Two Day love your Sweetheart Sale

My son once told me when asked about presents: Memories and Experiences are always better than THINGS when it comes to gifts.
Well, we have all kinds of things on sale for Presidents' Weekend, but we also wanted to offer a deal on memories and experiences for Valentine's Day. How about going on a guide trip with your Sweetheart or planning a trip to our Stanley Steelhead lodge? Doing things together is what this day is all about!

Fishing report Feb 5,2013

Welcome to April in February.  Not a great deal has changed since last week’s report, except that it has been warmer and the days are brighter.  Our weather this week calls for a bit cooler temperatures with a chance of snow, still very tolerable fishing conditions with highs in the upper 20’s to near freezing.  Our guide trips the last couple of days have had good success nymphing with little ice in both the river and rod guides.

The upper Big Wood is fishing very well with nymphs.  The trout are much growing more active as water temperatures have risen from the January cold spell.  Sporadic midge hatches are showing depending on where you are on the river.   Be prepared to fish the micro stuff, but don’t count on it.  A naked stonefly nymph or girdle bug is a great fly right now.  A tandem set-up with a size 12 beaded nymph followed by a zebra midge in the color of your choice is also working well.  Don’t forget the fluorocarbon when nymphing.  It is very strong and invisible to the fish under water.  If you don’t have it you might stop in the shop and grab a spool of the Trout Hunter fluorocarbon tippet material.  It comes in half X sizes.  When I might use 6X, I am now using 5 ½ X.  It works great, is stronger than regular nylon, and you can land fish more quickly.  It  also comes in 50 meter spools.

The lower Big Wood in the Canyon is fishing very well with streamers or small nymphs.  On our trip yesterday there were very few rising fish, but they fed well on our scud pattern.  I had a beginner couple from Brazil who landed over twenty trout and missed another twenty in a couple of hours.  They had a great introduction to Idaho trout fishing.  Quite a change from their farm in Brazil where they fish Dorado with lures. 

The warm weather has not affected the water quality on Silver Creek.  I visited the creek on the last day of chukar season on Jan. 31^st.  It is flowing crystally clear, there is no ice, and bank access is easy as there is little snow left.   Philo Betto or black buggers on a floating line cast across and down with a mending retrieve and stripped back at the end of the swing is enticing to both the browns and rainbows.

The Lower Lost is flowing at 108 cfs right now, just about perfect.  The same techniques and flies that work on the upper Big Wood will produce on the Lower Lost.  Chances of an encounter with a midge hatch or even a baetis hatch are better on the Lost than the Big Wood right now.

A trip to the South Fork of the Boise would be worth the effort as well.  Midges and micro baetis hatches could bring some fish to the surface right now.  Copper john nymphs dead drifted from the riffles down into the pool water will be effective for numbers of trout.  A report came into the shop yesterday of a 31 ½ inch rainbow landed on a red copper john.  That river grows some over-sized trout, and you could even find a nice bull trout.

Zac is geared for Magic ice fishing.  He reports nice sized perch fillets on his dinner table.  I admit to some bluegill fillets from Carey lake. 

Time to dust off the fly gear and tying vises, most hunting is over and an afternoon on the river is pretty pleasant.  An eagle and a herd of elk topped off our day yesterday.  There is not a much better place to be than the river. 

Tight loops,

Scott Schnebly/Lost River Outfitters

PS: From Susanne:

Just a quick reminder that we have some great clothing items on sale right now! They are not all marked off yet, so be sure to say something when you come into the store! 

All Fall 2013 Puffy Jackets are 25% off, we're doing a little house cleaning in our fishing shirts department, so ALL Ex-Officio clothing is 25% Off right now! All Mountain Hardwear clothing is 25% off as well and so are our winter boots. Great deals on Merino Wool and Baselayer pieces.
 Just come on in and check it out!

Fishing Report....winter fishing in Idaho

Lost River Outfitters Fishing Report Jan. 30, 2013

It’s coming!  Although we have had  quite some cold temperatures this December and January with both Silver Creek and the Big Wood freezing over, our weather is beginning to moderate.  On our last chukar hunt in Oregon last weekend Zac and I experienced slushy, melting snow and an abundance of robins.  Days are growing longer, the sun is higher and warmer, and this week’s daytime temperatures are forecast to be at or above freezing every day.  The pesky guide ice should be almost non-existent in the afternoon.

Our winter fishing opportunities are not as diverse as they are in the summer months, but are generally more productive than any other time of year.  Trout are concentrated in the deep slow water lies right now and the only real challenge will be fly choice and presentation.  Fishing upstream on the Big Wood into the slow deep bucket water with a stonefly nymph size 8 or 10 tied with 4X fluorocarbon tippet six or eight feet from an indicator will work wonders.  Two smaller weighted nymphs a brassie, or copper john, with a zebra midge trailer on 5X and 6X fluorocarbon about 9 feet from your indicator is the choice if the fish are picky to the big nymph.  Look for rising fish in the softest water in the pool if midges begin to hatch.  An indicator parachute adams with a zebra midge, dry midge or midge emerger is the go to set up in that case.  If you find one trout in the winter, you have usually discovered the mother lode. 

Silver Creek is open until the end of February.  Although you can experience some midge hatches, streamer fishing is the most effective way to find fish at this time of year.  It was frozen last week in the morning, but  it should have quite a bit of open water this week.  Black leeches and our own Philo Betto Sculpin are very effective flies fished on a floating line.

Pick a warm day and head to our favorite stretch of water, the lower Lost River.  Winter is the best on that tailwater stream.  Winter flows are just over 100 cfs.  The water temperatures are fairly stable, and midge hatches mixed with the big size 17 baetis can happen on any day starting in the early afternoons.  Make sure to carry some 16-18 pheasant tail nymphs and zebra midges and look to the heads of the pools if you see any hatching occurring.  In some of the deeper rocky pools a stonefly nymph is also a producer.  This is our most consistent dry fly water with both baetis and midges in the late winter months.  It generally peaks in March.

For steelhead this time of year the Clearwater or the Little Salmon are really the only two choices with a fly until it warms a bit more.  Check water levels before departure however.  They can both blow out.

Zac recommends ice fishing at Magic with any color jig tipped with a night crawler for perch or rainbows.  The canyon below Magic is close if you want to hone your skills on a still water fishery with small nymphs under an indicator.  Carey Lake can also be fun for a few bass and many bluegill with your beginning fly fishing partner.  A prince nymph size 12 about 18 inches under an indicator works wonders.

Bird season is nearly gone.  Set up the vices, tie some bugs, and then pick a warm day on the water.  It only gets better from here on.  If you need help finding or tying a pattern, are planning a trip to the flats, need help matching a spey line to a rod, need a double haul or spey casting lesson, interested in a Yellowstone trip next June or September, want to book a steelhead trip for your group at our lodge in Stanley this spring then stop by the shop.  We can help with all of your fishing needs.

 

Tidy loops and tight lines,

Scott Schnebly

Lost River Outfitters

208-726-1706

PS from Susanne: If you don't insist on going out with Scott, we have a special on local winter guide trips: On Mondays and Tuesdays we are giving a $25 discount off our already low winter rate! Help out a starving fishing guide, invite a friend and head out on the Wood with Zac, Frank, Cody, or Chase! Maybe you'll even catch me looking up from the computer while writing orders and convince me to go out there and give you some pointers!

Give us a call at the number above or e-mail me: susanne@lostriveroutfitters.com to get this great deal!

Here are some pictures from our trip to BC in November just to make you jealous.

Take care and see you on the river!