Something new at Jimmy’s is the women’s section. The shop has expanded its women’s section with new technical clothing/jackets from Simms and Patagonia, new summer footwear from Simms, and finally wading gear from Redington, Simms, and Patagonia. The fishing wear looks great and stop by to see the new women’s section. 
Everything we have heard so far indicates slow fishing. Could it be that the ice going off somewhat early warmed the lake enough to move fish away from the shoreline and out into the lake and around springs? Hard to say, but it might be best to seek out the springs and try early season leech and midge pupa patterns. One thing for sure is that with only 60 cfs going out of the lake and fish having move away from shallows, not many have been flushed into the outlet below. So there are still plenty of fish around, and it is just a matter of finding them.
Here’s some interesting info about 24-Mile Reservoir: folks with fish finders say there are fish in deepest water just above the dam. Chesterfield Reservoir remains slow fishing, but the Portneuf river below is in good shape. Daniels Reservoir is fishing nicely with the upper area springs being the best location. Try your favorite damselfly nymph pattern, small black or olive leech pattern, callibaetis nymph pattern, or midge pupa pattern under an indicator. Springfield Reservoir is also fishing very well. Try the same strategy as given above for Daniels, and don’t overlook trying in front of the culverts. Conditions at Treasureton Reservoir are being monitored because of the impact of “Johnny Appleseed” introduced largemouth bass on rainbow trout population. Being considered, amongst other options, is whether or not to chemically treat the reservoir to regain its renown as a trophy rainbow trout fishery. IDF&G Southeast Region personnel in Pocatello would appreciate your input.
Run-off remains in all streams draining high country. This includes Palisades Reservoir tributaries, although Bear and McCoy Creeks can be fished with some success. Sucker spawning runs in these creeks attract large trout from the reservoir, many of which are also spawning. This also applies to Salt River tributaries (Crow, Jackknife, Stump & Tincup Creeks) where sucker runs also attract large trout from the river. Variable flows in the lower Blackfoot River make for tough fishing, and the river above the reservoir is closed to fishing until July 1st. Warm River offers good fishing for those presenting caddisfly, PMD, and yellow sally life cycle patterns. Don’t overlook trying an adult golden stonefly pattern near the cascades. Birch Creek is in ideal condition, and the family fishing area above Lone Pine is a superb location for taking an entry level fly-fisher to accumulate experience in a hurry. Fish are not large here, but they are very active during mid-day hours looking for caddisfly, yellow sally, and PMD emergences, so their life cycle as well as traditional attractor patterns bring plenty of action.
The Ashton-Flagg Road is closed from South Boone Creek on east. Road damage from there to Calf Creek Hill needs repair and snow is on the road above. So several more days of closure are likely. Warm weather is increasing snow melt on plateaus above Fall River Basin, thus expect its streams to continue to rise and cool. Lewis and Shoshone Lakes are ice free and fishing will be good for the rest of the month for those who fish from boats. Best success will be around submerged weed beds where leech, scud, and streamer patterns presented on full-sink lines work best. Expect good streamer fishing on Lewis River Channel before and after boat traffic passes. The Firehole River offers good early season fishing thanks to BWO, caddisfly, and white miller hatches. Expect plenty of company there! Most Hebgen Lake ‘bows are out of the Madison River within the Park. Look for resident fish there to respond to caddisfly and upcoming PMD emergences.
The South Fork has been fishing well with nymphs throughout the whole river. Although the river has been raised to 16200 cfs and will continue to stay at this high level for a week. Because the river is high, lots of logs and other structure are floating through the river. I recommend floating the river up in Swan Valley for a much safer trip and the nymph fishing has been best there. Lastly, the streamer fishing has been best with a bright colored streamers along the banks.
Flies for the South Fork:
Nymphs: Pats Brown Rubber Leg size 6, Red Copper John size 14, Psycho Prince size 14
Streamers: Gallop’s Dungeon Yellow, Kreelix Minnow Copper/Gold, Gallop’s White Peanut Envy
The fishing has been good on the Henry’s Fork. The Salmon flies are finished, but the Golden-stone fishing has been good from Stone Bridge down to Fun Farm bridge. Also in that section, I would start to look for Green Drake and Flavs from mid-day on. There has been a good pmd spinner fall in the morning and then with good Caddis fishing right before dark. Finally, if all else seems to fail for dry fly fishing, you could put on nymphs and fish the slots and rocks out in the middle of the river.
Flies that I would use on the those sections are:
Dry Flies:
Super Chernobyl Golden Yellow size 8 & 10, Olive Hares Ear Parachute Adams size 12, D&D Cripple Green Drake size 10, Rusty Biot Spinner size 16 & 18, Improved X Caddis Tan & Olive size 14 &16
Nymphs:
Pats Tan/Brown Rubber Leg size 8, Red Copper John size 16, Psycho Prince size 18, Crystal Golden Stone size 10
An important message came to us from the Henry’s Fork Foundation. Take a look at it below if you plan to fish the Box Canyon-Last Chance part of the river.
| If you’re fishing the Henry’s Fork this weekend, please see the important message below regarding flows out of Island Park Dam and conditions in Box Canyon today [6/4/2016]:
Over the past 48 hours, turbines at Island Park Dam have been tripping off and the control system is not functioning properly. Fall River Rural Electric Cooperative has shut off the turbines and is working to set the west side gates at 650 cfs until full repairs are made. Flows will be stable through the remainder of the weekend, but conditions could be variable in Box Canyon today. Any future updates to this report will be shared via email and posted on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/HenrysFork/ |
Flow out of Palisades Dam is ramping up partly because of Magic Valley irrigation demands. Flow has been increased each day this month and now is 15000 cfs out of the dam. Is this also the start of a flush? We’ll keep an eye on how flows proceed and put that information here.
Firehole is fishing very well, but there may be more folks fishing than there are fish! Caddis and BWO life cycle patterns work well, and white millers should show any day. Duck Creek is in great shape, but where are those big browns. Other than that, ‘bows and brookies respond to such as dragonfly and damselfly nymph patterns. Some Hebgen Lake bows remain in the Madison River moving back to the lake. Best place to encounter them would be presenting streamer patterns around Baker’s Hole. Fall River Basin streams have been in good shape recently with resident trout responding to streamers. Warmer weather could bring run-off from snow remaining on the plateaus at the top of the drainage. Ashton-Flagg Road west end remains closed at Calf Creek Hill.