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May 2013

Fly Fish Food Jimmy's / 2013 / May (Page 2)

South Fork 5-22

May 22, 2013
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Fishing Reports, South Fork

Just wanted to give you all a heads up on the fishing conditions on the South Fork. Rollin fished yesterday and they caught plenty of fish. He mentioned they caught fish on the riffles and a few on the banks. Egg patterns and San Juan worms were the best flies yesterday. The water clarity is good and the flows are continuing to drop I expect the flows to level out on Friday around 13,000 cfs. If you want to escape the crowds chasing salmon flies on the Henry’s Fork, the South Fork should be a great alternative this weekend.

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Still Waters 5-21-13

May 21, 2013
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Fishing Reports, Still Water

Not much change in activity since our last report. Midge life cycle and damselfly nymph patterns are producing on Chesterfield, Daniels, Hawkins and Twenty-four Mile reservoirs.  Try the upper end of Daniels or around the point just west of the boat dock on Chesterfield.  Better days are ahead, especially when damselfly nymphs become active big time.

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Horseshoe Lake

May 21, 2013
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Articles

Horseshoe Lake

Grayling are tough to find in eastern Idaho. Your best chance of encountering them is in some mountain lakes further west toward Copper Basin and such high locations where they are present because of IDF&G stocking programs. You can also encounter them as wild fish in Yellowstone Park’s Cascade, Grebe and Wolf lakes where occasional individuals escape to the Gibbon and Madison rivers below.  Not far away in Montana wild grayling are also present in upper reaches of the Red Rock, Ruby and Big Hole river drainages.  Fishing all of these require some travel time.  There is, however, a near-by location in eastern Idaho that hosts a put and take grayling population.  That is Horseshoe Lake east of Ashton.  Take the Mesa Falls Scenic Route  (State Highway 47) east out of Ashton to the Green Timber Road, also known as the Cave Falls Road.  Travel east into Targhee National Forest past the Porcupine Creek and Rock Creek crossings.  About a mile past the Rock Creek crossing the signed road to Horseshoe Lake leaves on the left.  It is fairly well maintained and suitable for two-wheel drive passage after drying out from winter snows.  It accesses the north side of Horseshoe Lake and goes on to a youth correctional facility on the east leg of the pond.  Primitive camping locations dot the northwest shoreline where only primitive boat launch facilities are present.  Motorized boats are not allowed on the lake which has no surface outlet and inlet.  Float tubes and pontoon boats are the best bet for fishing here as the shoreline is mainly swampy or timbered.  Along with grayling,  put and take rainbows are present in the lake.  Midge activity is ongoing most of the season, but sometime in June damselflies will emerge to be followed later by speckled duns.   Beginning in the early season with damselfly nymph patterns, moving to dry damsel patterns and on to speckled dun life cycle patterns one can attract grayling the entire season.  Lilly pads dot some of the shoreline, and these locations provide a tip of where to concentrate fishing efforts.  Get out in front of the pads,  that host copious insects, and watch for active fish. Light weight equipment with a floating line is the name of the game here, and I really enjoy presenting with my two-weight system whether it is small nymph, emerger or dry patterns.  When grayling are active catching a few dozen is possible.  A braggin’ size grayling here is a bit over a foot long (but they are beautiful!) meaning that with their small mouths, small flies (#14 on down) are necessary.  You might encounter as many rainbows as grayling, and they range  a bit bigger.  If you camp here, you also have the option of a scramble down the rocks to Robinson Creek where few people fish. It’s a bit of a tough go, but company on the creek is doubtful.  Pocket water cutthroat and brookies will respond well just about any time to your dry and wet offerings here.  But if you are looking for some unique fishing in this part of Idaho, Horseshoe Lake’s grayling population offers it.

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Henry’s Fork 5-21

May 21, 2013
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Fishing Reports, Henry's Fork

Well if you haven’t heard yet, the Salmon Flies are out in full force. You can expect to see good numbers of these stoneflies from Warm River down to Chester Dam. As the week progresses the hatch will begin to move up stream into Island Park. I am expecting Salmon Flies in Box Canyon for the Holiday weekend. The fish will key into the big dries for a few hours during the day. When the fish are not taking the big flies on the surface, fish with nymphs or try a caddis or Yellow Sallie. Streamers is also a good option for those slow times during the hatch. Remember that the fish gorge themselves on the nymphs and the adult flies. This is also the first major hatch that we see in this area and it brings a lot of anglers to the river. Mixing up the patterns or your fishing technique is a good option for showing the fish something different or interesting. That could make all the difference between a 2 fish day and an epic day. Don’t hesitate to call the shop if you have any questions.

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South Fork 5-21

May 21, 2013
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Fishing Reports, South Fork

Flows have begun to decrease on the South Fork. Rollin is fishing it today and will be able to give us a good report tomorrow! Flows are currently at 16,000 cfs and will be dropping this week until they reach a base level around 13,000 cfs. Once this happens the fish will begin to move onto the bank and the riffles. Nymphing is going to be the best option for catching fish right now. Streamers will also be another good option for hooking trout. As things start to warm up in the next few weeks we could see an early Salmon Fly hatch if the reservoir doesn’t fill. We have been told there is sufficient snow in the mountains to fill Palisades, however I am skeptical from what I see in the mountains. If the reservoir does not fill above 60% we will have an early stonefly hatch and the water in August is going to be warm, forcing you to fish early in the morning and late into the evening. Granted this is just a prediction and hopefully (fingers crossed) this will not happen and the lake will fill up.

The flies you need to be fishing the next few days should be San Juan worms, Stonefly nymphs and big bead head nymphs. Weight will be important right now for getting those nymphs to the bottom of the river where the fish are holding. Don’t be afraid to fish split shot and long leaders. In regard to fishing streamers I would still be fishing a slow presentation and making sure I get those streamers as deep as I can with a sink tip line. Switch up fly size and fly color until you find the fish reacting to your streamers.

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Small Streams 5-18-13

May 18, 2013
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Fishing Reports, Small Streams

We fished Henry’s Lake Outlet above Highway 20 yesterday. What a pleasant day to be out fishing with air temps in the mid 50s, very light breeze, and occasional light rain!  We caught some cutts and a few brookies using medium sized streamers.  Trouble was the fish were not present in big numbers like this time last year.  Big part of the reason for this is the flow out of Henry’s Lake has yet to exceed 61 cfs this season.  Don’t expect fishing to pick up here and down below in the Flat Ranch until an increase in flow brings more fish into the outlet.

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Henry’s Fork 05-17-13

May 17, 2013
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Henry's Fork

There have been good number of stone flies that have crawled out near Vernon Bridge, so the stonefly hatch is now underway. There are adults also out in the Warm River to Ashton stretch. In addition to adult stones, look for some caddis action. Some of the best dry fly fishing has been from late afternoon to evening.

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-Today at Jimmys 5-17-13

May 17, 2013
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Today at Jimmy's

Just a quick note.

We received our Yellowstone National Park fishing licenses Yesterday so we are set to sell the 2013 licenses. There have been some changes in the park fishing regulations and we have plenty of copies of the new regs.

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Warmwater 5-14-13

May 15, 2013
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Warmwater

Alright I am excited we now have a section of the fishing reports strictly devoted to the warmwater opportunities in the region! There are a lot of people in the area that really enjoy this type of fishing and it is a fun alternative to the trout fishing we have. We are lucky enough to live in an area where within just a couple hours or so of the shop you can fish for big Smallmouth/Largemouth Bass, perch, bluegill, crappie, catfish, carp and even some tiger musky (although there aren’t a ton of those!). All of these present an awesome challenge on a fly rod and typically fish well all through the summer. So, hopefully a lot of you will use these warmwater reports to help plan your own trip, or maybe convince you to try the warmwater gig for the first time!

 

Right now we are in the beginning stages of the warmwater fishing really kicking into gear. Smallmouth bass are already being caught on the lower Snake River and the smallmouth at Ririe shouldn’t be too far behind as the warm weather continues to move in. Smallmouth will move into really shallow water as it warms up in the spring to get ready for the spawn. This is the best time of year for a fly guy to get into a good fish as most are in water from 2-6ft and will readily take the same streamers you use to catch trout. Largemouth Bass like warmer water then Smallmouth so they are just beginning to wake up in some of the SE Idaho lakes. Until it warms up look for Largemouth to be in areas where they have easy access to both shallow and deep water. The same baitfish imitations you use for trout will work on these early season Largemouth. I have been fishing for Largemouth the last couple weeks and although it isn’t easy fishing, the rewards can be awesome. Most the fish I have seen have been in 5-12 ft of water and aren’t real aggressive so a slower approach has worked better for me.

 

The favorite warmwater fish of the area for most is probably the Bluegill. If you have never tried fishing for Bluegill, you need to do it, those little fish are a blast! I was talking to Jimmy in the shop today about Bluegill and he seemed to think that by this weekend, you could find them back in the trees of Twin Lakes. If we get a cold snap that will push the bluegill back out deeper, but as long as we have decent weather look for the fishing to really heat up! Twin Lakes, Winder, Lamont, Johnson, and really most of the Preston area lakes can have good bluegill fishing, although Twin is the most popular. If you find the bluegill small poppers, and any small beadhead nymphs will get the job done.

As always, we have everything you need to set you up for this type of fishing and anyone in the shop would be happy to help you with any questions you might have about the warmwater fishing in the area.

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Idaho’s Salt River Tributaries

May 14, 2013
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Articles

 

Idaho’s Salt River Tributaries

Extreme eastern Idaho is relatively unknown for many fly-fishers because bypassing the South Fork and such as Big Elk and Palisades creeks is  almost impossible to accomplish.  If you can “tough out ” passing these great fisheries and head south down US Highway 89 in Star Valley, a selection of great small streams await. All flow east into the Salt River, and each seems to host the same: browns  in numbers varying stream to stream and cutthroat in good numbers. In fact, these can be considered cutthroat refuges.  Are they Snake River fine spotted or Yellowstone strains?  Likely a mixture of both as in other Snake River drainage places.  You could enjoy fishing an entire weekend trying your skill on Jackknife, Tincup, Stump and Crow creeks.  Tincup Creek is mainly a riffle and run stream paralleled by Idaho State Highway 34.  Being close to this main highway it is likely the most heavily fished, but that isn’t saying much compared to pressure on South Fork and Palisades Reservoir tributaries.  The other three have county or forest service roads nearby making for easy access.  Jackknife, Stump and Crow and their main tributaries are mainly brushy meadow streams.    All host beaver ponds of holdover quality that should catch your attention if you seek big trout.   The picture above shows Stump Creek just off the Smoky Canyon Road crossing.   Note the beaver pond near the center.  Not far upstream of this location a fly-fishing friend of mine caught a 27-inch brown  a few years back.  He sent me a picture, so I have to believe, assuming this was the true location.   Stream character in this picture is typical of these three streams. Visiting during the springtime (June into early July) mayfly emergence peak can be very rewarding.  All have the usual mayfly arrays emerging including gray and green drakes and PMDs.  If action is slow one one stream, another is reasonably close by. Visiting before the mayfly peak after run-off subsides and beaver ponds are repaired, trout  foraging for leeches can bring very satisfying action.    During summer presenting terrestrial patterns is the best way to find success.  Do not let the size of these streams disappoint you because trophy fish reside here.  You must be stealthy to the utmost.  Or you could come back in the autumn around the end of September when streams remaining connected to the Salt River host run-up brown trout running to sizes respectable in any river.  The trick to success at this time is stealth to the point of appearing to be a natural piece of the surroundings is key.  Stump and Crow creeks would be your best bets to encounter these run-ups ranging up to near six pounds.   Are you getting into the Tenkara presentation technique that is proven so effective for small waters? You could not ask for a better location for trying it than on these streams.  And almost anywhere you try these streams you will solitude to appreciate .

 

 

 

 

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