© Morgan Buckert
As we enter the month of July we find good fishing to be right on schedule. We typically look at July 1st as a marker for reasonable water levels on our local freestone streams and 2012 is no exception. The Big Wood and it’s tributaries as-well-as the streams in the Big Lost drainage are all starting to look very good and fishing is beginning to pick up. These streams will still be on the high for the next couple of weeks, but consistently dropping and clearing.
More specifically on the Big Wood, the green drake hatch is underway. We’ve been hoping the water levels would drop enough to be able to fish this hatch and it’s looking pretty good. These bugs should be around for a couple of weeks and with the water continuing to drop we should experience some really good fishing. In addition to the drakes we’ve been seeing a good number of golden stoneflies. So pack a bunch of green drake patterns and some large yellow and tan stimulators. Consider adding some smaller nymph trailers to these big dries to up your odds. Have some pmd patterns in your box as we are seeing these mayflies as-well. Be careful wading as the clarity of the water can be deceiving, it’s fast and powerful.
The Big Lost drainage will fish similarly to the Big Wood and the same patterns will suffice. Your nymph trailers may be more important in this region right now as the water is a bit slower to warm up, and hatches are usually a bit later than on the Big Wood.
Silver Creek has been fishing very well, some of the best we’ve seen in the past few seasons. The primary hatch has been the pmd with a mix of baetis. Beetles can always be a great choice during lulls in the hatch activity and damsels both nymphs and dries can also produce. With the weather heating up I’d suggest getting to the creek pretty to catch the morning hatch.
Over on the South Fork of the Boise some of the giant Salmon flies have been spotted in the lower stretches. Look for these to move upstream over the next couple of weeks.
In summary, the fishing is good and only going to get better during the month of July as the water continues to drop. The game is on so get out and catch some of the great action!!
– Fishing Report provided by Jim Santa