Welcome to prime summertime fishing in the Wood River Valley. We’ve had ample bug activity, our fisheries are healthy, and fish are on the bite. If this isn’t incentive enough, call for a tee time and go play some golf. Seriously, here are some details on the local action.

Let’s head down to Silver Creek first. It’s the time of season when we see a plethora of bugs on the creek. It’s been really nice to fish the larger variety of bugs on the creek, the pmd, and this has often been the go to. The pmd tilt wing dun in a size 18 has been a shop favorite but lots of pmd patterns have worked.  Note that the fish will tend to key on the bug present in the highest quantities, not necessarily the largest. This has often been baetis even when the pmd’s are available. The fish often key on the emerger stage of this bug and you’ll notice the activity in the surface film. Callibaetis mayflies have been one of the keys in the ponds and in the slower water and we should be seeing an increase in the trico activity soon. That’s a lot of mayfly activity, so have a variety of patterns and stages to choose from. Besides the mayflies it’s time to begin to fish damsels, both nymphs and dries. Large (size 10 and 12) deer hair (Crowe) beetles are always a favorite and I wouldn’t be too surprised to see hoppers start to produce.  The best mayfly activity has been in the early mornings between 8 and 11 a.m. and the evenings from about 7 p.m. until dark have been productive. Try the hoppers, beetles and damsels late morning into afternoon when the wind comes up and the mayfly activity slows.

On the Big Wood the green drakes have all but disappeared but in their place we’ll see pmd and pink albertae mayflies. As it warms up after 9 a.m. we’ll see these bugs appear and it will quiet down in the heat of the day during the late afternoon. In addition we’ll see both golden stones and yellow sallies. The evening action has also started to pick up and we’ll see the return of some of the mayflies and stones after 7 p.m. and during the last hour of light into dusk the caddis action is heating up. So for fly selections on the Big Wood I’d have size 16 pmd’s and pinks, yellow and tan stimulators from size 10-14 and some caddis patterns for evening. Look for hoppers to start fishing on the Wood pretty soon now too and one may also consider larger nymphs and going deeper for some of the bigger fish that are becoming more reluctant to come to the surface now. These same tactics will work for Trail Creek and Warm Springs.

We’re always happy to share some good “free” advice so stop by either of our convenient locations in Ketchum and Hailey for the latest updates.

– Fishing Report provided by Jim Santa