Fishing report Jan. 22, 2014
To say our fishing has been and will be weather affected is
an understatement this past year. If the
weather pattern doesn’t change it will carry into our summer and possibly
future years. A two thousand mile long,
four mile high, high pressure system has been sitting off the Pacific coast for
a year now. If you recall, the last real
wet westerly system we had in Idaho was in December of 2013. Since then our storms have come from the
north. Typically they go east of Central
Idaho and are fairly dry by the time they reach us. The airflows over the summer came as monsoons
from the south and with the thunderstorms creating lightning and our huge fire
season. September gave us big rain from
the monsoonal flows, which, on top of bare burned ground, created mud flows
into many of our watersheds. Some of our
rivers flowed black to dark brown for weeks.
The South Fork of the Boise was closed, the Big Wood unfishable, and the
doomsday predictors said everything in the rivers died. All the bugs and fish were gone. Recovery would take years. Happy to report that is not the case. Long term the carbon in the streams will be
good. We should have more plant growth,
more food for the insects, and therefore better growth for the fish. The Yellowstone fires in the 1980’s were a
good example of that very thing.
In the mean time we are only about 50% precipitation of
average in Idaho. We need water for our
fish and crops, and winter sports.
Hopefully the weather pattern will change. We are not the only western state affected. Here is our mid winter fishing report.
Big Wood River
The September floods did result in some dead fish. It seems whitefish were found dead as well as
some trout. We could have lost some
young of the year fingerlings as well, which will show up in a couple of
years. This winter guide season has been
productive however. Some afternoon days producing 20-40 fish for those who
don’t mind nymphing. There has been some
rising to midges in soft water, with hatches heavy enough for the trout to be
selective in some instances. Midge hatches should increase in February. A few
of the rainbows are thin, no doubt due to the stress of the flood and dark
water, but many are fat and healthy. Due
to low snowpack the river is easily accessible and many days on the water have
been above 32 degrees, so iced guides not much of a problem. Below Magic Reservoir fish have survived near
the dam. They are thin due to the stress
of having spent the latter part of the summer in warm water and probably
competing for food. Those fish are the
seed to repopulate the system when water flows return to a more normal
state. Please treat them gently and
release.
Silver Creek
If you are in the area you should stop by Kilpatrick Bridge
to see the progress of the Silver Creek project. We should see the waters below the pond
improve in water quality and fish populations as a result. It is pretty an amazing change already. Although the water gauge says frozen, the
creek is not. The best approach is
streamer fishing this time of year. Try
a black leech or bugger or a Philo Betto to entice the larger browns and
rainbows this time of year. Floating
lines are fine. We should see some midge
hatches in February, with occasional rising.
The Lower Big Lost
The Lower Lost is flowing at 75 cfs today. It was too low when it was first shut off
flowing in the high 50’s. The pools were
ponds and all of the fish that would take were stuffed into the riffle water at
the heads of the pools. Nymphing the
moving water is the most productive this time of year. Pheasant tails, zebra midges in the riffle
waters with 5 and 6X fluorocarbon is a good choice. In the faster rocky runs a stonefly nymph is
always a good choice. Look for the midge
hatches to improve as the winter goes on and we can always count on the March
baetis for a good dry fly fix.
South Fork of the Boise
This is a different
river after the floods. If you get a
chance, it is worth a drive into the canyon.
Boulders the size of trailer houses came down the mountain and changed
the river. I had a chance to fish it a
few weeks ago and although it suffered the same fate as the Big Wood, there
were some very healthy and large trout, and even a number of whitefish to the
nymph. There is some rising to midges
and look for the tiny baetis to bring fish to the surface in the very soft
pools.
Steelhead
Although our steelhead run is not big this year, it is
better than twenty years ago. Somewhat
less than 110,000 fish have reached Idaho so far. Reports are that the Snake and the Clearwater
are giving up some winter fish to some hardy spey casters. We are booking the Stanley Steelhead Lodge
now, and have taken a number of early dates in late March and April. If you have specific dates or requested
guides it would be a good time to call the shop and get on the book. 208-726-1706
Lost River Events
Fly tying classes
Fly tying classes begin in February. There is a sign-up sheet on the counter. Cost is $20/class. Materials provided. Beginner to steelhead intruder classes
offered.
Fly fishing film Waypoints
Benefit for the Nature Conservancy’s restoration project. Fly
fishing film, Waypoints, will be presented by Lost River Outfitters and
Waterworks-Lamson at the Next Stage Theatre on Jan. 24th at 6:30
pm. Raffle prizes include Smith sunglasses, a
Waterworks reel, Ex-Officio shirt, men’s and women’s Scottevests, men’s and
women’s wool base layer from First Light, a gift certificate from Enoteca,
among others. Raffle tickets are
$5.00.
A beer and wine reception begins at 6:30. Tickets are $10, or six for $50 and are
available at Lost River Outfitters.
Yellowstone Park Fishing Adventures
Yellowstone Park Fishing Adventures
We are booking our June and September Yellowstone trips now.
Some dates are taken. If you have not
fished Yellowstone Park it you owe it to yourself. It is our domestic
“international” fishing adventure, and is much more than just a fishing
trip. We make lodging arrangements and
can help with your airline connections. If you are interested send me an email
at scott@lostriveroutfitters.com
and we will get you a photo album, details, costs and answer your questions.
Fish far and fine,
Scott Schnebly
News from the store:
The new Patagonia Women’s fishing line is in!
Patagonia is introducing a new W’s wader, fishing jacket,
and other W’s specific clothing items and we have the waders and jackets in
stock!
The drop seat wader has many great features! One of the
greatest innovations is the drop seat, making it possible to attend to Nature’s
call in relative privacy and without removing your jacket! Come on in and check
them out!
I will post more about these waders on our next blog! And,
we’ll have another ladies night soon!
We also have the new Winston Boron III LS in stock now! Not
only does this rod cast like a dream, it is also the sexiest rod Winston has
come out with!
Stop in and cast this great new stick! We’ll gladly take you
outside and let you try it! It’s always fun to cast a new rod, and the boys and
gals in our shop would love to go out into the sunshine and let you play around
a bit!
I am at the OR Show in Salt Lake right now and will report
back next week.
Remember, if we don’t have what you’d like, we’ll gladly
order it for you!
Susanne
Susanne@lostriveroutfitters.com
w's wader video
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