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Mother Nature seems to be having a little fun with us lately. While this past Friday and Saturday saw highs in the upper 80s, we woke up to rain and 36 degrees this morning. Isn’t it almost July?
Unstable weather certainly impacts the fishing on area waters. The bad news is that drastic shifts in the thermometer and barometer take the fish off the bite for a bit. The good news is that we are seeing a much-needed influx of moisture, and we’ll have more stable, normal weather conditions by the middle of the week. With that, consistent fishing conditions will follow.
On Silver Creek, we’re seeing a smattering of different bugs lately—BWOs, PMDs, Callibaetis, and even a few Damsels. None of these hatches has been very strong recently, but we expect to see more consistent Callibaetis activity and likely Tricos with the return of better weather.
The Big Wood River has been a shining star recently. The Green Drake has been strong on the river from Bellevue to Ketchum, and the fish have eagerly taken a variety of Green Drake nymphs, emergers, and duns. Throwing a Hairwing Drake with a Poxyback Nymph dropper has been a winning combination. There have also been some PMDs, Yellow Sallies, Golden Stones, and caddis on the Big Wood, and the dry-fly fishing has been excellent.
The upper Big Lost River system is coming into shape nicely, and it’s worth a visit to Copper Basin right now. Attractor dries and the dry-dropper technique is the way to go.
The lower Big Lost below Mackay Reservoir is still a bit high, but select fishing opportunities exist.
On the South Fork Boise River, it’s Salmonfly time!
The upper Salmon River has fished well recently. Flows at the Yankee Fork USGS gauge are just below 1700 CFS, a great floating flow on the river between Clayton and Challis. The river’s Westslope cutthroat and rainbows are looking up and eager to hit big bushy dries, mayfly imitations, and flashy nymphs. Don’t fish the upper Salmon without Chubby Chernobyls in a variety of sizes and colors.
We’ve noticed quite a few baby grasshoppers around Silver Creek, and a few fish have been looking for them. We are fully stocked with a fantastic selection of hopper patterns here in the shop, so please stop by and check it out.
Happy fishing, everyone!
