Week of December 14, 2007
For those of you who can brave the recent cold snap there is a bit of fishing to be had. Take care in removing ice from the guides. Graphite gets brittle below 32 degrees. A warming trend is predicted for next week, but if you must go, try noon until about 4 in the afternoon.
Big Wood River
Closed March 15
Big Lost River
Closed March 31
Silver Creek
Closed February 28
South Fork of the Boise
Cold canyon, worth the drive on a warm day. Nymphy for big bows in the winter. Occasional whitefish or bull trout.
Yellowstone Park
Closed. We are booking our June trips on the Firehole, Madison and Gibbon already. September has some open dates yet, but we are filling up for the Lamar/Slough Creek trips next fall. We had great days in the park last year. Our trips run 3-5 days, staying in cabins in West Yellowstone and Silver Gate. We will make arrangements. The best fish landed last year was a 25 inch rainbow. Many nice cutthroat in the 14-19 inch range, and some fall browns that we never got to see. If you are not familiar with Yellowstone Park fishing we would enjoy showing you the “international domestic trip” !!!
Big Wood River
Some midges hatching and a few fish can be found rising. Best action with size 8-to brown or black and brown stonefly nymphs or zebra midges hung on 6X flurocarbon leaders. Fish larger nymphs on 4X or 5X tippets.
Streamer fishing is also effective in the winter. Fish Philo Betto or olive wooley buggers swung and with slow erratic strips to be effective. Winter trouting on the Big Wood offers the solitude we all enjoy.
Below the dam is loaded this year. Fish of all sizes. The canyon can be cold and nymphing the most productive. Check with the shop for the fly of the day.
Big Lost River
The lower Lost nymphs very well in the winter. All colors of zebra midges in size 16-20 work well. A double nymph rig with 5x tippet to a copper john or beaded pheasant tail with a trailing smaller fly should fit the bill.
Good midge and blue winged olive hatches won’t get the fish up until late Feb. and March. Fish will feed and lie in the slower shallow riffles at the head of the deep runs and some days feed with abandon. Winter on the Big Lost is as good as a trip to Argentina on some days. Dress for the day. The Big Lost Valley can be cold.
Little Wood River (Desert)
Icy.
Silver Creek
Silver Creek is open until Feb 29th this leap year. Streamer fishing with sculpin and dace patterns cn be epic on many days. The browns are hungry after spawning. Make sure to pinch barbs as they will eat your fly deep. Be ready for midge feeders on particular days, but even those head and tail feeders can be seduced by a stealthy streamer cast.
Carey Lake
Bluegill, perch and bass at the hot springs inflow with stone head princes. When you tire of that a black beetle or small popper or hairy humpy will do the deed. Pretty fun afternoon if you are inclined.
Salmon River
The Salmon will fish all winter, if you pick your days. It will take several days above freezing temperatures to clear the flowing ice, so look for a warming trend before heading North. The steelhead run is over 156,000 for this year. The upper river should fish very well this spring as the lower river turned dark with the rain on the burnt ground from Idaho fires and many fish weren’t bothered much in the lower river.
Best technique for winter steelhead is nymphing with a skunk or skykomish sunrise. A weighted dead drifted jig will also work in the cold water. Pick the slow, deep currents and get to the bottom. It is tough to fly fish anything deeper than about 7-8 feet in the winter. Report of a steelhead hooked at Clayton this fall. We should have good fishing early this year as they ran far up river in the fall as they have the last two years.
Our steelhead lodge in Stanley still has some open dates. Call for details. The late March and April steelhead on the upper Salmon is pretty fun, and unbelievably beautiful. Elk, deer, eagles, osprey, otter, and yes, even wolves are seen every year.
Closing Notes
A winter trout trip is a nice option to skiing or do both in the same day. Ski the morning and grab a guide or rental gear and hit the river in the afternoon. Makes for a pretty nice story when you return home.
208-726-1706
Fish far and fine,
Scott Schnebly
Lost River Outfitters