"The irreducible constant of fishing is water." – Ted Leeson Opening day for the Big Wood, Silver Creek, and the South Fork of the Boise is Saturday, May 28th. Time to gather and prepare the ingredients for a successful day of angling: patch waders, replace laces, organize fly boxes, check tippet, rebuild leaders, clean lines, fill float tube, call a…
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"Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." – Charles Dudley Warner One thing we do when it comes to talking about the weather is: make predictions. Four weeks ago the summer water forecast for the Valley looked grim, but moisture keeps coming to our mountains. As of April 1st, the Big Wood Basin snow water equivalent…
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"They both listened silently to the water, which to them was not just water, but the voice of life, the voice of Being, the voice of perpetual Becoming." – Hermann Hesse April has been a good month for moisture around the valley and the next ten days also promise more cool, wet weather. The rain dance worked! While this is…
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"Do you know why the Indian rain dances always worked? Because the Indians would keep dancing until it rained." – Sherman Alexie Despite a strong December and early January, the snow water equivalent around the region is between 60 and 80% of normal. While precipitation in April and May might help matters, it is very likely that we will be…
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"Spring is the time of plans and projects." – Leo Tolstoy Spring plans and projects should involve fishing in some form or fashion. Everything else can wait until the rivers swell with runoff or close for the season. Silver Creek This is the last chance to fish the Creek before it closes like the Wood and the South Fork. Tubing…
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"To catch a river unguarded is less a matter of where to look than of when, and so while other fishermen have secret places, I have a secret time." – Ted Leeson, The Habit of Rivers Can you keep a secret? The best time to fish is March. Silver Creek The lower Creek from Kilpatrick Bridge down through Point of…
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"The river is everywhere." – Herman Hesse, Siddhartha What will become the river this spring, summer, and fall now blankets the mountains. And despite the extended dry period, the snowpack remains just above 100% of average in the Big Wood, Big Lost, and Little Wood drainages. Still, much of what the river will be depends on March, April, and May.…
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"A fly delicately done and with a subtle marriage of colors can possess value apart from its ability to take trout." – Darrel Martin First, a fly must capture the imagination of the angler. Then, when tied to the end of a gossamer leader and delicately delivered, a fly’s true value is realized. A fly's magic is in its ability…
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"February is the border between winter and spring." – Terri Guillemets January is the August of winter: long, stagnant, dry. That makes February like September. Fishing is always better during the border months. Silver Creek Once the inversion breaks it would be worth a look at the Creek. The stretch below Kilpatrick Bridge remains open until the end of March.…
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"I dance with a fly rod in my hands for health and happiness." – Joan Salvato Wulff A new year and another chance to dance for health and happiness with a fly rod in hand. But before you dance, don’t forget to fill your flask, patch your waders, put on a few extra layers, and renew your license. And be…
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“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.” – Ernest Hemingway Bad anglers blame their fly. Good anglers, on the other hand, know the value of the right fly at the right time. But great anglers adapt their approach and embrace the variables of each moment,…
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Photo: Chris Blesius “Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.” – Samuel Butler While wild flowers and leaves fade from view, the fruits of wet seasons past, ripe and true. With the swish of a fly cast above the stream, and a trout holding fast in the golden gleam, autumn's…
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