Week of November 9, 2009
October was a pleasant month on our local trout waters, and very good on Idaho’s steelhead rivers. I am sure bird hunting and big game hunting have distracted many of you from the rivers. The fall fishing has been very good. Tourist traffic has slowed, many anglers have picked up their shotguns so river traffic has slowed. I had one rainy afternoon on the Nature Conservancy water on Silver Creek with two clients and a billion baetis with no another soul around. This week’s weather promises a taste of winter, but if you pick your days the water temperatures are still high enough for a late morning start and a finish near dark on all of our waters.
We took ten days on the lower Salmon in late October for our annual steelhead trip. We had a hundred chances at some nice fat steelhead, but landed only about a third of what plucked our flies. It was quite a treat fishing one of our largest runs in recent history and casting the spey rod with 12 pound instead of the four weight with 6X and 7x. We opted to spend our money in Idaho instead of traveling to Canada this year. The proposed Skeena Angling Management Plan put a damper on our enthusiasm for fishing some of our favorite steelhead rivers. If you are not aware of the proposal, the idea is to limit non resident alien anglers to eight days on a particular river by lottery, with no weekend fishing on some rivers. It is a very complicated, and restrictive plan. If you have been to the Skeena System or ever plan to go, this plan, if implemented will very much negatively affect your ability to fish and experience these very fine steelhead rivers. There is some time for comment left to the Ministry of Tourism. If you would like to comment send me an email and I will forward you the links.
South Fork of the Boise
The South Fork is flowing at 300 cfs with nomal flows at 300 cfs. It is very wadeable, but still slick at this time of year. Dry fly activity can be baetis or midges on the right day, pink alberts have pretty much gone. You could see some October caddis. Stonefly nymphs in the deeper runs or pocket water would be my choice right now. Fish them smaller in size 10 and 12 with the clear water conditions. The South Fork is a great “get away” from our local rivers and you may even find a chukar in the canyon.
Yellowstone Park
It is getting late, but the Firehole and Madison will still fish with the fall baetis hatches. We are booking for our June and September Yellowstone trips for next year. If you are interested let me know by email scott@lostriveroutfitters.com and I will fill you in on the details.
Big Wood River
Our fall rains have helped the Big Wood stream flows. It is currently flowing at 223 cfs with normal flows at 200 cfs. It has topped out around 250 cfs, which has helped keep good water throughout the upper and lower River. Most of the insect activity has been small, with midge and baetis emergences, with the exception of a the large October caddis in the afternoon. If you don’t have a great imitation of the October caddis in your box, try an orange stimulator in size 10-12. Hang a small nymph from it and you will think it is August again.
TheBig Wood Canyon will fish with midge pupae and small dark nymphs or scud imitations on flurocarbon. The fish size and numbers are not spectacular this year, due to a substantial fish kill last fall. Look forward to a good year next year as there are plenty of juveniles and good water conditions for great growth and good fish survival.
Big Lost River
The Lower Lost is flowing at 86 cfs with normal flows at 73 cfs. There is plenty of water in the system.
I would probably not venture into the upper Big Lost right now unless it is a very warm day. The lower Lost is fishing so well, take the extra time to get there. As on the Big Wood, the insect activity is midge and baetis with a few October caddis. Nymphs and zebra midges will take more fish unless you run into a blanket baetis hatch, at which time you will have to switch to something on top or in the film. The fall baetis on the Lost are tiny unlike our spring baetis, but with the low light you can get away with 6X and a size 20. A small gulper special or even a small Wulff adams with a baetis nymph dropper is a great way to go.
Fish the riffles and pocket water with with a double nymph rig weighted. The fish are in great shape and it looks good for next year with many medium sized rainbows to grow into those 18 inch rockets.
Little Wood River (Desert)
It would be a good time to venture to the desert for a look at the Little Wood. The snakes should all be denned by now and water temperatures down for some decent nymphing and streamer fishing. Although there will be some baetis on the river on occasion, it is a good time to fish the deep water with a large prince or girdle bug dropped off the riffles into the pools. The larger browns should finish their spawn soon and will drop into their winter water to bulk up. The Little Wood shows some good promise for next year, especially if we have another good water year.
Silver Creek
Silver Creek is flowing at 88 cfs at the water gauge. That is confusing as high water on the creek is usually in the fall, after irrigation season is over. Normal flows are 140 cfs.
Silver Creek has been fishing with baetis and midge emergences in the afternoon. Some hatches have been blanket and to catch fish requires persistent good presentations over an individual fish or a pod. This hatch will dwindle as the cold weather sets in, but is worth the trip on the right afternoon.
The browns started spawning early and for those of you who want to catch a big guy streamers or eggs imitations on the redds will work.
Salmon River
The Salmon River at Whitebird is flowing at 5,060 cfs and has hit 5,800 with the fall moisture. It is a big river down there well suited for the two handed rod. The Salmon at Shoup is 1,950 cfs which is normal. Our run of steelhead is the second largest I have seen in my time on the Salmon. There are 314,000 fish into Idaho already and they are still coming. About a quarter of them are wild. As mentioned, we had a great trip to the Riggins area at the end of Oct. The largest fish was a wild buck just over 30 inches. Some three and four fish days with water temps around 42 degrees on swinging flies was not that shabby. Fish are already between the Lemhi and Pahsimeroi Rivers. The best catch rates show three hours per fish on the lower Salmon between the mouth and Riggins. Look for a spectacular spring fishery as many of these fish are headed for Stanley. If you are interested, we have committed to the steelhead lodge next April and would enjoy hosting your group or family. Call the shop at 208-726-1706 or send me an email at scott@lostriveroutfitters.com for details.
Closing Notes
If you are interested in our fly tying classes, Steelhead lodge next spring, or our Yellowstone trips next year stop in the new shop or give us a call at 726-1706 and we will give you details. Enjoy the last few days of fall trouting, before begin our snowy winter fishing.
Fish far and fine,
Scott Schnebly
Lost River Outfitters