Beautiful Float on the South Fork of the Boise

Yesterday we launched a Father's Day flotilla of three boats down the South Fork of the Boise.  We floated from the dam to Danskin, and it couldn't have been a better day.  Perfect weather and a pretty good Caddis hatch greeted our group, but unfortunately we were three of about 50 boats floating the upper stretch.  The fishing was decent, but it was apparent that the fish had been getting pounded.  While the Caddis came off in big numbers, the fish weren't really keyed in on the bugs, and most of our action came off of nymphs.  The Salmon Flies haven't showed up on the upper river yet, but it shouldn't be long.  We found big nymphs under the some rocks and caught a few fish peeking at dries.  The fishing should only get better on the South Fork, but I would hit it on a week day if possible.

Tucker, the wire haired pointing Griffon, is a Dad!

Scott and I have 2 wire-haired pointing Griffons, Dad, Max, and son, Tucker. If you are a regular at Lost River Outfitters, I'm sure Mr Vivacious, Tucker, has greeted you, perhaps even a little more enthusiastically than you would have expected.
On Max's tenth birthday, June 6th, Max became a grand-pa! On Easter Sunday Tucker bred Windy( sp!), and the result was 9 pups, 5 girls and 4 boys. The dam is owned by Bill Whitaker who works for the Ketchum Ranger District and lives on Gannett Road. Both dogs are AKC and NAVHDA registered, and will have hip and elbow certifications. (Tucker's cert. is in progress, he had to turn 2 before that could be done, but Mark Acker looked at the x-rays and said that his joints look great!)
I will try to see my furry grand-babies today and will take a bunch of pictures, but here are a few to get you started. Note that Griffon pups are born snow-white with only their liver spots and heads, if their heads will be brown, as contrast. As their brown undercoat grows in, the white hair will be the wiry hair.
Griffons are a member of the Versatile Hunting Association. They will point and retrieve, do both upland and waterfowl. They were originally bred to be hunters of fur and feather. They make excellent family pets. They do not do well in a kennel only situation, as they are very dependent on human contact. They are both sensitive and extremely smart. Our older dog, Max, has a huge vocabulary, I'm sure Tucker will be there as well. He is still too busy being playful and and full of mischief.
If you would like more information about these pups, please send an e-mail to: susanne@lostriveroutfitters.com
Here is what the AKC has to say about my favorite breed  : Griffs

April Vokey's visit to Sun Valley, courtesy of ISSU

Wow, what an amazing week this has been! No, I don't mean giant browns on dries or anything remotely like it, but some great folks doing awesome things!
It all started with my departure to Ashton to meet with the powers-that-be of the Patagonia fishing line, including Yvon Chouinard, some buyers and guides from other shops, and April Vokey who is one of their fly fishing ambassadors. April has become a household name when mentioning women in fly-fishing, but she has also amassed some fame without taking her gender into account.
I was a bit apprehensive about meeting April, chances were that her fame had gone to her head or that she had developed what is so common in male guides, a guide ego. But my apprehension was quelled the moment I met her! Here was a gal with a big sincere smile, polite, yet self-assured, happy to meet other women in her profession! Good thing, because that night we became room-mates for one night!
To be involved in bringing back the Patagonia Women's fishing line, discussing the pros and cons of this or that feature, sitting there with Yvon Chouinard, April Vokey , all the other Patagonia folks and some other gals who are living their dream was a fabulous experience! It is so nice to be invited into the Patagonia family, to hear Yvon's passion for this planet, to hang out over coffee before our meeting and 'solve all the problems of the world' ! On top of this company's commitment to the environment, the folks who work for them, the quality of their merchandise, the rigorous research and testing of their products, we, the lowly dealers, are welcome to be part of it all. No other company we deal with can boast that kind of involvement! I am proud and happy to be in this position!
Well, April did not come to just participate in this meeting. Her next stop was Ketchum, Idaho to be the featured guest in a benefit for the ISSU, a non-profit organization supporting wild steelhead and salmon, something about which April is so very passionate.There were dinners and meet and greets, a fabulous presentation by April about swinging flies in BC, which is what her passion is and how she makes her living as a guide. Scott and I also had the pleasure of spending part of the day with April at Silver Creek. But the reason she came her was not to socialize but to teach classes, which is another integral part of her profession. She taught 3 full day casting lessons and 2 intruder fly-tying classes. I had the opportunity to sit in on 1 of each.
April has a great teaching style. She is very organized in her approach, thorough in her explanations, kind in her criticism and genuinely interested in her students' improvement. She pretends to be strict, but if she is, you don't notice. Patience and enthusiasm are her fortes. Both of those classes were quite enjoyable and everyone walked away believing they had learned a new skill or honed a skill they already possessed.
In a nutshell, the days and evenings April spent with us were a blast!
 April reminds me of myself at her age. Don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming to be accomplished like her, I have long since missed the boat on that. I was on a different path back then, busy raising a child as a single Mom. Also I had chosen the flying profession, giving glider rides with weather as my biggest enemy and inevitable stumbling block. No, what I mean is that we both had the courage to walk into professions so utterly dominated by men, and to give those boys a run for their money. This is not an easy path! You have to be better than they are if you want to get respect! I can still hear the hesitation in my passengers' voices when they found out that I , the woman, would be taking them flying. I still get the: 'I don't want to go fishing with a woman' line when I'm guiding.
April has made sure that everyone knows that she can hang with the boys! She does not cut any corners to prove this fact. She took her casting certification from the toughest source in the industry just to prove a point. Watch out, fellow male guides, this gal can and will give show you off! The great thing is that she is not pushy about it. She is totally professional and humble, you'd never know that she is so accomplished and has become quite famous. Keep it up, April! Looks like you are on your way to become the next Joan Wulff!
So, if you would ever like to go steelhead or salmon fishing in BC, if you are looking for a hosted trip just about anywhere in the world, if you would like to book a fishing or casting school at your fly-shop, or if a fly-tying school strikes your fancy, consider booking April Vokey! I'm sure you won't regret it!
Flygal Ventures
Well, on top of all the fun, April helped raise money for an organization devoted to our endangered wild Salmon and Steelhead runs. Thank you so much, April!
I did not take any pictures of April to respect her privacy, so no pictures on this blog. Thanks for coming to Ketchum, April, hope to see you again some day, I think you have inspired me to host some trips and go see more of the world myself!
Have a great day and see you on the River

Our Local Waters Coming Back into Shape

After another round of runoff, our local rivers are "fishable" again.  The Big Wood finally dropped below 1000 cfs in Hailey, and the Big Lost below 600 cfs at the dam.  Wading will still be a little tricky on both riverss, but the water clarity is good, and the fish should be eating.  We've seen a few Golden Stones on the Wood, but nymphing is probably the best on both streams.  Here are a couple of graphs that will show you what the water has been doing.

 

Pam's report from Alaska

I'm back in K-town.  What a fun journey.  You were right to be jealous.  There are rivers everywhere up there.  I ended up fishing with another "Scott" from Drifting on the Fly which operates in the Kenai peninsula area.  He's a great guy so if any of your clients are headed that way you should consider referring them.  I also found an awesome riverfront place to stay for $87.50 a night (still low season).  The couple built four one room log cabins behind their log home (see the Kenai Lodging photo) on the Kenai River in Soldotna with a sweet riverfront yard for campfires and fishing off the property.

Here's my report:

The guide, who guides fly fishing most of the time, and I talked with about king on the fly and, while he was willing, the kings were late to arrive into the Kenai and in low numbers.  It would have been a long shot.  We decided to go the next river down, which is the Kasilof, and floated a seven mile section where the kings tend to come earlier, and the river was also open to catch-and-release steelheading as they were migrate back to sea in moderate numbers.  Most everyone was after kings and a few were being caught that day using spinning gear techniques.  In fact, we think we had one on briefly!   The guide had me using a 10 ft, 6 w switch rod and indicator fishing for steelhead from the drift boat and I had great success.  We landed three native hens in the 28-inch range and had a good time showing off for the king fishermen.  The last fish gave us some unforgettable arials.  All were happily released.  Once we got down to where the tide was coming in, we switched to bouncing heavily baited hooks for an hour for kings but had no luck.  It was a great time on the whole and proof that local knowledge will put you on fish.

A Few Spots Open for This Weekend's Ketchum "Cast Away" Event

If you're looking to hone your skills and help save wild salmon, sign up for one of the Ketchum Cast Away clinics this weekend.   The fun kicks of with a meet and greet for April Vokey and Rick Williams at Silver Creek Outfitters on Friday evening.  April and Rick are two extremely knowledgable fly fishers, and this is a rare opportunity to be able to pick their brains and refine your casting / tying.  Much of the proceeds will go directly to Idaho Steelhead and Salmon Unlimited, so this is a win win.  Click on this link to take a look at the full schedule or copy and past the link below.  Give us a call at the shop to sign up for any of the clinics.
http://lostriversunvalley.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-vokey-and-dr-rick-williams-coming.html

Fishing Report for June 4th

Well, I'm a little tired this morning....2 late nights prowling the creek in the moonlight with the doggie alarm going off at 6:00AM has left me feeling a bit haggard. Boy, I used to do it every single night during Brown Drake and still be able to function just fine.
The Brown Drake and people hatches have been going on for a few days now,and I must say that I have not seen so many spinners in the air and on the water in quite a few years! I should have taken more pictures! With all the bugs on the water, there were big pods of fish feeding continuously, some of them with their whole backs out of the water. It was something to behold! Just seeing this feeding frenzy was worth the price of admission!
Where we were the bugs started coming out of the grass about 8:00PM and began their flight upstream to mate and lay eggs that would later float down to where these bugs had first emerged a day or 2 before. Wave and wave of these huge insects took flight. A few of them ended up on the water and the fish stated keying in on them. Slowly you could see rings of rising fish becoming more numerous as the spinner fall began. Pretty soon the whole creek was blanketed with dead or dying bugs and the feeding frenzy had begun.
Catching fish when this phenomenon is in progress requires discipline! It's hard not to just cast every time you see a fish rise. You need to pick one fish and cast into its feeding lane time and time again until your bug is the lone one approaching the fish you are targeting. Your cast must be precise, your mend perfect and drag-less, and if you have to feed line downstream your fly cannot move or all will be for naught. This is not the easiest fishing in the world! We are talking spring creek fishing with big wily trout who are presented with an overabundance of food. These fish don't have to even move to get fed just wait till the food floats right to them!
Scott and I scouted one night and guided the next.We heard utterances pf annoyance and frustration on the first night as we picked our way through some feeding fish.
Last night it was easy for some and not so easy for others. Why would the fish eat my fly over the thousands of naturals was one question. Another was : Why am I not catching a bunch of fish? The answer is the same: pick one fish, make a perfect presentation and you might. Keep trying and don't pull the fly away when the fish eats it. Meanwhile enjoy the full moon and a sight not many get to see!
The weather is supposed to cool off a bunch. Hopefully, this will mean that the hatch will be postponed or even prolonged. If it is cloudy, the bugs might even come out mid-day. If you decide to head down to the creek be sure you stop by the shop and stock up on bugs! We have the greatest selection of flies in town and it comes with some good advice as well. If you find that the shop has unexpectedly closed a little earlier than normal, I apologize! It's hard to make a fishing fanatic stay in the shop until 8:00PM when the Brown Drake hatch coincides with the full moon!
On another note, the Wood is completely unfishable right now. It's running at over 2000 cfs and visibility is nil. The Lost below the dam is 872 and fluctuating quite a bit. That is also high. The Lost above the dam is 1670 and ice-cold. We are once again in run-off mode, but it should not last too much longer. The high temps of the last week or so have brought down a lot of the snow.
Green Drakes are the next big player, both on Upper Silver Creek and the Wood. Caddis should start popping soon as well. The Preserve has seen some nice PMD hatches, and Magic Reservoir has been fishing great with big fish cruising the shallow shore waters in search of spawning perch.
Feel free to call or e-mail us at any time for more information. If you need some help catching fish or figuring out a piece of water, we have great guides to teach you some new skills or techniques.
We are talking about starting some fishing groups to share guide expenses with a regular meeting day and a pool of anglers from which o draw. It's still in the planning phase, but we will keep you posted!

Meanwhile get out there! Tight lines and see you on the river!

Scott's trip to BC and early season stuff

At the end of our spring steelhead season in Stanley on the Salmon River, and after having guided steelhead 29 of 30 days, you might have thought I had seen enough steelhead until next fall, apparently not.  My friend Ken Dayton from Seattle offered up a spring steelhead trip to B.C. to Walter Franz’s Spey Lodge in Terrace, May 5-13.  I had visited Wally’s lodge two years ago and had a great trip with a few very memorable fish.  On that trip two silver bullets attacked my fly on consecutive casts at the mouth of a small river with a 60 foot stepped waterfall at my back.   I was casting into the salt at the Boca from a boulder covered with barnacles and mussels and surrounded by kelp weed.   There was little I could do, they both handed me my ass.  There were many great memories of that trip, but that particular experience needed a revisit.

Flying up from Vancouver we could see the impact of last winter on the coastal range.  There was still big snow and big glaciers, and the lakes right next to the Pacific Ocean were yet frozen.  Run off had not yet started.  Our hope was that we might have a few encounters with spring steelhead, which run the coastal rivers of our West Coast and B.C.  We would probably be too early for Chinook on this trip. Winter/Spring steelhead are less plentiful than the fall run fish.  They are quick in and quick out after spawn, and generally somewhat scarce.  The more you keep it wet the better the chance of a grab.  It is a game for diehards…..  seven days of spey casting in the most spectacular steelhead setting the world has to offer.   It has to be done.  We fished five rivers in seven days.

The weather the first five days was cool to cold with rain and snow and clouds.  One day I had seven layers on and was just comfortable.  The fishing was tough.  Tom Macy had spent the week before our arrival with no fish to the beach.  He considered spending another week at the lodge.  Ken and I remained optimistic.  The Copper gave us a pull, two taps, and a rolling steelhead.  I had a tug on the Kalum, but with a broken hook point.  The Kitimat gave us a day with three fish hooked but none to the beach.  Ken played a very large fish for about ten minutes when it finally released itself without a visual.  I had four sea run cutthroat, one being about 18 inches long.  The sixth day turned warm with no wind so we left for an overnight in Wally’s inboard jet sled to fish a couple of rivers only accessible by helicopter or boat.  That afternoon , on a remote river surrounded by three thousand foot granite faces and giant snow cornices, we pretty much lost count of the hookups in one pool.  These fish were only about 6 to 8 miles from the salt.  They were fresh and feisty.  We managed four to the beach, with others played, hooked, and broken off.  After a mile hike upriver one more 15 pound hen was landed.   That night falling asleep in our bags in the tent camp, Dayton asked me, “ Who else had the experience that we had  today?”  Answer, “Nobody, but us.” 

To say that afternoon was a trip saver might be true, but only in that we did what we set out to do, we landed some winter/spring run steelhead.  The eagles, a bear, a wolf, grizzly tracks, the brilliant white mountain goats clinging to sheer granite walls, witnessing a rock fall and a giant avalanche, Wally’s unbelievable navigation of the river boulders with the rather large jet sled, Molly’s awesome fare from the lodge dining room, Matt’s micro managing of what size tip to fish on what run and where to put it, all contributed to another very memorable trip.  The last day on the last pool my spey cast totally disintegrated.  Wally finished the pool for me.  It looks like I will recover and wait until this October for a revisit to my favorite fish. 

If any of you might be interested I would like to host a group of 4-6 anglers for an August Chinook, fall steelhead or winter/spring trip to Wally’s Spey lodges.  208-720-3813 is my cell.

As great as it was being away, returning to the early PMD hatch on the creek, the perching browns and rainbows in Magic, the hatching of brown drakes on Silver Creek  and the promise of an early Green Drake on our freestone rivers has already been a treat.  Our heavy runoff is mostly gone.  It is good to be back.

Zac, Abbey, Chase,  and Cody, just returned from their rooster fishing trip to Mexico last week.  Stories of 5 foot needle fish, big jacks, 100 pound roosters, and a few great photos prove they were there.  Zac and Abbey both connected on very pretty roosters.  Apparently the Margaritas were good if the fishing was not always great.  Check out Chase’s blog. 

Flies, waders, new rods, and reels, fishing bags and the new summer outdoor wear have arrived at the shop and is stocked.  Stop in to see what is new.   Our guides are here and ready to show their favorite waters and how to fish them if you would like help.   We have great access maps and always friendly advice available at the shop.   Our Kid’s fishing camp begins mid June for ages 7-12, and there will be an advanced kids program this year as well.  We still have a few openings for our September Yellowstone trips.  If you are interested in a June trip to the Firehole, Madison, and Duck Creek June 15-20 those dates are also available.

Don’t forget we are helping to host B.C.’s April Volkey , fly gal, for fly tying classes, casting classes as a fundraiser for our Idaho steelhead and salmon.  Dates are June 8-11.  Call the shop for sign ups, schedule and particulars.  Lost River’s tying classes with April will be June 9^th and 11^th.

Tight heavy lines and solid hook ups,

Scott

Lost River Outfitters