Fishing Report 6.18.12
A week ago I would have said we’d have more fishable conditions on the Big Wood, but with a few warm days we continue to see a fair bit of run-off and what I’d call marginal fishing water. While the water clarity north of town is decent, it’s still pretty high. Nymph fishing can be reasonably good if you’re willing to explore to find some slower water to fish. Look for the Big Wood to start clearing and dropping in the next week and keep your eyes out for the green drakes very soon.
The fishing on Silver Creek would receive a rating of good. There have been pretty consistent hatches of pale morning duns and we’ve also seen some green drakes in the upper portions of the preserve. As for your fly selection I may suggest a variety of pmd patterns to include emergers, duns and spinners as the fish can tend to key in not only on a particular mayfly, but can be selective to particular stages of the bug. These can also vary from size 14-18 and if you experience refusals, switch to smaller flies, different stages, and/or smaller diameter tippet. Generally for size 16 and smaller flies on the creek 5x tippet will be the maximum and 6x more the norm, the smaller the fly, the lighter the tippet. So get stocked up on pmd’s, throw in a few green drakes, and head to the creek for your best dry fly opportunities.
Getting a bit further from our backyard, the Big Lost drainage is in similar shape to the Big Wood drainage. These streams are still on the high side and they also take a bit longer to warm up, give this area a couple weeks. The flow on the Lower Lost is over 500 c.f.s. which is a pretty tough level as-well. The South Fork of the Boise tailwater is now at average summer flow. There’s not a lot of bug activity yet, but some fish are being taken on large attractors and nymphs, it’s always a great float regardless.
In summary, our best fishing currently is to be found on Silver Creek but look for these other streams to come into good fishing shape very soon.
Fishing Report provided by Jim Santa