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June 2017

Fly Fish Food Jimmy's / 2017 / June

South Fork 6/29/2017

June 29, 2017
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Fishing Reports, South Fork

The river at Irwin is running at 21,000 cfs, and the inflow excluding the small creeks coming into palisades is roughly 23,000. The river is still high and dirty, and considered dangerous for most to be out floating. As for the wade angler, you still need to be careful about being near the river bank as erosion has been occurring at a high rate with the flows being up, and could give way. Those people who have been brave enough to get on the river are catching fish on rubberlegs and San Juan worms. Fishing the softer water with deep nymph rigs and a fair amount of weight has been producing fish.

The Salmonflies are out in good numbers, but the clarity of the water has been keeping fish from eating on the surface. My suggestion is to wait until the river drops and clears. The gravel bars this year should be holding some really nice fish that have not been getting any pressure, and have been gorging themselves on nymphs and worms.  Yes, these are tough times folks, but let’s just stay hopeful. The fishing after run-off should be pretty great, and the river is going to give us a whole new look than we have had the previous few. Should be interesting.

If your looking for something to do in the mean time, the Henry’s Fork is fishing well, or the Salmonflies have made their appearance on the Madison and Gallatin rivers in Montana.

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Henry’s Fork 6/29/2017

June 29, 2017
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Fishing Reports, Henry's Fork

Hello anglers,

As most of you know, the Henry’s Fork is the main game around. Though the crowds have been thicker than normal, the fishing remains pretty good. There are plenty of willing fish sitting in the riffles eating a whole variety of insects from caddis, pmd’s, flav’s, yellow sally’s, and some left over green and grey drake emergence, grey’s being the more prolific of the two. The flav’s have been a pretty good meal ticket at times, so my tips for success would be to fish a size 16 caddis, trailed by a pmd emerger or flav about 2 feet apart, and make sure to be on the river by 9 or 10 a.m. at the latest. 2 feet might sound like a lot, but keeping your 2 bugs further apart makes for a better presentation, and reduces pile ups. I generally fish a leader of over 10 feet this time a year, because of angling pressure and clear water, which can make for some tougher fishing. That being said, I still fish these fish on a 4x leader, because they are strong fish, and a good presentation is worth more than tippet size. Fishing into the evenings this time of year is one of my favorite things to do because fish seem to be a little less hesitant to take a dry. So if you can’t make it out early, dont worry, there are still plenty of fish to catch in the evening as well.

In between riffles I would make sure to fish a golden stone fly in a size 6 or 8 to the banks on a 2 x leader, but mostly through the buckets and riffles in the middle of the river. You can add a nymph dropper for increased chances of success, or tag one of the aforementioned bugs behind it, dry. Most of the golden stones are going to be found from the Ora bridge, down to the backwaters at Chester dam. The bugs are plentiful right now, so you should be able to have decent success.

For patterns to fish, come in and see us, and we would be more than happy to give you some local recommendations.

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South Fork 6-27-17

June 27, 2017
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Fishing Reports, South Fork

As of today, Palisades Reservoir is 97% full. More water is coming into it from above (the river, creeks, Grey’s River, and Salt River) than is leaving.  So expect high water to continue for a while. Today 23000 cfs is leaving the dam which increases to 24700 cfs at Heise.

We are all interested in when the flow out of Palisades Dam will decrease significantly.  So we will continue to post South Fork flow reports here.

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Yellowstone Park 6-17-17

June 17, 2017
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Yellowstone Park

Firehole River offers the best dry fly fishing in the park with BWO, PMD and caddis life cycle patterns getting the most attention from trout. Be sure to try soft hackle versions of emerger patterns for these insects.  Lewis River channel offers good streamer fishing for brown trout. Use generous insulating layers or insulated waders for comfort while wading the ultra-cold river water. Ice is off Shoshone Lake, but trails to it still have areas with snow and with muddy stretches. You will need a non-motorized boating permit and a free Yellowstone Park invasive species sticker on any floatation device to be used on the lake and on any park still water. Go to Yellowstone Park web site boating regulations page for details.

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Small Streams 6-17-17

June 17, 2017
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Small Streams

Some of our small streams are beginning to shape up. Beaver, Birch, and Medicine Lodge creeks are all in good shape with flows about normal for this time of year. Both Big and Little Lost Rivers drain higher country, and therefore are still running higher than normal. The Big Lost still runs water past Arco and onto the INL.  McCoy and Bear Creek are high and a bit discolored, but offer some fishing if you do not mind presenting anything that looks like a drifting earthworm.  Cutts are in both creeks either having spawned or are about to, and the sizes they range to will surprise you. I avoid areas where they are spawning, but concentrate on presenting flies on slower and deeper waters.  Both Buffalo and Warm River are in good shape with PMDs and caddis being active in good numbers. Forget about fly-fishing the Blackfoot River below the reservoir until the first of October. The river above the reservoir opens to barbless hook, C&R  (for cutthroat) fly fishing on July 1st.

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South Fork 6-17-17

June 17, 2017
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South Fork

Flow out if Palisades Dam was reduced to 20400 cfs yesterday (22300 cfs at Heise) and is dropping. The reservoir is about 85% full, with more water coming in (at least 25000 cfs) than leaving. We are past the peak of run-off season, but plenty of snow remains in the upper Snake River drainage. So expect high water remaining in the river for the near future. Look for the river to shape up in the fishing sense by the end of the month

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Henry’s Fork 6-17-17

June 17, 2017
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Henry's Fork

Any where you fish on the river expect plenty of company.  The main reason is the South Fork not being in good fishing condition.  That drives more anglers to this river.

It is drake time on the Henry’s Fork from the Henry’s Lake Outlet section on down to the confluence with the South Fork. True PMDs, midges, and caddis are present and some golden stoneflies remain to attract trout.  But for the next few weeks any fly-fishers on the river cannot go wrong if they switch to emerger, dun, or spinner patterns where appropriate for each of these drakes. The trick for the best measure of success is knowing how, when, and where to do so. Just a few days ago, Mike Lawson offered an excellent Green, Gray and Brown drake summary for the river.  It’s on the June 13th Henry’s Fork Anglers fishing report. Go to his blog at the end of the Harriman Park report to read Mike’s thoughts on the characteristics of each drake species, where and when to expect them, and fly pattern recommendations. The information within is sure to increase your chances for successful fishing during the Henry’s Fork drake season.

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South Fork 6-13-17

June 13, 2017
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South Fork

Current flow out of Palisades Dam is 24100 cfs (about the same at Heise).  Palisades Reservoir is  at 82% of capacity, and the rainy weather we have means new snow in some higher elevations.  So South Fork flows are unlikely to decrease significantly in the near future.

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