Synopsis

The leaves are beginning to turn color here in the Valley making for a gorgeous autumn experience. The weather is switching back and forth between Indian summer and cooler fall days, but either type makes for a great day on the water. Anglers need to stay prepared with warm weather gear, as well as cool weather gear, including a rain jacket and fingerless gloves. With few other anglers and great weather, this is a fantastic opportunity to get out on the water and enjoy the combination of quietude and rising fish.

Silver Creek

The Callibaetis are putting on a show for the afternoon anglers and people are raving about how good the fishing has been. Currently things get rolling in the late morning, peak in the afternoon, and an angler can still be home for dinner. This is not to say that the morning and late evening activity isn’t worth while. Anglers taking advantage of these time frames are going to have a lot of water to themselves. We are still in a terrestrial time of year, so don’t put away those Hopper, Ants and Beetles yet! Keep an eye on the weather this week, daytime thunderstorms mean cloud cover and this could bring the fall Baetis off in a big way. Be ready for it with some seriously small Baetis flies, all the way down to a size 20 and 22.

Big Wood River

Much like Silver Creek, as soon as we get some cloud cover, the fall Baetis are going to begin putting on a show and really get the fish fired up to dine off of the surface. There have already been blanket hatches of this insect in the 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. time frame. The Western Red Quill is still active and if the fall hatches continue to the early trend like most of the bugs this summer, expect to start seeing the October Caddis. If this is the case, anglers can get the Stimulators they put away a month ago back out and begin searching the water. The most important thing to keep in mind this time of the year is where you fish the pools. This is dictated by the insects that are dominant at any given time of day. Flat water is where you find fish on the Baetis, riffle water is where the Quills will be, and the October Caddis will pull fish up from the shallowest flats that have good rocky structure in them. Enjoy the fall colors!

Upper Lost and Copper Basin

This area is still producing some great fishing and very, very little angling pressure. Big fish are being taken from the swifter, deeper sections from the Main river all the way up through the East Fork. You may find a drop in size as you move higher up, but still lots of great action. Hoppers are a great bet up there right now, as well as small attractor patterns fished tight to overhanging limbs and around submerged boulders. The majority of the fish are being taken subsurface with small Pheasant Tail Nymphs and Prince Nymphs.

Big Lost River

The Lost is producing well below the Dam and anglers can take fish on Hopper patterns as well as Chernobyl Ants. Baetis are the most prominent hatching insects and small Parachute Adams as well as Gulper Specials are all one needs to fool the fish coming up for these events. Small Pheasant Tail Nymphs and San Juan Worms are great subsurface patterns when the fish aren’t rising, or to target slightly bigger fish. At the current flows, wading is excellent and there is great opportunity to sight nymph on the edges of currents and at the heads of buckets. Take your time when moving through the river and look for big fish lying in the open under slightly disturbed, moving water.

South Fork of the Boise

The flows on the South Fork of the Boise have dropped a lot over the past few days. This means good news for wading anglers that have been waiting for lower, more wadable flows. Get on the river with your favorite Fall Baetis patterns and even some Pink Alberts, then get ready for some outstanding fishing. Hoppers are also a good bet when the fish aren’t rising. If you need to go subsurface, try Red Squirrel nymphs, Prince nymphs, and drop small Pheasant Tails nymphs behind them. Concentrate on waist deep riffles when the fish aren’t on the surface and look at the glassy flats and banks when the hatches get revved up!

September 3rd marks the first day of 100% containment of the Castle Rock Fire here in the Sun Valley area. Home owners have returned, and we hope that the angling public will join us here again in the valley for what should be first rate fall fishing! The big bugs have returned, and like the rest of this seasons hatches, they are early. The anglers that are here are enjoying a great show, where we have many conditions working in favor of the angler.
• The big bugs are out, making fish greedy for these big mouthfuls of nourishment.
• Continued low water conditions, means the fish are concentrated and easy to find.
• The fire essentially closed the access to many points on the Big Wood and the fish were given a nice long mid-summer break and are less wise to the fly than normal for this time of year.
• The amount of anglers that didn’t come to the valley due to the fires means less people have been on the water on all the area rivers and pressure has been minimal.
• Hunting season has started reducing angler numbers even more.
• The weather is beautiful, the fishing window is mid-day and local businesses will be rolling out the red carpet for the Autumn Anglers as we all try to make a comeback from several very hard weeks.
•Please join us in Sun Valley for some of this seasons best fishing opportunities.

Silver Creek

The Creek has been very good lately, despite the lower than normal water conditions. The cool nights are keeping the water temperatures down and angling pressure is at a minimum. Tricos are still out in the mornings, with the intensity levels varying from morning to morning, but there are always a few fish up and taking them off of the surface. This is coupled with decent Baetis activity that is happening with the morning Trico event and then again, very late in the evening. This late hatch really has the fish looking up and moving to feeding positions for the last magic hours of the day. The biggest event on the Creek is the afternoon Callibaetis activity that is taking place on the slow waters near the bottom end of the Nature Conservancy and in the sloughs. This area is best fished from a float tube (except the sloughs) where anglers can slowly move from one rising fish to the next. The fall is also an excellent time of the season to fish terrestrials, so if you aren’t getting the strikes you think you could be getting on the Callibaetis imitations, do not hesitate to try an Ant or Beetle.
If you are in the area, don’t forget about the public meeting from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. September 11, in rooms 301-302 at the Community Campus, 1050 Fox Acres Road in Hailey, where anglers can voice there opinion to Idaho Fish and Game regarding the proposed regulation changes to Silver Creek. The proposal is to add a 6 fish limit on Brown Trout and to allow fishing from boats the entire length of the Creek.

Big Wood River

The Western Red Quill, like all of this summers insects, is coming off early this year. Anglers searching the river with large Quill imitations like the Quill Gordon, Royal Wulff, Gray Wulff, and the H and L Variant will find nice sized fish coming to get them. The low water means anglers should fish these flies in the fastest water near the heads of the pools. The fish will move to these areas as the hatch activity strengthens throughout the day. Fish will also move in the opposite direction when the Fall Baetis begin to hatch. Expect to see Baetis bringing fish to the surface in the tail-outs of the pools. When fish are rising, a Gulper Special is a perfect imitation. Small Pheasant Tail nymphs are an excellent choice if the fish won’t come up or to use as a dropper. Be sure, as you approach a pool, to look very closely into the glassy tailouts as many nice sized fish will hold in the shallow water awaiting the Baetis activity. Keep in mind that many areas of the river have not been fished for several weeks and the fishing should be quite good as the fish haven’t been fooled for some time now.

Upper Lost River and Copper Basin

Lower water levels have made these areas a low light fishery and not as easy to fish as they have been earlier in the year. It is still a terrific area to go and find serenity and to see the first amazing bits of fall colors. Should you go, try the lower waters first, below the North Fork and East Fork confluence. Small flies like a sized 16 Royal Trude, or a similar sized Ant will get some fish up, but do not hesitate to throw small, sized 16 Pheasant Tail nymphs as well. If you want to fish big flies use a Grasshopper imitation and cover a lot of water.

Big Lost River

The Lost below the Mackay Dam is flowing at 225 CFS which is a fantastic flow to fish on this river. Trico and Baetis are the fly of choice for the fish, and small Pheasant Tails nymphs are also a great way to go. With the Kokanee getting ready to spawn, have some small red nymphs as well. Little red Copper John’s and San Juan Worms are excellent choices to fish behind the redds made by Kokanee that spill through the dam. They also make a nice dropper fly. Grasshoppers are still a good choice when first approaching a run. Start with big flies like a Hopper and then switch to smaller flies if you find rising fish. A Gulper Special is a great Baetis imitation on this river and all our area waters.

South Fork of the Boise

The South Fork is still at an excellent flow for boaters, running about 1600 CFS. Hoppers are the best fly for fishing from the boat. Watch for Pink Alberts and Baetis in the afternoon and evening. Keep an eye on the flows before you tow a boat all the way over, as they could be dropping off anytime soon. You can find the CFS for all our area water on our website at www.Silver-Creek.com
We want to say Welcome Back to all the anglers that have missed the past few weeks of fishing out here due to the fire activity. Stop by the shop for the latest updates and take advantage of what is and what should continue to be a wonderful fall fishery! We look forward to helping you have an outstanding fly-fishing adventure.