Synopsis

Beautiful fall days look to be descending upon on us for the next week or so. Day time highs reaching the mid 70’s will mean the best fishing will be found in the afternoons and early evening. Morning anglers will find some fish, but the heat of the day is really going to turn the bugs on.

Silver Creek

The Creek is still producing, especially with the Callibaetis, but the windows keep getting smaller and smaller. Mornings are brisk and cool with some surface activity taking place, but the late morning to early evenings seem to be the best time to be on the water. The coming week means perfect conditions for the Mahogany Dun, so be ready for big numbers of this insect!

Big Wood River

The Wood had been outstanding with the recent cooler and cloudier weather. Red Quills and Baetis have got the fish looking up and they are taking a great assortment of flies. The fish continue to keep themselves spread out, so do not avoid any particular water type. Some of the shallowest water is currently holding some of the biggest fish! Once things warm up look for plenty of insect activity, 2:00 p.m. and later seems to be the best time of the day. With the setting sun, also be ready for some heavy Midge activity. This bug is generally ignored by the trout until winter time, but as they try to fatten up for he spawn they will pay more and more attention to these tiny insects.

Upper Lost and Copper Basin

Low water means easy access up and down these rivers and there are still plenty of nice fish to catch and few anglers fishing them. It is easy to go all day up here without seeing another person. There is still a lot of walking to do between pools, but hey – how often do you get miles upon miles of blue ribbon trout streams all to yourself? If you go; take plenty of your favorite attractor patterns and be ready for the Fall Baetis with the Gulper Special!

Big Lost River

Little Baetis and some Trico action can be found in the slower runs on the river, but nymphing right now is the way to go, especially with the Kokanee getting ready to redd up and drop some eggs. Red nymphs are a great way to go almost anytime on this river.

South Fork of the Boise

The river is running at 600CFS, kind of a push between wade fishing and drifting it. The upper sections would be easy floats, but below Indian Rock can be way to boney at this flow. If you go, Hoppers, small Attractors and Pink Alberts are on the menu.

Synopsis

Last weeks report dealt with the types of insects one can expect to see in abundance over the next few weeks. In keeping with this theme of what one may find on the river, this week we will look at water types and general fish behavior for the fall months.

Duration

With all our area waters beginning to pick up in the catch rate category, it is time to get serious. The fall can be some of the season’s best fishing, but it is also the shortest window of opportunity left in the year.

Starting with the time of day, the autumn insects tend to keep bankers hours and there is no need to rush to the water before 9:30 or 10:00 a.m. What one may see during the course of the afternoon in the coming week or two can vary from the leftover summer bugs, like Tricos, to the newer bugs of the season like Red Quills. It is best to be armed with all your summer flies right now.

Expect to see strong hatches into the month of October. When we begin to reach the truly low light levels of the fall, the fishing windows will become incredibly short and the hatches more intense. By late October, with the first dustings of snow, and certainly by November, things will slow dramatically, although anglers with the right fly – namely the H and L Variant – will be able to search the surface waters until winter truly sets in.

For now, start late in the day and finish late in the day. Start bringing an extra jacket as the evenings should begin to cool off quite a bit. The Fall Baetis are normally associated with blanket hatches. The late morning, to early evening occurrence of these insect can bring every fish in the river to the surface. Look for these hatches on Silver Creek, the Big Wood, The Big Lost, and especially the South Fork of the Boise.

Water Type

In the fall, fish can be found in different parts of the pool, depending on what is hatching. If the blanket Baetis hatches are on the water, then it is time to concentrate on the tailouts and slick part of the runs. Looking behind logjams and other structure is also a great place to see fish come out for this midday snack. The calmer and glassier the water, the better.

When anglers encounter the Red Quill (Hecuba) it is a good time to concentrate on the fast water at the head of the runs. The insect can be hard to see in the fast water, despite its size, but there will be no mistaking the fish that are practically leaping out of the water to catch the insect.

If you see no fish working in the heads or tails of the pools, then stop and take a careful inventory of the run you are about to fish. It is not uncommon for the fish to pre-stage for these hatches and you may be able to find big fish lurking in shallow, obvious water.

When looking for the October Caddis, anglers should be blind fishing through shallow, boulder strewn runs. If you are seeing lots of their shucks, the adjacent water is a good place to search. You won’t find fish rising to big hatches of this bug, but you may find greedy fish looking for a quick meal.

Finally, the Mahogany Dun can be found randomly throughout Silver Creek and this event will occur from top to bottom. Some of the strongest hatches are often found way down stream where we normally fish the early season Brown Drake. It may take a bit more cool weather for this bug to show in good numbers, but that time is coming soon.

Grasshoppers

This terrestrial insect is out in force, and as more and more of the grass browns and dies, the continued migration toward the waters edge should make for great hopper fishing. Plan on seeing this bug until the first significant frost kills them. The Hoppers are mature now, so throw big patterns when imitating this bug.

Strike Indicators

With the surface activity waning over the next few weeks, fishing the nymph will become more and more important. Here is some great advice: With the falling light in September, the glare on the water will become harsher and harsher. The leaves will also begin to change and the river will fill with yellow and orange foliage. The best thing you can do now is to go and get some black colored strike indicators! The black will silhouette against the glare on the surface and will also stand out amongst the brightly colored leaves.

General Autumn Advice

The fishing windows are going to be closing soon, so try to plan your outings in advance. You may find yourself with only a few strong hours of fishing, so take advantage of these times and don’t beat yourself up the rest of the time. Keep in mind, for safety sake, it is hunting season, so wear bright colors on the river, and it is also time for the Moose to go into the rut. If you see a Bull Moose on the river, get away, they become very territorial and ornery this time of the season.

Enjoy the fall. Some of the seasons best fishing is about to happen with the seasons fewest amount of anglers on the water. Take a camera, enjoy the turning leaves and fish hard!

Synopsis

Fall is here. With the cool days will come the Fall Baetis, the Western Red Quill, the October Caddis and the Mahogany Dun. Hunting season has begun, as well as school, meaning most area rivers will have few anglers out and about. The fire near Silver Creek certainly scorched the bank on the south side of the conservancy, but had no affect on the fishing. By this time next year it will be hard to tell a fire ever happened here. With Fall in the air we thought it might be prudent to focus on the coming hatches this week, rather than the individual rivers.

Fall Baetis

This insect is normally associated with blanket hatches. The late morning, to early evening occurrence of this insect can bring every fish in the river to the surface. Look for these hatches on Silver Creek, the Big Wood, The Big Lost, and especially the South Fork of the Boise.

The Fall Baetis is a tiny insect and an active one. Expect to see this bug in size 22 to 20. A pale green to yellow body is accentuated by small opaque wings. The nature of this insect is to wiggle its abdomen briskly on the water, and on Silver Creek it is common for fish to key on this wiggle. The best way to imitate this is to fish your fly on a light, stout tippet – Flouro Carbon – is probably best for this technique. Use a lot of dry shake, and fish the fly on an open loop. This will free the fly up to pivot around and make it look more like the rest of the naturals. A variety of flies will imitate this insect with the Gulper Special being one of our favorites, although “Thorax” style patterns will pivot better on the waters surface. For Silver Creek, look at some of Rene Harrop’s patterns available in the fly shop

Red Quill

These bugs have already begun to hatch and signal a return to big insects on the Big Wood River. A Quill Gordon is an excellent choice to imitate this insect, although many left over Green Drake patterns from July will work as well. Essentially the Green Drake has a pale Green Body with Reddish bands where as the Quill had a Reddish body with Green bands. They are pretty much the same size and shape.

Expect to see this bug hatching and spinning in the middle of the day. Once the hatch gets really strong anglers will be able to use big attractors as searching patterns. Any of the Wulff flies are an excellent choice or the H and L Variant. Big fish will rise to these hatches, although it can be spotty. One run may have dozens of fish rising and a lot of insects, and only a mile away, there may be no sign of the bug. Stay on the move in the coming weeks to find this insect.

October Caddis

This is another large insect that we never see huge numbers of, but the fish love them and key on them none the less. A favorite fly for the October Caddis is the Royal Stimulator fished in the medium sizes. Large orange bodied Elk Hair Caddis and similar patterns will also work for this fly.

Expect to see occurrences of this fly on the Big Wood and the Big Lost. It is especially prevalent on the Big Wood north of Ketchum. Again, don’t expect to see hatches of this insect, but you will see their shucks scattered over exposed river boulders, much like we find the Stonefly shucks. It is an excellent fly to use for searching long stretches of river, and is also a good one to hang small Pheasant Tail droppers from while searching. The little size 18 Pheasant tails will imitate the emerging Fall Baetis well.

Mahogany Dun

The Mahogany Dun is a wonderful hatch that brings up the biggest fish on Silver Creek. It is also a notorious “Masking Hatch” that often occurs during the intense Fall Baetis hatches. Although a bigger insect than the Baetis (size 16) is often harder to see due to its color and the low light of autumn.

Expect to see this insect in the middle of the day and in good numbers. The hatches tend to start and stop for minutes at a time, so patience is a key to fishing when these insects are active. When they are going, the fish turn crazy for them. All the delicate presentations and caution one used more and more of with each passing day this summer, kind of goes out the window, as the fish become forgiving and very willing to grab a decent imitation fished on less then perfect drifts!

When fishing the Fall Baetis hatches on Silver Creek, be ready to make a quick switch to the Mahogany Dun and back again to Baetis when necessary.