The Valley Sun

One of the exquisite, healthy trout in our local rivers (photo courtesy Bryan Huskey, Silver Creek Outfitters)

Unlike many people who relocate to Sun Valley or become frequent visitors because of our amazing skiing and snowboarding, my family was first drawn to Sun Valley by the area’s world-class fly fishing. Raised by a father who is a consummate fisherman and a mother who also caught the bug, my brother and I were put into waders, handed a fly rod and placed in western trout streams when we no more than eight years old. Fishing was just what we did.

In 1983, the trout streams we waded into were Sun Valley’s. That year, our family’s summer vacation included throwing flies from drift boats in Montana, exploring desolate waters in western Canada and, finally, landing in the Wood River Valley. Before our two-week stay in a Wildflower condo on the Resort property ended, my parents had hired a real estate agent. The fishing, and everything else that comprises a Sun Valley summer, was that good.

Fish on! Just another glorious day fishing in Sun Valley

So, when the winter runoff begins in earnest, when ski runs begin to transition to hiking and biking trails and when facets of bright sunlight bounce off of the currents of the Big Wood River beneath the bridges on my daily errands, my mind turns to fishing.

With May just around the corner, so is fly fishing season. The Big Wood, the river that wends through Hailey and Ketchum, opens on May 25, as does fabled Silver Creek south of Bellevue. According to Silver Creek Outfitters, the area’s leading fly fishing authority with outposts both in the Sun Valley Village and downtown Ketchum, indicators are pointing to good early fishing. According to the shop’s report, “Our snow pack is currently at about 80 percent of average and the Climate Prediction Center at NOAA is calling for below average precipitation for the next several months in Central and Southern Idaho. For the angler, this means the fishing should be good earlier this year on our freestone rivers due to the lower flows and often when the flows are lower, the hatches, like the Green Drake, will also come off a bit earlier.”

Unlike the past two years, when the Big Wood ran high (making for tenuous wading) until well in the early summer, this year’s conditions may let us get our feet wet much earlier. All signs point to productive fishing on this very accessible and very beautiful river in the not-too-distant future, with wade-ability most likely by the end of June.

Bugs! Hatches! Dinner is served! (photo courtesy Bryan Huskey, Silver Creek Outfitters)

For novice anglers or those looking to enhance or refresh their skills as the season begins, Silver Creek Outfitters Fly Fishing 101 Clinics begin on May 4 and continue throughout the summer. These popular two-day classes cover the basics of a sport that may seem intimidating, but really isn’t – from casting to knot tying, bugs to wading. Beginning at the end of June, the shop’s top guides also offer free casting clinics on the lawn in front of the Sun Valley Lodge. 

And if May 25 seems like an awfully long time to wait to cast some line into a ripple, you can fish now on the Big Lost River. This tailwater gem (surrounded by some of the most inspiring, stunning views in the state) is about a two-hour drive from Ketchum near the town of Mackay. Again, Silver Creek Outfitter’s fishing guru reports, “Hatches on the Lost this time of year are a combination of Midge and Baetis and on the right day they can be spectacular. Some fish are spawning in the shallow riffles, so please wade with caution and leave them alone.”

Be sure to stop by the Ketchum location of Silver Creek Outfitters for the best advice on early season fishing (the Sun Valley store will open for the season when the season opens).

If you’re dreaming of clear trout streams, spectacular scenery and lazy lunches riverside, your wait is nearly over. Be sure to get your Idaho fishing license (for a day or a season), check your fly line, air out your waders and boots. And if you haven’t done so already, maybe it’s time to check in with a local realtor. You may get hooked, too.

–RES

Catching (& releasing) is only a part of fly fishing, but it sure is fun

Fly Fishing Film Festival – Benefitting The Nature Conservancy

Friday, July 20

7:00pm; Sun Valley Opera House

Join us for fly fishing stories and adventures on the Sun Valley Opera House big screen.

Enjoy films from here in Idaho and far beyond, crafted by the likes of Felt Soul Media, Todd Moen,

Ryan Peterson, as well as our own Silver Creek Outfitters production.

Ticket Sales:  $15 in advance • Limited Seating

Pre-Party – 5pm at our store in the Sun Valley Mall

Call 208-622-5282 for more information

Product Fair

Saturday, July 21; 10am – 4pm

Silver Creek Outfitters, Ketchum Location

Live art from artist A.D. Maddox

BBQ by Apple’s Bar & Grill

Contact 208-726-5282

Don't miss the Fly Fishing Film Tour this Thursday night at the Sun Valley Opera House most poetic practice

Angling’s most poetic practice

By Mike McKenna

It’s during the cold and quiet days of winter when fly fishing on the Big Wood River is its most poetic. Snow falls, silence reigns, feathered hooks gently float, fishermen are few and far between, trout are hungry, insects bounce about, the wind shows its strength, eyelets freeze, fingertips numb, the river keeps on flowing.

Certainly, winter fishing on the Big Wood is by no means easy. Nor is it as celebrated as its fellow seasons, especially the autumn around here that Hemingway made so famous, "and best of all he loved the fall … leaves floating on the trout streams and above the hills the high blue windless skies."

In the winter, the leaves give way to falling snow and drifting ice. The skies can sometimes be high blue, but are rarely windless. Winter fly fishing in the chilly heart of Idaho usually requires the angler to pack on more layers than a walrus. It also means that outside of local tackle shops and Grumpy’s in Ketchum, most folks will look at you as if you’ve just escaped from a loony bin if you tell them you just went fishing on a day when the temperatures barely hit double digits. And skiers or snowboarders will treat you like you smell funny if they find out you went to the river instead of going up on the mountain.

But that’s okay. Let them think what they will. They just don’t get it anyway. They can’t hear the lyrics of the wintry river or feel the rhythms of the cast. They don’t notice the verses of the rainbows or the tempo of the stoneflies, midges and nymphs. As Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver so brilliantly asked: "And when has happiness ever required much evidence . . . ?"

Landing a rainbow trout on a glorious winter day on the Big Wood River.

WINTER FISHING TIPS from the pros at Silver Creek Outfitters located in the Sun Valley Mall.

. Winter conditions are hazardous and even in its mellow off-season flows the Big Wood River is more powerful than any person. Always err on the side of safety. The river isn’t going anywhere. There’ll be other days to fish.

2. Wading boots must have good soles and be able to handle slick rocks and slippery snow and ice.

3. Always tell someone where you’re going and when you’ll be returning.

4. Keep the fish in the water as much as possible. Handling trout, especially with dry or gloved hands, removes the protective slime layer (a fish’s insulation in the winter), and prolonged exposure to cold air can freeze a trout’s gills.

5. Pick the right flies, Silver Creek Outfitters Dave Faltings has a passion and knowledge for fly fishing that runs stronger than the Big Wood during a monstrous spring run-off. So naturally, he loves to fish in the winter.

"The winter is a great time to fish around here," Dave said. "It’s mostly a midge time of year. The bugs are really small in the winter."

 [Get the basics of winter fly fishing by taking advantage of Silver Creek Outfitters' special winter guide rates: just $300 for one to two people a day, including all the gear right down to the flies. Stop into their Sun Valley Mall location for more details.]

 To read the original version of this fishy story, click here.

Silver Creek Outfitters, located in the Sun Valley Mall, offers FREE casting instruction from 5:30pm  - 6:30pm Tuesdays – Saturdays, through Labor Day weekend!