Annual Silver Creek trip

[Rick J]

Orur annual Silver Creek Trip is fast approaching - I leave for Don's tomorrow for around 10 days and we take off at 0'dark:30 Thursday in time to fish the evening - hope for some PMDs duns and spinners as well as Callibaetis. In the AM we should be finding Baetis and tricos as well as Callibaetis. Been fishing with Don here for over 25 years and it has it s ups and downs but if I had just one place to fish this would be it! Got Bill to join us one year for some great times!!!

Hope that Bob Kelly will join us for a few days - a retired professor from HSU who taught adult ed flyfishing classes at Humboldt. Bruce S and I were lucky enough to help teach that class with him for over 15 years which did more for my casting abilities than anything else - Bob taught me so much about slack line casting

Here is a photo of Bob and I last year at SC

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/DSCN3169.jpg

[michaeln]

Hope you guys have a great trip, Rick! We need a report with plenty of pictures when you return, please.

[lynnwhite44]

Have fun Rick. I've fished the creek about 4 years straight but can't make it this year. One year the pmd's were amazing and another year we experienced the Trico hatch...crazy. Don't forget to hit the Wood and the Big Lost.

[flyfishnevada]

Can't wait to read the report and see the pics. Good luck!!

[jstuart]

My dad is headed out there too and I am coming by the middle of next week. We heard the water is down and bit and the tricos should be rolling by then. We've gone the last 5 years or so and this is the latest we have left but could be helpful because of the water levels. I didnt think it would matter with the spring creek but apparently it still does.

Anyway, good luck and I'm sure we'll see you there!

[Rick J]

Well, we left Don's in Portola Thursday at 4 AM and headed east - got to the creek around 3 PM and set up camp - three of us on this trip - Don, Mike and me

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/SilverCreek-2008026.jpg

Photo of Silver Creek from on the ridge though we normally fish below the Conservancy and Kilpatrick's Bridge in the tube area -normally less crowded.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/DSCN3813.jpg

Set out in tubes in the evening and caught a couple of nice sunset photos. fair hatch of Callibaetis and spinners that followed and managed a few fish - off the water at around 10

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/DSCN3771.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/P7300273.jpg

Hit it early - around 7 for the sunrise

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/DSCN3777.jpg

Some nice fish early on trico duns

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/DSCN3769.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/DSCN3795.jpg

Off around 12 and rested and went to town then back for the evening - Mike with nice 17-18" fish to net and releasing

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/DSCN3801.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/DSCN3803.jpg

Weather on the trip was squirrly with thunder storms and wind and cool temps which impacted hatches and in particular spinner falls - there would often be hundreds of spinners in the air both in the morning - tricos and baetis; and the evenings with Callibaetis but they often did not fall in great numbers!

We were fishing below Kilpatrick's Bridge in tubes - the water is often shallow but very muddy so you need tube for support - water was up a bit which opened up the huge flat to fish - you crawl around on your knees and creep up on cruising fish - really plays hell on wader knees - I pretty much destroyed an older pair of Simms by end of trip - had more aquaseal than gortex on the knees!!! Here is a photo of the wide flats where I spent much of my time.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/DSCN3780.jpg

Here is a couple of photos of nice fish - The fish population is very healthy this year with lots if fish in the 15 to 19" range - we all hooked one or two that made it to our backing and beyond!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/P8040276.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/P8050277.jpg

Some of our best fishing came on Trico duns that hatched early morning before the spinners hit - the no-hackle was probably my most successful fly

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/DSCN3791.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/DSCN3784.jpg

Probably more important than tricos were the thousands of baetis - I am sure all have heard of a definition of small bugs as LTF's - we heard another description for the Baetis - MFB's - Micro F---- Baetis - these are small typically size 24 duns and spinners and tough to pick out on the water.

Here is Don searching for cruisers - and success - nice 18" fish

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/DSCN3808.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/DSCN3810.jpg

Another nice fish - a brown this time to Don's net!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/P8030275.jpg

Finally another couple of fish shots to close!!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/P8050279.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/RickJ/Silver%20Creek%202010/P8050280.jpg

We ran in to Dan Bolden and his Dad from the board - nice to put a face to a name.

Fishing could have been better though we had a few super days and some not so good days - manged one nice fish over 20". Half way through the trip I managed to drop my camera in the water - so a waterproof/ shockproof camera is on my immediate list!!! Can't wait for next year!!!!

[michaeln]

Thanks for the report, Rick. Looks like a good time was had by all. That last picture is my favorite, the fish looks so wet and ready to go back swimming!

[CW]

Rick:
Thank you for incredible pictures and read! Take more trips and keep the reports coming.

[stanbery]

Silver creek looks like a nice place to tube.
Thanks for the pictures.

Jon

[Kneedeep]

Very nice report. Congratulations on your success and thanks for sharing the pics.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

That reminds me of that same annual trip of Rick and Don's in about 1887 that I got to go on.

I had just bought a new Chevy Suburban so I think that was why I got to go.

It was one of my best fishing trips ever.

Don & Rick are extremely good fly fishers and both retired guides now so I was given lots of help.

I had just bought a new Sage 490-2 LL rod with a new CFO III reel and a new Peach Cortland 444 line. To break it in I caught a big, over 20" Rainbow at the Railroad Ranch with it on a PMD I had just purchased from Mike Lawson's shop.

We have lots of folks who go on an annual trip to ID/MT every summer.

Hope everyone gets to make a trip like that some day.

[michaeln]

That reminds me of that same annual trip of Rick and Don's in about 1887 that I got to go on.

Wow, you guys are older than I thought!