In the spring and summer, the warm, nutrient-rich water produces swarms of aquatic insects who swim to the surface, dry their wings and take flight. As the bugs skim over the water, fat trout fin upward to sip the insects off the surface, stuffing themselves literally to the gills. The legendary hatches on Idaho's spring-fed creeks attract trout anglers from across the country. Photographer David Stoecklein came to Idaho from Pennsylvania in 1970, saw the landscape and never looked back. Fly-fishing in Idaho remains one of Stoecklein's favorite photo subjects.
Sun Valley lies in the center of Idaho's best trout fishing.
I enjoy the solitude, the feeling of being alone in nature. Stoecklein's photos capture the beauty of Idaho's varied trout streams. Though he often shoots the area's famous spring creeks such as Henry's Fork and Silver Creek, his lens also wanders to mountain lakes and free-stone rivers such as the Big Wood, the Big Lost and countless tributary streams that tumble down mountainsides. Stoecklein notes that Idaho's spring creeks represent only a fraction of the state's fishable water. You can get off the beaten track and discover your own unfished stream.