Rick J
08-11-2008, 11:56 AM
Three of us left Thursday July 31 from Reno and drove to Silver Creek (around 8 hour drive) and pulled into the Loving Creek (Hayspur) Camp Ground late evening and set up camp
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008026.jpg
Got up next moring around 6:15 and drove to the Picabo Store to fill up tubes. We have mainly been fishing below the Kilpatrick Bridge between the bridge and the dam the last 10 years or so to get away from the crowds. When fishing the creek, you often had to get to a spot and stand in the creek over an hour before any hatches or you would get hole hopped and you still might get pretty boxed in. So we use tubes and float the lower end of the creek. You do not want fins - it is almost all wadable but thick silt requires you use a tube (U-boats and pontoon boats will not work - you need a round tube)
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008003.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008005.jpg
Early there were various bugs around - mostly Callibaetis spinners that you could fish and dredge up a few fish. Around 8 the Trico duns started hatching - emergers and size 24 no-hackles seemed to work best - I can't tie no-hakcles but Silver Creek Outfitters in Ketchum carries them. Generally the spinners started dropping around 9 - wind dependent. This would go on until 10 to as late as noon. Baetis would also be showing up in the middle with some Callibaetis duns and spinners.
Wind came up often and kinda reeked havoc on the spinners plus the casting was a challenge with a 9' leader and 5'+ of 7x tippet - definitely required good technique in slack line casting to turn that bug over and find it on the water - especially a size 24 trico spinner or 26 Baetis spinner that is not an easy thing to see.
Have I mentioned I just love this klind of fishing :) If I only had to chose one it would be srping creeks!
Here are a few shots of fishing and fish:
Don with a downstream drift:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008009.jpg
Don hooked up:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008016.jpg
Notice the geese in the background!
Have I mentioned I hate geese and ducks :( They seem to manage to always come flying or paddling right into the pod of fish I am fishing to!!
Here are a couple of not very good fish shots - not easy to manipulate a rod, net and camera :?
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008010.jpg
Note the size 24 bug in the jaw:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008015.jpg
By noon things generally quit and we headed back to camp to nap, drive to town, tie flies or watch movies.
This year the evenings were not great. Past years we would get really good callibaetis hatches near dark followed by a spinner fall. Hatches were sporadic at best and generally little happened until 30 minutes before dark - you definitely had to stay out until the bitter end to get much of a shot at fish - and this was really the first time I can remember that the most prolific evening hatch were tricos - don't think I have seen them hatch at night before. Again the wind would really hammer us on some evenings.
During the heavy winds in the AM and PM I would go to a size 18 no-hackle and using a very short cast (no more tha 10' of fly line and often only 5) just float down and pop my fly right along the weed edges and this proved very successful even if fishing blind which I normally don't do much of.
Monday Don's two sons and one grand son showed up to liven things up
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008025.jpg
The weather was sunny but pretty windy until the last couple of days when thunder storms came in and then it was cloudy, rainy and windy but some good hatches before the wind would blow things up
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008023.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008021.jpg.
I am pretty concerned about the shape of the creek - lots of sediment seems to be moving through, seems to be fewer and smaller fish and we observed quite a few dead or dying large browns. But all in all it was great trip - catching was not as good as some past years but fishing is alwasys good.
Our last morning (Sat August 9) we fished until around 10:30 then packed up and drove home
Last morning - early light:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008029.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008026.jpg
Got up next moring around 6:15 and drove to the Picabo Store to fill up tubes. We have mainly been fishing below the Kilpatrick Bridge between the bridge and the dam the last 10 years or so to get away from the crowds. When fishing the creek, you often had to get to a spot and stand in the creek over an hour before any hatches or you would get hole hopped and you still might get pretty boxed in. So we use tubes and float the lower end of the creek. You do not want fins - it is almost all wadable but thick silt requires you use a tube (U-boats and pontoon boats will not work - you need a round tube)
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008003.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008005.jpg
Early there were various bugs around - mostly Callibaetis spinners that you could fish and dredge up a few fish. Around 8 the Trico duns started hatching - emergers and size 24 no-hackles seemed to work best - I can't tie no-hakcles but Silver Creek Outfitters in Ketchum carries them. Generally the spinners started dropping around 9 - wind dependent. This would go on until 10 to as late as noon. Baetis would also be showing up in the middle with some Callibaetis duns and spinners.
Wind came up often and kinda reeked havoc on the spinners plus the casting was a challenge with a 9' leader and 5'+ of 7x tippet - definitely required good technique in slack line casting to turn that bug over and find it on the water - especially a size 24 trico spinner or 26 Baetis spinner that is not an easy thing to see.
Have I mentioned I just love this klind of fishing :) If I only had to chose one it would be srping creeks!
Here are a few shots of fishing and fish:
Don with a downstream drift:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008009.jpg
Don hooked up:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008016.jpg
Notice the geese in the background!
Have I mentioned I hate geese and ducks :( They seem to manage to always come flying or paddling right into the pod of fish I am fishing to!!
Here are a couple of not very good fish shots - not easy to manipulate a rod, net and camera :?
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008010.jpg
Note the size 24 bug in the jaw:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008015.jpg
By noon things generally quit and we headed back to camp to nap, drive to town, tie flies or watch movies.
This year the evenings were not great. Past years we would get really good callibaetis hatches near dark followed by a spinner fall. Hatches were sporadic at best and generally little happened until 30 minutes before dark - you definitely had to stay out until the bitter end to get much of a shot at fish - and this was really the first time I can remember that the most prolific evening hatch were tricos - don't think I have seen them hatch at night before. Again the wind would really hammer us on some evenings.
During the heavy winds in the AM and PM I would go to a size 18 no-hackle and using a very short cast (no more tha 10' of fly line and often only 5) just float down and pop my fly right along the weed edges and this proved very successful even if fishing blind which I normally don't do much of.
Monday Don's two sons and one grand son showed up to liven things up
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008025.jpg
The weather was sunny but pretty windy until the last couple of days when thunder storms came in and then it was cloudy, rainy and windy but some good hatches before the wind would blow things up
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008023.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008021.jpg.
I am pretty concerned about the shape of the creek - lots of sediment seems to be moving through, seems to be fewer and smaller fish and we observed quite a few dead or dying large browns. But all in all it was great trip - catching was not as good as some past years but fishing is alwasys good.
Our last morning (Sat August 9) we fished until around 10:30 then packed up and drove home
Last morning - early light:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/SilverCreek-2008029.jpg