Opening day of trout fishing is only a few short weeks away in Idaho. We are super-excited at Picabo Angler, as all our new product rolls in. We are also super-excited to bring back our Opening Day Eve party. This year it will be on Friday, May 28. Come on down around 5 p.m. Some vendors will be here. We will have rods and targets to cast at. Sawtooth Brewing will have beer here and we’ll have some pulled pork to purchase, as well. Please come join us and catch up with all your fishing friends. Everyone is welcome!
If you are going to fish Silver Creek on opening weekend, be sure to have your fly box ready. We certainly may see brown drakes on the opener this season, as the date has been pushed back about a week later than the past few years. During the day, have your PMD (Pale Morning Dun) and BWO (Blue-Winged Olive) well stocked. Ants and Beetles are a must-have the first few weeks of the season, as well.
We don’t expect much runoff this season so there is a great chance the Big Wood and all our rivers may be fishing. If you see the freestone streams running clear, then you should have a lot of Stimulators in large sizes. Royal Stimulators, as well as Orange and Yellow, are the way to go. If you want, hang a Copper John or Prince Nymph off of a Stimulator and start covering water.
The Lost River and South Fork of the Boise should also fish well this season on the opener. Flows may be less than the spring flows we are used to seeing in these dam-released waters. Expect to cast a variety of flies, from Yellow Sallies to Baetis. Big dries with beadhead droppers are going to catch fish. Ants, Beetles and Spiders are also a great bet.
The rivers are going to be busy this summer and the water is going to be low. If you catch fish, we encourage you to release them without taking them from the water. This is not the year to take fish pics of anything less than the fish of your lifetime. Let’s all take very good care of the resources, and each other, this year. The better we treat one another, and the fish, the better we are all going to be for it!
Happy fishing, everyone!
