blind fish big Drake dry flies on the Creek’s lower stretch, especially if there is a little wind chop. Blind fish the Brown Drake much like you would search the water with a grasshopper. Anglers may also target the fish rising to the all day caddis activity with the Drake flies. If the fish lock onto the Caddis then show them a Goddard caddis in a size 16 and hold on.

Upstream, the Green Drake is slowly beginning to show and again fish will take an imitation out of the wind chop in the middle of the day. Loving Creek is another good place to find Green Drakes. You’ll never see big emergences of this bug on the Creek, but fish will still eat them opportunistically.

Late morning and the early evening hours seem to be the peak of the Creek’s normal insect activity. P.M.D., Baetis and Callibaetis are the bugs you’ll see and the fish will take. Look for the P.M.D. and the Baetis to show up at the same time and be willing to switch readily from one to the other on a moments notice. The sloughs are fishing very well with the emergence of Callibaetis, but timing the hatch is a bit of a roll of the dice. Just check into the sloughs occasionally and watch for risers.

Now that the fish have seen a few flies this season it is time to get the 6X tippets out again. 4X and 5X are fine on windy days, and 7X is always overkill, but 6X tippet will fool any fish in the river and give an angler a reasonable chance to land their fish as well. Fish this in a length of 12 to 14 feet.

Big Wood River

The Wood is great for nymphing big bead head flies right now. The flows are still high enough to be dangerous and a warm day could discolor certain sections, but if you want to get a few casts in without driving to Silver Creek, then check out the Wood north of town and any of the downstream sections that braid out into more than one channel. Green Drakes and Salmon Flies should be showing up this week or next so don’t hesitate to search big dry flies and fish flies like Stimulators with bead head droppers under them. Concentrate your efforts on the soft edges, back eddies, and quite side channels. Fish heavy tippets of 3X and 4X and please be very careful as we have a good amount of snow left to come down and the river will stay high and slightly unpredictable.

South Fork of the Boise

The Caddis activity is strong on the South Fork with size 16 black bodied flies with light color wings being the bug of choice. Big flies like Cicadas and Salmon Flies will also temp a few fish, although in another week or two the river will provide the bulk of this activity.

Big Lost River

The river still running high. Very capable wade anglers can nymph up some fish, but as the flows drop the access and the fishing will get very good. Maybe give this another week before you try it. Copper Basin is also in need of a little more time before the fishing really gets going in this high country Valhalla.

Little Wood River

The Little Wood is clear and the fishing is o.k. Use big Salmon Flies and drop small bead head nymphs from them. A nice place to find some solitude and with the cooler temperatures a great place to search with big attractor flies before the summer heat all but shuts this river down until hopper season.

Area Ponds/Reservoirs

Most Stillwater ponds and Reservoirs have been stocked and are ready for the kids!

WATER CONDITIONS
Basin Precip. Averages
Salmon – 78%
Big Wood – 91%
Little Wood – 115%
Big Lost – 103%
Henry’s Fork – 89%

Picabo Bridge to Hwy 20

The Brown Drakes have made an early debut and rewarded those on early recognizant scouting missions. Fill up the gas tank and grab your headlamp; cooler temps will keep the hatch in flux and reward those that stay long past sunset. The Point of Rocks and Willows areas will see a lot of pressure, but there’s plenty of water and fish to go around. Enjoy!

Conservancy Waters

Insect activity should be highlighted by the Pale Morning Dun (P.M.D.) Fish take advantage of this early season insect every opportunity they can, as it is the biggest insect they see until the Green Drakes begin to show up. The P.M.D. hatches and spinner falls, if the weather is nice, should be most productive in the morning and evening. Mid-afternoon action will happen, but it may be sporadic and in isolated areas on the creek. Fish the P.M.D. in a size 16. Our favorite patterns include, P.M.D. Hackle Stackers, Harrop Biot Parachute, Harrop CDC Standard, P.M.D. Sparkle Dun, Hen-Wing Spinners, and P.M.D. CDC Spinners.

The Big Wood

The Big Wood River is slowly dropping and clearing. It is running just below 4 feet, which is still high by all standards. If you take the time to find the slower side channels, try fishing large Royal Stimulators, Orange Stimulators, and Yellow Stimulators, Turk’s Tarantula, Chernobyl Ants and Salmon Flies on the surface. If fish are reluctant to rise, try dropping a beadhead Prince Nymph, Green Drake nymph or Stonefly pattern underneath your bushy dry fly. Fish the calmest waters you can find especially slow riffles.

Lost River and Tributaries

You will have to hunt and peck to find fishable water over the hill. The Lost River below Mackay Reservoir is running at 900 cfs and the tributaries are dropping and clearing every day. Whenever the Big Wood begins to fish, we can usually plan on fishing the East Fork of the Lost as well. This is big water in the early season though and recommended for those with very strong wading skills. Fly selection for this area is the same as the Big Wood River, big bushy dry flies.

Little Wood

The Little Wood may be a good place to cast giant salmon flies, but similar to neighboring rivers, it too is dropping and clearing – making fishing spotty; however, the Little Wood may be a great place for privacy and wildflower viewing with a few fish thrown in.

WATER CONDITIONS
Basin Precip. Averages
Salmon – 75%
Big Wood – 88%
Little Wood – 114%
Big Lost – 101%
Henry’s Fork – 80%