Known by many Idaho guides as the graduate school of fly fishing, Silver Creek is a spring creek flowing out of aquifers into a desert region that runs north and south of US 20 near Picabo, Idaho. In the 1940s and 50s this stream became one of the most important fishing addresses in the world. Affluent anglers made annual pilgrimages to the area and, as was the custom of the day, took record sized fish from the waters to be mounted on walls or for memorable photos. As happened on most eastern trout streams, the wild fish in Silver Creek dwindled in numbers.
Fortunately Ernest Hemingway moved into the area and in 1975 his son Jack led a group of sportsmen who bought up precious land and turned much of the river into Nature Conservancy land now known as the Silver Creek Preserve. The wild fish came back under fly fishing and catch and release only rules established by Hemingway as a member of the Idaho Fish and Game Commission.
I was well aware of the difficulties in fishing spring creeks, having fished other Top 100 trout streams such as the Retort Spring Run in Pennsylvania, Hat Creek in California and the Armstrong’s and Nelson’s Spring Creeks in Montana. The basic problem in fishing spring creeks is they are full of natural food in the stream. That’s why the trout get so big and that’s why they look at your pathetic fly every which way and refuse it. The streams are crystal clear and the bottoms have long wavy grasses. So the trout can easily see you and not vice-versa.
So how does one catch these fish? Long leaders (15 feet and longer), fine leaders (7x about the size of a fine hair from your head), tiny flies you can hardly see, fly drifts that present no drag, downstream presentations, etc. You get the picture?
So even though I had caught spring creek trout before, to be honest I wondered if I would catch one on this river. So I do what I always do in these situations, I get a guide.
His name is Andrew and he was a 2012 graduate of Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Ok, so I knew we were going to hit it off and I knew he had to be good to give up a career in Business Administration to become a trout fishing guide in Idaho.
We met Andrew at the fly shop in Picabo at 1:00 pm and headed off to the Silver Creek Preserve. Carol followed us in the van because she wasn’t sure she wanted to watch me fish for six hours in the sun. “Did you like tubing?” Andrew asked. “I know what it is and have watched others tubing, but I haven’t done it and I’m willing to try.” So off we go walking along a path in the knee-high grass with Andrew carrying both tubes, me with Andrew’s 10 foot, 4-weight, $900 Scott rod, and Carol behind me.
A quarter-mile later Andrew shows me how to get into my tube. Now you must realize this water is cold (50-55 degrees F). I have on my waders and a pair of warm socks, but still it’s not like tubing Craig Creek in the summertime back home. Andrew ties on a 15- to 18-foot leader and a tiny fly that I can hardly see when it hits the water. Carol heads on walking downstream while trout rise all around us. Fortunately the wind is gentle but even a gentle crosswind makes casting a 15-18 foot leader difficult. But I’m not too bad. I get the flies to where Andrew asks me to place them most of the time. No takers. Not only that, my casting has put down all the fish that were rising.
Andrew (guide on the left) and Jack (on right with rod in hand)
OK, so it takes me awhile to warm up and Andrew is patient. I take comfort in knowing that Andrew has seen much worse fly casters than me. Suddenly a fish rises to my fly and takes it. I hook him, but he’s off just as fast as he got on. Andrew’s happy because he knows he found an imitation fly that matches what the trout are eating.
Then the trout stop rising. We move a little downstream where they are rising again…sporadically. Andrew changes flies. I get some takes but no hookups. Then a rainbow grabs my fly and takes off. He fights hard and runs my reel. We land him. To my surprise he’s smaller than I thought he was. He’s around 9 inches and fought like a 12 to 13 inch trout. Andrew agrees that the trout in Silver Creek are hard fighters.
Then we seem to go into a period when no trout are rising. Andrew tries everything, I get good drifts, but nothing. Andrew puts on nymphs, nothing. Andrew asks if I’m willing to try streamers (minnow and damsel fly imitations). Andrews leaves on the long leaders, which makes casting more difficult because of the wind resistance of the streamer. I get strikes but no hookups. Andrew takes off the long leader and puts on a shorter leader.
Several casts later I get a strike and when I set the hook it feels like a log. Suddenly the log bursts out of the water in front of me. It’s the biggest trout I have ever had on. He takes another leap. Carol who is on the shore near enough to see it jump thinks it’s the biggest trout she ever saw. The trout runs my reel, I keep my rod high and keep on the pressure. The trout makes another gigantic leap. My line goes slack. I look at Andrew, he’s as disappointed as I am. I asked what I did wrong. He says, “You did nothing wrong. The trout just did what was right. That’s how he got to be so big.” Andrew’s happy, I finally got to see just how big the trout can be in Silver Creek.
Further downstream I hook into another rainbow. To my surprise he fights hard but doesn’t take to the air. I figure it’s a brown trout. That’s usually the way they fight. But no, it’s a rainbow maybe 15 inches. Andrew snaps a photo of me holding the fish.
Fish on! Jack holds rod high as Andrew maneuvers in with a net.
We fish down to the Kilpatrick Bridge where we have to take out. I’m tired and cold. Andrew wants to fish more, but I say no. Carol walks back with Andrew to get the cars. I begin to shiver and my teeth chatter. No doubt I am very cold—probably somewhat hypothermic. When Carol arrives I climb into the van and take my waders off. I am soaked from the chest down. My waders had a leak and I didn't notice it until I stood up out of the water into a breeze. Drying off quickly and putting on warm clothes and a heavy jacket — and drinking some hot tea — brought me back to normal. It’s great to have a wife who is a nurse, and a guide that put me into fish on Silver Creek!
By the way, Carol took the following photos of fish near the edge of the bank as she walked along.
This trout is about 15 inches long. Note green grass growing on bottom.
Note shadow cast by the sun. The trout is probably in 3 feet of water.
This trout is also casting a shadow on the bottom.
Note green grass where trout hide when you are fishing for them.
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