Lost River Outfitters fishing report May 22, 2018

Last year’s water was enough for two years.  This winter, you would have thought we would have to spread it out over two years.  Snow drought in December, January, and much of February made it look like that may have to be the case.  We did have a wet fall, and then late February here it came.  Back-country skiing finally kicked in, and there were some very nice powder days on Baldy.  Snowpack got up to 100% and it keeps coming.  Then it got warm and started to rain and won’t quit.  Morel season has arrived.  What does this mean for our season?  Quite a lot actually, although you may have to be patient to visit your favorite pool on the Big Wood or your favorite reach on the Big Lost and be content with some whitewater boating instead of leisurely float fishing the Salmon.

We finished our steelhead season on April 18.  Our last angler landed four deep water steelhead.  We averaged nearly three fish on the beach a day on our trips.  We had two double digit days in the mix.  The largest steelhead was a wild 30 inch buck and a 25 inch bull trout was landed.  We got our share of steelhead in the upper river this year and angler pressure was low, so it was a pleasant March and April.  We moved out of the steelhead lodge on April 16^th and are already looking forward to next year.  With last year’s huge runoff and flush there should be a nice return coming back.

I was anxious to return to the low country to see what the reservoirs had in store in late April.  Every one of our local reservoirs had more carry over water than they have in years.  Anderson was ice free in February.   Still water fishing in the spring is something that many fly guys/gals overlook.  It doesn’t take much to make the transition.  A sink line, some wet flies, a float tube and fins is about it.   Lakes and reservoirs grow some of the biggest fish on the planet and our local still waters rival any place in Montana or Wyoming.  Every still water presents a different challenge whether it is pattern, place, or method, but that is the joy in making it work.  Reports from all of our local reservoirs have been amazing, if you are in the right place at the right time.  Anderson gave up bass, bull trout, big pike minnows, a couple of landlocked Chinook, perch and a few trout so far this year.  The best bass on one of our outings was 21 inches, but many in the 14 and better.  The largest bull trout was 25 inches.  Full sink lines stripping streamers is my method.   

 Mormon has been a bright spot too.  The rainbows have been unbelievably large this year and fat.  Largest landed 23 inches and probably over 6 pounds.  Size 14 midges and callibaetis are hatching in huge numbers.  Big zebra midges or nymphs under an indicator  work in the bays.  I still like stripping streamers for the big tug there because you can fish 1 or 2x.  Full sink line and green or brown buggers with or without a hackle and a bead.  There has been traffic, but it doesn’t seem to matter.  Pick a cove and fish it slowly with a fairly quick retrieve at the end of the cast. 

 Magic has had its moments.  Midges are starting to hatch so Seagull Bay should start to fish with indicators.  I have had good success stripping perch buggers on a full sink line for both browns and rainbows.  The perch populations have exploded as the full reservoirs give them shallow bays to spawn in.  That means more food for the predacious rainbows and browns.  

 Good reports have come from the Little Wood Reservoir, Fish Creek reservoir and Mackay reservoir.  There is no lack of still water fishing to be had.  Trail Creek is open!

Our opening day on the local rivers will offer limited fishing.  The Big Wood today is flowing at 2,100, which is really not very safe to hang around yet.  Flows at Stanton are 1380.  Flows at Camas Creek are 137.  Outflow of Magic in the canyon is 1,700.  You could probably jet boat the canyon, but even that is big.  

 Silver Creek will be crowded but our fishable stream water this weekend.  It is flowing at 161 cfs.  Look for some late morning PMD’s, possible afternoon callibaetis.  With over cast skies you can always have the possibility of seeing baetis.  I would anticipate that the brown drakes should fire up the first week of June, possibly even the last few days of May given our fairly warm spring weather.  We have all of our usual custom drake patterns ready for you at the shop.  Stop in, before they are gone.  It should be a big drake year for some big browns this year.  Big water redistributed them last year and last winter many big guys showed up chasing streamers. 

 The Big Lost is flowing at 1,790 above the reservoir and 1030 below the reservoir, and 291 at Arco  Both reaches are too cold and big above and too big below for any decent fly casting.  

 The Little Wood has shown some promise this Spring.  Please treat it right as it has been dead for ten years because of too little water, too much hot water, and poor water quality.  It is such a beautiful little stream and can have amazingly pretty big browns that it needs all the help it can get.

Our Yellowstone year is pretty well booked, although if you are interested we might be able to squeeze in another June date.  We have one three day window left in late September fishing the N.E. corner of Yellowstone.  Those dates are September 21, 22, and 23.  There is plenty of water in the Park, and it is still raining there as well.  The Lamar River is flowing at 9,750 cfs.  That will spread out the cutties.  We start June 5 in Yellowstone and return June 23.  We have another trip August 5-10.  Our September runs from the 5^th to the 23^rd.  If you have not fished Yellowstone it should be on your bucket list.  We can help.  208-720-3813 is my cell if you want more information or my email is scott@lostriveroutfitters.com.

We are stocked with all the bugs, tippets and gear you need for the opener.  Stop by and say hello, share a fish story, purchase your controlled hunt permit before the end of May, pick up some fly tying hooks for your next pattern, or shop for your significant other.  We are always glad to help you find the right thing. 

Fish far and fine,

Scott Schnebly

Lost River Outfitters

Fshing Report May 19,2015

Lost River Outfitters fishing report May 19, 2015

Amazing.  At last report we were looking a bit grim with our water flows for the near and long term.  I remember mentioning that I have seen it change and make a huge difference in the months of May and June.  We are not out of the woods yet, but the Big Wood, the Big Lost and the Little Wood drainages have gone up over 10% precipitation in our year to date numbers in the last week or so.  We are pushing 80% of average.  The water bucket at my house measures 2 3/4 inches since this started.  The jet stream is favorable for more precipitation.  Two more storms are predicted to arrive in the next week.  We must have been very dry as the rivers have not gone over their banks , but over the course of last night, the Wood has taken on some color.  The general season opener is this coming weekend.  It is supposed to be wet.  These are our thoughts for what you might expect on some of our local waters.

Big Wood River

The Big Wood is not pushing a lot of silt right now in spite of the rain.  Hopefully it is cleaning itself of the build-up washed in from the fire ground.  It is flowing at 682 cfs today and rising, but is only about half of normal.  There was some clarity until this morning.  If you were to attempt catching a fish on the upper Wood this weekend, the side channels are your best bet.  The rainbows seek the softer flows and spawn in the side channels this time of year.  A black wooley bugger would probably be the fly of choice.  It might be best to leave the spawners alone and pick another piece of water for now.

The river at Stanton is flowing at 259 and is pretty big for most fly fishing.  Once again a streamer is probably the best choice it you wanted to wet a line there, but you could run into spawning rainbows there as well.

We don’t see this very often, but the Lower Big Wood in the canyon is at 9-10 cfs.  The dam was opened the first of May, and flows went over 900 cfs, but with the rains, the irrigation district saw fit to save some water for later and shut it down.  Good water management.  Hopefully save some fish later in the summer??!!  Weighted pheasant tails size 16-18 and zebras under an indicator or a streamer stripped in the deep water would be the best options on this water right now.

Magic Reservoir, which is usually great fun in the spring for big triploid rainbows and smallmouth, has been a real disappointment this year so far.  Catching has been spotty and sparse to say the least.  The tournament had 26 boats register and only 6 of the boats weighed fish.  I will try to get a handle on it and report in our next writing.

The Big Lost

The Upper Big Lost is flowing at 517 and is rising.  It is colored and too big to fish.  The East Fork fished a bit three weeks ago, before the rains began, but I would wait on the upper waters.  The Lower Lost is flowing at 193 cfs and has for the last couple of weeks.  It does not look like there will be a water call in the short term.  We have been taking trips there over the last couple of weeks and it has been quite productive.  On cloudy days baetis have been hatching in sufficient numbers to fish the dry.  Some PMDs have shown in the afternoon.  Best catching has been nymphing.  Tiny weighted nymphs in the really soft water and stonefly imitations in the rocky faster reaches.  The fish are off their redds and already fat and sassy.

Silver Creek

Silver Creek is flowing at 170 cfs this morning and is rising.  Normal flows are 115 cfs.  It is up from 90 cfs a month ago.  This is good.  Bigger flows will spread out the fish and flush some sediment.  Trout are rising to callibaetis and some afternoon PMDs.  The creek looks good, especially after what we experienced last year.  The early callibaetis are large even a size 14.  The PMDs a 15 or large 16.  Sparkle duns or parachutes should work for the early season hatches.  Be ready with the 6X tippets .  With our warm winter and spring up to now we could see an earlier Brown Drake emergence.  Usually it happens the first week of June, but it could happen late May this year.

The Little Wood

The upper Little Wood is high and cold.  The Little Wood in the dessert is an unknown at this time.  We would love to have that water return to its former glory.

The South Fork

The South Fork of the Boise is flowing at 611 today.  It will be a bit of a sporty wade at that level, but should fish with girdle bugs and stonefly nymphs.  Copper johns and weighted pheasant tail double fly combos would be a good choice in the riffle waters.

Anderson reservoir has been fishing for bass and there has been a report of good sized land locked Chinook which were introduced again to control the kokanee population.  Sink tips or full sinks with streamers.  I like to tie a blood leech stinger about 3-4 inches long with marabou and some uv crystal flash for Anderson.

Yellowstone Park

Snow pack in Yellowstone was not exceptional this past winter.  They are getting more snow than rain right now with these storms so the rivers on the west side are not high.  The Madison is flowing at 512 this morning with normal flows at 875 cfs.  The Firehole at Old Faithful is at 78 cfs with normal flows 160.  The cooler weather will delay stonefly and caddis hatches, but baetis and PMD hatches in the afternoons should bring fish to the surface.  Swinging soft hackle emergers is always a good trick on the Firehole.

We still have two dates for the Park if you have not been and would like some help on figuring out that wonderful fishery.  Open dates are June 15 and 16, and September 16, 17, and 18.

If you want any other dates we can surely accommodate.

The Idaho 2 Fly is scheduled for June 13^th at Ron Sali’s  96 acre “pond” .  It is a fundraiser for Idaho men with cancer.  Entry fee is $500.  It is a great event and amazing fishing for largemouth bass and big rainbow, with some nice blue gill as well.  If you are interested give me a call at 208-720-3813 or stop by the shop for information.

If your fly box is full and you need a break from the bench it would be worth your while to take a walk in the woods.  The buntings and tanagers have arrived, the wildflowers are blooming and morels are up.  Welcome to spring in the Rockies!

Fish far and fine,

Scott Schnebly

Lost River Outfitter's Fishing report March 20.2015

Mother Nature has thrown us a curve ball.  Who would have thought crocus would bloom in mid March in the Wood River Valley?  Warm weather has played a big role in our water conditions and fishing the past couple of weeks.  Runoff has begun.  Rivers are growing, they are turbid, high and cold.  Our late winter(?) fishing is not panning out to be what we have been used to.  Snow pack is dwindling a month early and it really doesn’t seem to want to change.  A few fronts move through but are not adding much water to our drainages.  Snow water equivalents in most river systems have dropped to 80% or less in the last month.  Here is what we have found in the last few weeks on our rivers. 

Silver Creek

Closed until the Saturday of Memorial Weekend.

The Big Wood

The upper Big Wood fished pretty well last week, but that may have been the end of it, unless we get a serious cold spell, with freezing temperatures at night and cool days.  It is flowing at 412 cfs this morning and is rising.  The silt from the fire runoff is making the river muddy and last fall’s leafy debris is washing.  We may not fish the upper Big Wood now until late June.

The lower Big Wood in the Canyon below Magic has nearly doubled it flows!  Not saying much, but it is at 4.2 cfs.  At these levels it is still water fishery with midge hatches.  A size 20 zebra midge or beaded pheasant tail size 18 under an indicator usually 3-6 feet works well.  On sunny days I usually fish deeper.  On cloudy days or if there is a good midge hatch drift your nymphs closer to the surface.   The denser populations of trout are closer to the dam.  The top two pools are the best fishing due to a fish kill in the canyon reach last summer from low oxygen levels when irrigation waters ceased to flow.

Magic

Magic Reservoir is ice free and trout are beginning to roll on the surface.  The water is cold so wear plenty of under wader wear if you are float tubing.  A green or brown bugger on a sink tip or full sink is generally my choice, but there was a good report of shore fishing with a floating line working for big rainbows last week.

The Lower Lost

The lower Lost is flowing at 96 cfs as it has been for the last two months.  The Lost has been the consistent fishery in our area.  Midge hatches have been prolific after noon.  Baetis hatches started about 1 pm on Monday.  Choose tippets in the 5-6X category as the water is crystal clear.  Best bug and fish activity seems to be in the afternoons.  Zebra midges in brown, green and black are all good.  When the fish begin to pay attention to the surface try a zebra about a foot under a size 14-16 adams or purple haze.  If the baetis hatch is heavy the fish will become selective to the baetis dry or emerger.  A fan wing comparadun trailing shuck is a pretty good match.  The trout in the lower Lost are healthy 14-19 inch trout right now.  They are gathering to spawn in the shallow riffle water, but have not yet gone to gravel in numbers.  There are plenty of feeding fish in the pool water to target.

The South Fork of the Boise is at a steady 314 cfs right now.  Midges and tiny baetis are the predominate bugs right now.  The South Fork is pretty much the same fishing scenario as the lower Lost.  I would not hesitate to cast stonefly imitations into the heavier pocket water and riffle water.  That can be relaxing after dealing with 6X tippets, 14 foot leader tangles, and size 20 flies.

The Salmon River

The Salmon at Yankee Fork is flowing at 1,240 cfs this morning.  Valley Creek is about 260 cfs.  These flows are nearly three times normal for this time of year.  Valley Creek, Basin Creek and Yankee Fork drainages all have recent burns.  These streams feeding the Salmon are running murky and easily put the Salmon out as far as fishing the fly.  The recent warm weather has darkened the water considerably below Valley Creek.  The few miles of river upstream from Valley Creek to the Sawtooth hatchery are clear.  If this continues to be the weather trend it looks like anglers will have to pick a rock and sit on it all day. These are unfortunate conditions this year.  The steelhead arrived early due to a long warm fall run up and a warm winter  migration.  There have been some large B run steelhead in the mix and quite a few bull trout compared to past years.  Whitefish and some cutthroat are also available.  Expect to see more whitefish as the days wear on as they will move up river with the steelhead.

Petition for quality regulations on the upper Lost Copper Basin

We have a petition to change regulations on the upper Lost from a six trout per day limit to a slot limit or catch and release.  It is in the shop.  We would really like some more signatures if you have time to stop in.   Fishing regulations are set for two years, so this is our chance.  The upper Lost continues to see more pressure every year.  Angling pressure will no doubt increase as the road has been improved and paved and as the Big Wood recovers from the silty runoff from the burns in Warm Springs Creek and Baker Creek.  You can also send comments on any regulation you might like changed on the Idaho Fish and Game website idfginfo@idfg.idaho.gov                                                                                                                                       Comments need to be made well before the end of March as that is when the managers submit comment to the Idaho F&G Commission.

Yellowstone

Two open dates are still available in Yellowstone.

June 13-16 on the West side on the Madison, Firehole, Gibbon, and Duck Creek

Sept. 16-18 from the N.E. corner on the Yellowstone, the Lamar, Slough Creek, and Soda Butte.

Call the shop at 208-726-1706 or my cell at 208-720-3813.

Wild fish are too valuable to only be caught once!

Happy fly tying if you can’t get to the river!

Fish far and fine,

Scott Schnebly, Lost River Outfitters

PS By Susanne:

We will be moving into our steelhead lodge on Monday and will hope for some cold nights and cool days. If you 

would like to learn about steelhead fishing on the Upper Salmon, please give us a call. This is always a fun trip.

We also still have some openings for the lodge. Waking up in our lodge is worth the price of admission! It is

a peaceful and beautiful place away from the hustle and bustle of every day life.