No significant changes from our last report. Silver Creek may be fishing a little better. The Big Wood continues to go virtually unfished in places where the road access is limited and one is forced to walk in the snow or in the river itself. The winter storms keep rolling in providing plenty of warm days. Midge hatches remain relatively light. The unofficial Carp season has begun on the Snake River. Super Bowl Sunday may go down as the quietest day on the river this winter. The staff of Silver Creek Outfitters has begun counting down the days until our summer opener, (there’s 116) and our travel department is seeing significantly improved catch rates for Bonefish in the Caribbean this winter.
Silver Creek
February is the last month to get in on some very cool spring creek streamer fishing. The few people that have fished Point of Rocks and the Willows are getting some good action. There are a few fish rising periodically but probably not enough to bother casting at. Hopefully by the end of the month we will have temperatures high enough to bring on some significant Midge hatches on the Creek, but in the meantime, casting unweighted streamers to the bank is still the ticket. Olive wolly buggers, philo beto, green matukas, and leeches are all good fly choices for this game. Some days the fish like to see a lot of action, other days a dead swing is more effective. If the water is off color, try not to strip the fly to much as this will make finding the fly easier for the fish. Keep in mind that life is tough for a fish in the winter and landing fish quickly and releasing them while they are still submerged will greatly aid in their recovery. Mornings may produce small ice flows down the river, so after a cold night one may want to consider this an after lunch fishery.
Big Wood River
The hardest thing about fishing the Big Wood these days is finding a place to park your vehicle. The fish are very eager to eat small midge imitations in black, red, or green colors. The preferred color seemingly changes day to day. Anglers that are willing to employ snow shoes, or use the river as a trail to get into the unfrequented reaches can find water that hasn’t seen an angler since late October. Keep in mind that the more tracked out an area is, the more technical the fishing is going to be. Fishing in the deeper, slow moving water will be effective early in the day, and by noon a lot of the fish will move to shallower haunts as they wait for the Midges to hatch. We still aren’t seeing significant dry fly opportunity on the river, although it does occur in a few Midge rich runs everyday, but the day for seeing rising fish throughout the river system is coming very soon. Don’t head for the river without some dry fly patterns!
WATER CONDITIONS
Basin Precip. Averages
Salmon – 125%
Big Wood – 143%
Little Wood – 154%
Big Lost – 140%
Henry’s Fork – 135%
