Unlock The Secrets to Trout Fishing in Western Creeks

I stood thigh-deep in the chilly water, gob smacked by what I saw in the current sluicing through a break in the streamside alders. Like customers in a bakery, trout took a number, then waited patiently in line to slurp tiny mayflies from the lazy current. Every few casts, a suicidal rainbow would suck in my imitation and streak downstream. I quit after an hour of non-stop action.

Beautiful, reliable, rich in nutrients and insect life and often the first streams to be fishable after a long winter. Those are just some of the reasons fly anglers gravitate to spring creeks this time of year. What better way to start your season than on a crystalline stream where trout beckon and challenge awaits? Author Robert Traver may have been thinking of a spring creek when he wrote his Testament of a Fisherman: “I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds of people are found, which are invariably ugly.”

The fishing often runs the gamut from no-brainer to hair-pulling, with puzzling hatches (or none at all) and fish that don’t suffer foolish anglers gladly. But that’s the attraction: We play a three-dimensional chess game in which a minor gambit can either checkmate your opponent or spook the big rainbow finning in the languid current for all to see and no one to catch.

Pack every fly you own, gas up the rig and bring your A-game to these perennial favorites.

HEMINGWAY COUNTRY

Idaho’s Silver Creek near Picabo is on every angler’s bucket list, and for good reason. Ernest Hemingway fished it and hunted ducks here, and nearly every celebrity angler of the last century has challenged—and were humbled by—the creek’s big rainbows.

Much of it is managed by the Nature Conservancy, and you’ll want to make a reservation for your day on Silver Creek Preserve (usually opening for Memorial Day weekend). Dark slots and glittering riffles, pond-like wide spots, exposed meadow runs and dark corridors of alder and willow all harbor trout. Silver Creek is big, ranging from 25 to 100 feet wide and often up to 10 feet deep. But plenty of water is accessible to wading anglers, the stealthier the better.

To escape the crowds, avoid the water near the Conservancy’s headquarters. As the mob thins toward happy hour, slink back to the water downhill of HQ and tap the trout that smirked at previous anglers’ offerings.

Taking trails branching off Kilpatrick Bridge Road west of headquarters, you’ll find less pressure and narrower stretches of the creek. The “North Access” near Point of Rocks is state-owned and offers a challenging fishing experience with little streamside brush and wary trout in a vast meadow landscape. Throughout Silver Creek, aquatic weed beds grow massive insect populations, and fish are often nestled among the leaves and stalks like a tiger might hide from unsuspecting prey. You’ll lose flies to the vegetative tangle, but occasionally you’ll hook a fish for a brag-worthy photo.

Silver Creek’s trico hatch is legendary, but if your casting isn’t perfect, your offering will likely drag and put off wary trout. Even when your presentation is ideal, trout have thousands of choices, so hooking up is like winning the lottery. But go ahead and buy a ticket, then sneak upstream and drop your fly and slack line into the feeding lane.

Après Trout: Celebrate a hookup with a pint of frosty, malty goodness at Sawtooth Brewery in Ketchum.

HAT IN HAND

Manipulated and manhandled as part of a massive electric-power complex, Northern California’s Hat Creek (open year-round) is diverted, pumped, dumped and dammed as it flows toward the Pit River. Below “Hat 2 Powerhouse,” the stream emerges from massive turbines, bubbling into a lush valley where it resumes its placid flow. From the town of Burney, drive Northeast on Hwy. 299, then look for the small “Hat 2” sign and descend into the valley, which hosts a parking area.

Most anglers slide into the placid current near the powerhouse and flail away. The good stuff runs downstream to a point called “Carbon,” so be creative and stealthy and tie on a long leader. The riffle and island near the parking area can be fished with nymphs to good effect. As temperatures rise, there can be a good evening caddis rise. Trico hatches come off midday.

Dick Galland, former proprietor of Clearwater House on the stream, taught me a move I call the “Hat Creek Sneak.” Cast your tiny fly well up- or downstream of your intended target trout, then raise your rod to create a little drag so you can see the wake, find your fly and follow the drift.

Après Trout: Toast your success streamside with a quaff you picked up ahead of time at the Fall River Brewing Co. Taphouse in Redding.

FORK LIFT

Near Island Park, Idaho, the Henry’s Fork (open all year downstream from Henry’s Lake) might be the biggest spring creek I’ve ever fished. Most use a drift boat here, but the streamside dirt roads near the Railroad Ranch stretch (Harriman State Park) will put you into 7 miles of good bank angling. And by “good,” I mean challenging. Stalk finning trout from directly downstream, wading at a snail’s pace to avoid pushing a cushion of water upstream toward a skittish trout.

The Henry’s Fork’s mirror-like surface is dimpled periodically by big trout. If you’re in a boat, you’re best off throwing flies downstream to minimize spooking fish with your leader. From the bank, hide and crouch, and wade only when necessary.

Après Trout: Celebrate (or commiserate) at “one of the world’s greatest fly-fishing bars” according to Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures, the Last Chance Bar & Grill at TroutHunter Lodge in Island Park.

A RIVER RUNS UNDER IT

I was originally drawn to Lewistown, Mont., for the bird hunting, but my first visit started at the Montana Tavern, where you can gaze through a clear countertop into Big Spring Creek as it wends, underground, through town. And, yes, sometimes you’ll spot a trout.

Southeast of town, a good road parallels the stream as it glides from its origin in a shady park. Much of it is accessible to anglers, with parking areas, good signage and a healthy bit of streamside vegetation. There’s a catch-and-release portion from the Ash Street Bridge to the Big Spring Trout Hatchery, including the East Fork.

You’ll find mats of aquatic vegetation, swirling currents, meadow sections and even a few riffles and deeper pools. Pick your spots, wade carefully, and you might land a rainbow or the rare brown trout. Drop a Cress Bug between weed patches and cross your fingers.

Après Trout: The best burger in the Rocky Mountain West comes from Harry’s Place in Lewistown.

HOT CREEK, HOT FISHING

This spring creek in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains is largely private, but there is a public section near the city of Mammoth Lakes. It sees a lot of pressure near parking areas, but walking a bit puts you into less pressured water and some mighty brown and rainbow trout.

There is a vast menu of hatches and plenty of nymphing action. Sight-fishing deeper pools near the interpretive area and hatchery is mighty tempting, but it’s a low-percentage situation, as the trout have been spooked by better anglers than we mere mortals. Head downstream and fish the pockets and riffly water in the canyon section for a better chance at catching a rainbow or occasional brown. Beware of streamside stinging nettles.

Après Trout: Mammoth Brewery in Mammoth Lakes cranks out excellent brews, along with food favorites like fish and chips, pork belly tacos and spicy meatball sandwiches.

HIT THE ROAD

There are plenty more Western spring creeks well worth discovering. Pristine mineral-rich water harboring lush vegetation and insect life is the stuff of angler’s dreams, taking us back to Izaac Walton and the lore of English chalk streams. We seek the challenges and bragging rights, peak experiences and new vistas, and as Traver says later in his Testament, “because one day I might catch a mermaid.”

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• This article was featured in the May 2025 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe.

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