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May 2014

Jimmy's All Seasons Angler / 2014 / May (Page 2)

South Fork 5-20-14

The South Fork is about as stable as can be this time of year with flow out of Palisades Dam holding at 10300 cfs for several days. Clear and warming up, (currently 47 deg. F. just below the Dam), the river offers good nymph and streamer fishing, and will continue to do so until flow out of the Dam increases to answer irrigation demands.  Rubber leg patterns are the best producers, but smaller zebras, princes, PT’s, and such will work in riffles.  Don’t overlook pitching streamers, especially early and late in the day.

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Henry’s Fork 5-20-14

The season of anticipation is over! That means the big stoneflies are out and flying in the Warm River to Ashton Reservoir section of the river.  Fish are still taking nymphs, but some are keying on egg-laying adults and will tend more to do so in the upcoming days. Look for the big bugs to be out soon below Ashton Dam, and depending on weather, look for a progression of their emergence on the river above Warm River.  Rubberleg patterns as well as any traditional large stonefly nymph pattern will work well, but as time goes by and fish key on more available adults, there is a huge array of effective dry patterns. All you must do is find that big, hungry trout and throw him or her any one of these!  All this being said,don’t forget that some fish may prefer caddis life cycle patterns.

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Yellowstone Park 5-17-14

Park fishing season opens Saturday, May 24th. Between now and then all types of Park fishing licenses and copies of fishing regulations will be delivered to the shop. We will post their arrival in the shop here.

Based on current conditions, look for the Firehole River to offer good fishing for trout responding to BWO and caddis activity.  To a lesser extent the same can be expected on the Gibbon River.  Some early season spawning rainbows will be heading back down the Madison River to Hebgen Lake.  So presenting streamer patterns in the river near the Park’s west boundary could result in an encounter with a trophy rainbow.

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Big Lost River 5-17-14

On May 15th the flow out of Mackay Dam increased from 90 cfs to 500 cfs!  That increase put the “kibash” on easy wading in the river below.  It will also make for tough fishing.

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Henry’s Fork 5-17-14

We have reports of good nymph fishing on the lower river, especially from Warm River to Ashton Reservoir. Large rubber legs and stonefly nymph patterns are producing especially for those folks fly-fishing from a boat.  Fish also are responding to BWO and caddis life cycle patterns with overcast skies or storms being best times for BWO activity.

So far very little water is coming out of Henry’s Lake into the Henry’s Lake Outlet part of the river. This means that few fish are present there.

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Small Streams 5-17-14

Flow out of Blackfoot River Reservoir has been increased to answer downstream irrigation demands. The flow at the Shelley gage, near the mouth of the canyon, has gone from around 200 cfs to 555 cfs in the last two days and likely will go higher. This will put an end to the best fly-fishing on the river below the dam as high and varied flows will be the norm until October.

Run-off in the Willow Creek drainage is nearly over. This will make Willow Creek good fishing, however its tributaries will not open to fishing until July 1st.

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Southwestern Montana 5-17-14

Montana general fishing season opens today. As of yesterday the Madison River below Hebgen Dam was running high and clear, but with warming weather look for Cabin Creek to put in murky water. The ice is off Hebgen Lake, and those fly-fishers wading the north shoreline to present woolly bugger patterns are having good success.

Further west the Beaverhead River is running about 170cfs below Clark Canyon Dam.  Caddis and BWO activities are making for good fishing there. In Clark Canyon Reservoir some fish are cruising the shoreline but more seem to be heading to areas where midge activity is concentrated.

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Stillwater 5/6/14

With the warmer weather we had last week, fishing has picked up on area lakes/reservoirs. Most, if not all lakes have turned over and water quality will continue to improve as the weather does. We have good reports from Blackfoot, Chesterfield, and Daniels this week. Daniels is still probably the most consistent, but Chesterfield and Blackfoot offer you a better shot at a big dog. Concentrate on the upper end of Daniels fishing with various chironomid pupa (summer duck pupa, black sally, chromie) and bloodworms (holo worm sz10) has been good.Fishing with a sinking line has been producing nice fish as well. I would be fishing a black CB, California Leech, or an Olive Mohair Leech.  Chesterfield seems to have woken up a little with a few reports of some real big fish showing up lately. The fish are most likely going to be scattered so cover some water until you find an active group of fish. Fishing an intermediate or type III Line (depending on how deep you are) would be a good bet. A black CB, Olive CB, or Black Mohair leech would be my first picks.  Blackfoot Reservoir has also been fishing really well lately. Blackfoot is usually not a great place if your into lots of fish, but there are some really nice fish in there if you put some time in. The key up there has been covering lots of water. Fishing with a full sinking line and trolling, or wind drifting has been most productive. The area around the dam has been most productive, but anywhere on the reservoir could be good.

It won’t be long now before we start seeing the first Callibaetis of the year, closely followed by the damsels. Stay tuned…

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Today at Jimmy’s 5/6/14

We just wanted to let everyone know we still have three slots available for the Spey Casting Class with Mike McCune and Whitney Gould on Sunday May 18th. If you are interested or would like more information on this class, please give us a call at the shop. This is an awesome opportunity to hone your skills as a caster or learn the basics if you are new to Spey casting!

Also, the Snake River Cutthroats are putting on a Free Casting Clinic TODAY May 6th and Thursday May 8th. This free clinic starts at 6:30 both days does not require you to sign up in advance. This will be a great time so be sure to attend!

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Big Lost River 5-3-14

Flow out of Mackay Dam is about 80 cfs. This means wading in the river below is easy. Midge and some BWO emergences still attract fish here, but flows are sure to increase when irrigation demands kick in. We will report here when this increase takes place.

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