Maggie Mae with a Tiger Trout caught on Silver Creek. Drakes and Stones...The big bugs of summer have arrived. Normally when these bugs make their early summer appearance, the local rivers are still busting the banks with spring runoff. As predicted, this winter's lower snowpack has set the stage for some spectacular early season dry fly action. However, don't be…
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SCO customer Steve Briggs (Skooter Gardiner's Client) caught and landed this beast of a brown on Silver Creek (6/15). Took a nymph on 5x. Battle of the nerves (at least for the guide), but Steve won in the end. New member of the Two Footer (+) Club! Robert Frost wrote, "Nature's first green is gold." This is certainly the case…
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As predicted, last weeks warm weather brought out the Brown Drakes, and reminding us of the transience of all things, has already run its course. If you missed the action this year, be sure to put it on your bucket list for next year. The warm weather has also brought the Wood, the Upper Lost and the Salmon back up…
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This is the time of year I begin to feel a bit like the legendary Paul Revere heralding the arrival of the Redcoats. Only my refrain is, "The Brown Drakes are coming! The Brown Drakes are Coming!" All signs suggest this is the week. The weather is going to be beautiful. The water temperature is right. In fact, a few…
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With June on the horizon, we are heading into our typical weather roller coaster with some days reaching only the high 50s and others stretching into the 80s. Over night lows have been chilly of late, which is slowing the runoff and dropping the river flows on the freestone fisheries. With unpredictable weather comes unpredictable hatches; however, the warmer weather…
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May 25th...the 2013 season opener is upon us! While Silver Creek will fish from day one, our local freestone rivers are in the midst of spring runoff. The weather gurus are calling for cooler temperatures over Memorial Weekend which will slow the runoff, but there is still a bit of high altitude snow yet to come down when warmer temperatures…
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During drought years in the West, one often hears the common refrain: "Whiskey is for drinking, and water is for fighting." As we await the opening of fishing on many of our local waters on May 25th, all eyes are on the the dwindling snowpack and the impact this will have on river and reservoirs throughout the season by both…
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Mother's Day is fast approaching. In lieu of chocolate and flowers, or better yet, in addition to, you might consider booking a trip to take your favorite mother fly fishing this summer. We are looking forward to a great season, and nothing says, "I love you" better than time spent fly fishing...with a guide. A recent warming trend has brought…
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We have a little over a month until many of our local rivers, including the Big Wood and Silver Creek, reopen (May 25th) and as is the tradition of fisherman over the ages, I am going to prognosticate about the fishing conditions on the horizon. For those of you making summer fishing plans, please note that Mother Nature can be…
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To allow the wild rainbows time to spawn in peace, the Wood, the South Fork of the Boise and all their tributaries are now closed, but will reopen, along with Silver Creek, on May 25th. In the meanwhile, there still are plenty of fishing opportunities for those willing to travel outside the Wood River Valley. In fact, April offers a…
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“You know what the happiest animal on earth is? It’s a goldfish. You know why? It’s got a 10-second memory. Be a goldfish.” – Ted Lasso Sound advice for an angler. The last dropped fish, hooked branch, lost fly, tangled tippet, broken rod must be forgotten. Move on, and make another cast. And be thankful that a wild trout is…
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“No gold for me. Just the rainbow.” – Elsa Dutton If you follow the seasons of a river, study it through a day, a month, a year, a decade, then you understand the nature of change. Sometimes the change is subtle and ephemeral, like a morning hatch. Sometimes the change is torrential, like a summer thunderstorm that turns the river…
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