silver creek, idaho, part 1

If you love dry fly angling and have read a lot about the sport then you probably have come across a world famous spring creek called, Silver Creek in Idaho. Many consider it one of the most beautiful creeks anywhere. I've wanted to fish it for a long time and recently got the chance. In the past decade I have fished spring creeks much closer to home: Nelson, Armstrong, Depuy, Odell, and Milesnick. This year I had enough time off to make the trip to southern Idaho. It was a long drive: 14 hours with stops. The last couple hours of the drive I crossed a desolate, arid region called Craters of the Moon....no Lunar Vehicle in sight just my speeding Hyundai. Even the Sun Valley region, where I stayed, just north of the creek looked like it was ready to ignite. There were forest fires somewhere as the sky was always smoky. The area is considered a high desert region; lots of Sage brush. You don't expect trout water to exist in such a parched place, but it does. It seeps from the ground; cool, clear and very rich in aquatic and insect life. Through the foresight of Jack Hemingway, son of Ernest, and Guy Bonnivier, and many others, a preserve was created on a good portion of the creek. It is aptly called: Silver Creek Preserve. Many land grants and easements have been negotiated along other sections to ensure the care of the riparian habitat bordering the creek and access. It appears their efforts have in fact "preserved" the creek and it flows silkily as it did a long time ago. The preserve is part of the Nature Conservancy.

Silver Creek Visitor Center

Ernest Hemingway bird hunted along the creek, and finished his novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, while living in Sun Valley (Ketchum).

To fish the preserve section you simply sign in at the Conservancy office and then walk down one of the marked trails to the spring creek; an oasis in a desert plateau. When I signed the daily fishing log book under the heading, Visitors, my heart was racing. Only two other names: one from Bend, Oregon and another from Sweden. Then I was off down one of the trails...