Spring creeks are the most difficult to fish for many reasons… crystal clear waters, strong micro-currents, matching the exact size fly, etc…   The best I’ve heard is that the fish have a Masters degree (or Ph.D.) in how NOT to get caught.   Hence, you often get “schooled” when you fish a spring creek.   Well… while we didn’t get “skunked” on Silver Creek, we certainly got schooled.  When you put on a size 20 PMD and the fish want something even smaller, they won’t bite.  When your 7x fly line gets caught by the many micro-currents making your fly float funny, the fish ignore it.  Make a noise wading near a fish, forget it.

Luckily for Barb and I, we had Carl Evenson of Silver Creek Outfitters showing us around the Silver Creek Preserve which is run by The Nature Conservancy.   Carl knew which kind and size of flies seemed to be on the water.  He took us to where fish were rising or hanging out.  It was up to us to deal with the currents which were going every which way, but, we did and we had a great day fishing.

Carl was full of knowledge about fishing Silver Creek as well as the history of the area.  We hiked and fished over 4 miles along the Creek, stumbling upon a huge bull moose and seeing some huge trout.  We even caught a few, even though they weren’t the humongous ones.

In this “guide talk”, Carl shares his story as well as the story of Silver Creek including its iconic hatches.  We hope you enjoy this interview as much as we enjoyed our time on the water with Carl.