Silver Creek Outfitters

Silver Creek Outfitters guides the upper Salmon River from the Stanley Basin downstream, citing more than 50 miles of guided access along this freestone stretch. Full-day drift boat trips run $895 for one or two anglers, and the shop also books walk-and-wade trips at $695 for a full day or $525 for a three-quarter day, plus a dedicated spring steelhead float at $795 for one or two anglers; each additional angler is $150. Target species on this stretch include rainbow trout, westslope cutthroat, bull trout and mountain whitefish, along with seasonal runs of steelhead and Chinook salmon. The outfitter describes the setting as alpine, scenic terrain with access to the river year-round.

Silver Creek also appears on the water list here, and the page this outfitter publishes for the creek calls it the crown jewel of western spring creeks and perhaps the most demanding dry fly fishery you will ever encounter. It describes bright, slow-moving water with enormous browns and rainbows consistently rising, fed by strong hatches of aquatic insects all season long.

Silver Creek Outfitters also guides the Big Lost River near Mackay, a tailwater below Mackay Reservoir that the shop sums up as big fish in small water: cool, nutrient-rich flow in a modest channel that grows outsized trout. Rainbows are reported to reach about twenty-five inches, with brook trout and mountain whitefish alongside them, and the signature technique is sight nymphing to large fish, with dry fly chances through a river the shop says is open year round. It warns that the water runs swift and is loaded with woody debris, so hooking a fish there is usually easier than landing one. Because the drive from Ketchum runs an hour and a half to two hours, the Big Lost goes out as a full day only, at 695 dollars for one or two anglers and 150 dollars for a third, and the drive itself is part of the pitch, past Devil’s Bedstead and Mount Borah with moose, antelope, bear and elk regularly seen on the way.

Silver Creek Outfitters also guides the Big Wood River, which the shop calls a Freestone fishery that many veteran fly anglers would dream up if left to design their own fisheries. There is no stocking on the main Big Wood River, so the trout are wild, and the shop describes it as primarily a rainbow and cutt-bow fishery with a healthy population of brown trout, those browns concentrated immediately above and below Magic Reservoir. It is walk-and-wade water rather than a float, with miles upon miles of access and easy wading, and the season runs May 28th through February 26th; the shop reckons the Big Wood is slowly becoming known as one of the most productive winter fisheries in the western United States, with dry fly action alongside nymphing and streamer water. Guided days go out at $450 for a half day, $525 for a three-quarter day and $695 for a full day for one or two anglers, with a third angler added at $150.