Henry’s Lake 6-26-12
Off-shore fishing is best in front of cliffs and creek mouths. Use small leech patterns of your choice. All seem to be working. Damselflies should soon be active soon, so fishing close to shore around weed beds will pick upmore.
June 2012
Yellowstone Park 6-26-12
Still a lot of run-off coming down Fall River Basin streams. Firehole River still fishing good (PMDs, white millers, other caddis), but warming up. PMDs and caddis are bringing action on the Madison River. Look for brown drakes soon making for great evening fishing on Duck Creek and meadow reaches of the upper Gibbon River. Shoshone Lake is rewarding anglers who venture out to its weed beds with juvenile lake trout and some terrific browns. Better hurry if you want to enjoy some huge cut-bow hybrids in Trout Lake. It”ll begin warming soon and fish will become less active.
Henry’s Fork 6-26-12
Gray drake emergence on the lower river was pretty sporadic this year. It’s pretty much over now, but green drakes, flavs, PMDs, and gobs of caddis are active. Fish are responding to these between Ashton & Chester dams. Late afternoons are best times for fishing, especially after 7 PM when wind begins to die and most folks are gone from the river. Yes, the river is somewhat discolored because of activity at Ashton Dam, but that does not seem to hurt the fishing much. From Warm River to Aston same emergences are going on, but fish will take a dry golden stone pattern, too.
South Fork 6-26
Flows were increased last night to 12,000 cfs. The increase is due to irrigation demand and unfortunately we do not get any word when these increases will happen. Things will settle down in a day or two and the fishing will be back at it. As Jimmy mentioned yesterday lots of Yellow Sallies on the lower river and some PMD’s. I was in the canyon Sat. and we had really good success on stonefly nymphs, yellow sally nymphs, Zebra Midges and Lighting bugs. I didn’t have any fish hit the indicator so I didn’t throw any dry flies with droppers. I still found most of my fish in the gravel bars and side channels. I did however pick up a few fish on the bank which means they are starting to move out of the winter water. A beetle or ant would work this time of year if your really needed a dry fly fix.
South Fork 6-25-12
As you can imagine we are getting a lot of calls to see if the big salmon flies have started to hatch in the lower river around Ririe. We still haven’t seen any of the big bugs but we are seeing a lot of yellow sallies and pale morning duns. The big stones should appear sometime this week. Over the weekend we had had some good but brief action on the riffles in the afternoon. The most consistent action is still with nymphs and streamers.
Yellowstone Park 6-23-12
Shoshone and Lewis lakes are fishing very well for those using boats. Look for weed beds and use full sink lines to present small leech patterns or lead-free fly rod jigs there. Firehole River is still a great location for life cycle PMD and BWO patterns. Don’t overlook white miller patterns. Madison River PMDs are attracting fish, too. Trout Lake is open now and should remain good fishing for another week or two. Here is your chance to encounter the biggest cut-bow hybrids in the Park. Fall River Basin streams will be better fishing when run-off leaves in a week or so.
Still Waters 6-23-12
Fish are keying on damselfly nymphs on all reservoirs now. Use a slow troll of your favorite nymph pattern in shallow waters. Look for submerged vegetation for best fishing.
Small Streams 6-23-12
The Ashton-Flagg road is open to four-wheel drive vehicles. Soft places in the road must dry up for a two-wheel drive traffic recommendation. Warm weather will help this happen. Fall River Basin and Teton River Basin streams draining high country remain high with run-off. All others are in great fishing shape. Get in touch with us to find the best of these at any time.
Henry’s Fork 6-22
The Lower Henry’s Fork near Ashton has been fishing well. Early morning fishing consists of an adult Golden Stone (CFO Flammer Ant size 6) with a dropper such as a Red Copper John size 16. Noon fishing would be PMDs from 12 o’clock to 3 o’clock. From 5 o’clock to 7 o’clock Flavs (size 14) were coming off with fish taking them on the flats. Finally from 8 o’clock to dark, an improved x-caddis tan size 16 and 18 was the ticket. There are also some Gray drakes.
South Fork 6-22
Flows were bumped yesterday to 11,000 cfs. This shouldn’t effect the fishing too much and I expect it to be back on track by the end of the day. Yellow Sallies, caddis and some PMD’s have begun to hatch. No news on the big Salmon Flies yet but I am expecting them to start staging within this next week. Fish have been responsive to dry flies presented on the surface. I would say the dry fly fishing is moderate at best right now but the nymphing is really good. As always call the shop and we will answer any questions you might have.