"The pleasure isn't in the doing of the thing, the pleasure is in planning it." ~ John Green, Paper Towns Fly Fishing Forecast May 13th to May 20th Two weeks till opening day...May 23rd! Now is the time to plan. Start with a gear check: Do your waders need repair? Do you need to replace the studs on your wading…
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"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water." ~ Loren Eiseley As another steelhead season comes to a close, fly fisherman tend to look toward future fishing opportunities. The prevailing question is always the same: What will the water be like? Predicting streamflows is not an exact science. For example, no one could have predicted the…
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"But pleasures are like poppies spread, You seize the flower, its bloom is shed; Or like the snow falls in the river, A moment white then melts forever." ~ Robert Burns The run-off started early this year since March came in like a lamb. However, April has come in like a lion, and we we have received some more high…
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"The trout do not rise in the cemetery, so you better do your fishing while you are still able." ~ Sparse Grey Hackle Just don't do it on the Wood or the South Fork of the Boise. Like Silver Creek, these rivers are now closed for the season. However, there are still plenty of excellent options for an angler willing…
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"Never make predictions, especially about the future." ~ Casey Stengel The Big Wood Basin snow water equivalent is at 70% of normal as of March 16th. For those already looking ahead to summer, all signs are pointing to an early and moderate run off and a good early fishing season on our local waters. In the meanwhile, the steelhead are…
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The steelhead coming up river from the Pacific Ocean to the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery have to travel nearly 1000 miles and pass over 8 dams. And this year, they are early to the dance! Typically these fish begin to show towards the end of March in the stretch of the Salmon between Stanley and Challis with the season closing the…
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"Wet boots are a way of life." ~ Austin McPherson March is a great month to get your boots wet. While the Creek is now closed, the Wood is just hitting its late winter, early spring stride. Our area tailwaters, the Lost and the South Fork of the Boise, also fish fantastic in March. And it won't be long now…
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"It is the constant--or inconstant--change, the infinite variety in fly-fishing that binds us fast. It is impossible to grow weary of a sport that is never the same on any two days of the year. " --Theodore Gordan The Winter Midge activity keeps gaining momentum and surface feeding trout can be found throughout all our rivers. And with each passing…
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"To go fishing is the chance to wash one's soul with pure air, with the rush of the brook, or with the shimmer of sun on blue water. It brings meekness and inspiration from the decency of nature, charity toward tackle-makers, patience toward fish, a mockery of profits and egos, a quieting of hate, a rejoicing that you do not…
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"...knowing a river intimately is a large part of the joy of fly >fishing." - Roderick Haig-Brown To know a river intimately, one must experience it in all of its seasons. Of course, most anglers know the more popular seasons, summer and fall, when our local rivers are tricked with glamorous hatches and idyllic conditions. But those who know a…
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"Trout waters can be very personal places. The best trout streams are the ones you grow up with and then grow old with. Eventually they become like a familiar shotgun, or a faithful old setter, or a comfortable pair of shoes." – Gordon MacQuarrie This is a good week to visit a familiar trout stream or get to know a…
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"Tough fishing stretches you, provides you with skills and confidence for a thousand lesser moments–and it eggs you on to take great chances. It’s not just courage that’s required, of course, but some knowledge of the kinds of major tactics that can be necessary on a trout stream, and then a perfection of the skills needed to enact them." –…
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