Henry’s Lake 6-25-2011
Action is starting to slow as fish appear to be dispersing into the lake and midging with warming waters. Peak of damselfly nymph activity is a few weeks away, so look for action to pick up then.
June 2011
Big Lost River 6-25-2011
With flow out of Mackay Dam around 1300 cfs, forget about fishing for a while.
Still Waters 6-25-2011
Same as the last report, action is picking up everywhere. Stick to waters less than fifteen feet deep. The shallower parts of Daniels Reservoir seem to offer the best fishing for the time being. The upper end and the west side, in particular. Try damselfly nymphs, and some innovators are trailing a midge pupa behind them with success. Try the same on Twenty-Four Mile and Chesterfield reservoirs which are improving. Here’s a windy day tactic to try on all these: suspend a damselfly nymph or a small leech pattern under an indicator and let wave action move the fly up & down. Pay attention!
We expect reports on the warm water fisheries to begin coming in. To date cold waters have slowed action, but things are warming up.
South Fork 6/23
I was driving through Hoback and Swan Valley last night so I got to put an eyeball on the river. The Snake river above the reservoir is muddy. The lake is starting to settle out and there is about 2-3 feet of visibility at the Dam. The South Fork looks somewhat clear coming out of the Dam with possibly a 12-18 inches of visibility, until Palisades Creek. At the Spring Creek Bridge the water is off color but you could fish with a large stonefly nymph, bright streamers and glo bugs. It appears that the runoff in starting to back off and the water from the tributaries should be clearing off in the next week or two. Once the tributaries clear up the river will become a aqua green color it will have a few feet of visibility and will start fishing really well. Dirty water will actually produce more fish on the fly with the water this color. Very similar to an overcast day, the fish will feel more protected which means they will eat more aggressively.
If I was going fishing today on the South Fork I would set up a nymph rod with a big bright streamer/leech type of pattern and a rubberleg as a dropper. I would also have a streamer rod set up with a sink tip and a big meaty fly. I would fish the upper section, Dam to Spring Creek.
Yellowstone Park 6-22-2011
Lewis and Shoshone lakes are now ice free. Expect to walk through snow if you walk into Shoshone. Fall River Basin streams remain weeks away from being run-off free. Firehole River remains best stream to fish with BWO, PMD and caddis activity interesting fish. Duck Creek, although running high, is also good fishing. Use anything that resembles an earthworm. Now is the time to fish Trout Lake. Try damselfly nymph, scud, small leech, midge pupa, and snail patterns.
Still Waters 6-22-2011
All of these are coming around to good fishing. Damselfly nymphs on intermediate lines around weed beds in shallow water is the best strategy. Midge pupa patterns under an indicator on a floating line are also effective. Try these everywhere including Daniels, Hawkins, Springfield, and Chesterfield reservoirs. Speaking of Chesterfield Reservoir, much of the land along the west and south shoreline is private property. It is to be crossed by foot traffic only. The landowner has expressed some concern that some cases of vehicle trespass has happened with garbage being left on the property. For many anglers, foot access to the reservoir across this property is the only way to effectively access the reservoir. We do not want to lose this access, so please respect the land owner’s wish of foot travel only.
Warm water species activity you ask? Hasn’t started yet. We need more days of summer this year of cool, wet springtime. We’ll keep posted on when things pick up here.
South Fork 6-21-11
The flow has dropped to 15,100 cfs which means many of the islands won’t be flooded. Generally flows of 16,ooo or higher cover most of the islands. The best patterns to use in these conditions are #4 Bennetts Rubber legs with a San Juan or glo bug dropper.
Henrys Fork 6-21-11
The warm weather has finally arrived so we’ll start to see a big variety of hatches on the lower river near Ashton. Right now there are good hatches of pale morning duns and caddis and soon we should see flav’s and green drakes. In the evening look for gray drakes. When we get these hatches all coming off on the same day you won’t see all types of insects at once. PMD’s and caddis will be the main hatches and the flav’s and green drakes may appear for only hour sometimes less.
The flow is a little high but the water clarity is good.
Still Water 6-18-2011
Action is picking up on all of these. You can credit this improvement to warming waters bringing on some damselfly activity. Not many big emergences yet, but nymphs are moving as water warms. Midges will always be doing the same, so pupa patterns under an indicator will always work. Presentation is more important than pattern selection. Concentrate on shallow waters where vegetation is growing. Plants shelter food forms from scuds, damselfly nymphs, dragonfly nymphs, midges, and leeches. Floating lines are very useful now. Find the taking depth through use of an indicator for any of these. Intermediate lines are best for keeping flies submerged in shallow water this time of year. Fishing deeper water with faster sinking lines comes later in the year when shallows warm to the point where dissolved oxygen levels are uncomfortable for fish.
Big Lost River 6-18-2011
Flow out of Mackay Dam has been stepped up to 500 cfs. Lets’ put walk-in wade fishing on the shelf until it drops at least by half.