The river is at 12,700 cfs. The flows on the river are continuing to increase. Fish slow pools and tailouts with nymphs for your best results.
The road to Cottonwood will not be open for at least another 2-3 weeks. The forest service will keep this road closed until the wintering wildlife has moved and the road is in drivable condition. We will keep you posted as soon as it opens.
So the last entry that I mentioned that we were going live with our online store Sunday evening. Well we ran into some bus that we had to work out.We want to provide the best secure service to our customers, and we work very hard to make this possible. So we decided to wait a day to launch the store to make dure everything was ready to go and in order to avaid any mistakes and problems.
So the good news is we have gotten everything ready! We are going live this evening with our online store. It will be up and ready for you to check out Wedensday morning. As we continue to to add items to the store we will keep you updated.
Springfield Reservoir has turned over, and fishing success is picking up again. Midge life cycle patterns early and late in the day are the best bets for success. Experiment with depth of pupa patterns below your indicator to find taking depth. Fish shallows and drop offs around springs and the main channel. Small leech, scud and soft hackled streamers work well when presented with a very slow retrieve.
BWOs are emerging from Warm River Confluence on downstream. Best action is during PMs of overcast days and during gentle rains. Midge and skwala emergences are also going on, and a few March browns are showing up. Streamers are always a good bet for larger fish, especially during low light conditions and along streamsides not in direct light. No Fall River run-off yet, so fishing below Chester Dam is a great option as is from the Vernon Bridge to Chester and from Warm River to Ashton. Get in touch for current info as we are picking up experiences from several fly-fishers that are visiting the river in these reaches.
Ramping up of flows out of Palisades Dam continues to make room for run-off expected because of our great March and early April snowfall. Expect flows there to reach 10000 cfs by mid-April and 14000-17000 cfs by the first of May. This puts the “kibosh” on top water fishing here. But streamers and large nymphs presented on fast sinking sink tip lines will bring the best chances for success. Remember that what happens on the South Fork impacts the mainstem Snake River below. If you want a better chance for top water fishing, see our Henry’s Fork report.
The flows got raised today 1000 cfs to put the the flow at 7700 cfs. We are not for sure what they flows will be raised to. We will keep you updated on the fishing conditions as they continue to change and the flows change. I fished today and was able to catch fish on rubberlegs, and red zebra midges today. Fish the upper section in Swan Valley for clear water. The further down river you go the more debri you will find floating down the river. As we get closer to spring time and runoff the conditions of the river will begin to change more frequently we will continue to keep you updated.
The flows on the South Fork have settled out to 6400 cfs. it has been steady for the last 4 days now. I would expect to see these flows stay steady for a couple weeks. We will keep you updated when the flows begin to increasea again. As far as fishing goes nymphing will be your best option for catching fish. Streamers will also produce fish. Remember to slow down those streamer presentations.
Well the time has come, we should be going live with our online store on Monday! This online store will start out with a some basic items like Jimmy’s All Seasons Angler Logo Shirts and Hats. We will also be featuring a closeout section, these items have been marked down to a clearance price, quantaties and sizes are very limited. We will be also selling pre-filled fly boxes for our local rivers. We are very excited for our online store and hope you all like it as well. If you have any suggestion or feedback we are all ears.
We have been getting a lot of new merchandise in the shop as spring continues to try and wake up in the Idaho Falls area. We have received some more tying materials. Raccoon, White Fox, Indigo Fox, and Grey Fox Tails. These are great for tying streamer patterns like Clouser Minnows.
We have also received a large shipment of an instructional fly tying book by Skip Morris, “Fly Tying Made Clear & Simple.” This book retails for $19.95, but we have received a great deal from the publisher and have it marked down to $9.95. This is a great book that has very detailed instructions and photographs that will assist the beginning fly tier or a seasoned fly tier. This book is responsible for teaching many people as they learned how to tie flies.
We have also recieved a Columbia spring order. We have new patterns and colors for the Mens Bonehead shirts. We also have new Columbia mens Aruba 3 Pants. In the womens clothing line we have a new assortment of colors in the Eddyline shirt. We also have recieved the Eddyline Roll up Pant. All of our Columbia clothing has sun protection, and has a well technical design for fishing and outdoor use.
The South Fork has stabalized at 6500 cfs. According to the Bureau of Reclamation this should be the level through mid May and that time the flow will be increased significantly. The water is clear from Palisades Dam through the canyon. Below Byington there is still some color and debris but it will clear in the next day or so. As the water is turned back into the Great Feeder Canal at Heise look for the water to drop in the Lorenzo section.
All boat ramps are now usable except for Cottonwood which won’t open until after April 15th. Some years Cottonwood doesn’t open until after the 15th do to fallen rocks and soft/muddy road surfaces.
The situation at Twin Bridges is the same as last Fall where there is enough water to launch a boat but the channel down to the ramp is still too low float. Its a weird concept to think about but you’ll understand when you see it. If you launch at Byinton you are going to Lorenzo.
The streamer fishing will be very good now through mid May as will the nymph fishing. We recommend using a 15 or 20 foot sink tip for streamers. A Bennetts Brown Rubber Leg Nymph with a glo bug or San Juan dropper is a good combo under a srike indicator.