Top

Author: Jimmy

Jimmy's All Seasons Angler / Articles posted by Jimmy (Page 2)

South Fork of the Snake 10-02-14

The flow is now down to 4740 cfs which has really opened up many wading opportunities throughout the river. Look for the flows to drop more through October. When we hear what the winter flow level will be  we’ll let you know. Last year it was around 1700 cfs. It could be higher this winter with the better than average reservoir carryover we have.   Look for hatches of blue wing olives and Mahogany duns. For a complete list of patterns look at the 9-22-14 report.

Share

South Fork of the Snake 9-22-14

Fall conditions continue to be excellent with clear water and cool water temps. On bright sunny days the dry fly fishing with big bugs (hoppers and chernobyls) has been slow so we have been using nymphs and small dries in the riffles. We have had very good fishing with chernobyls from daylight until the time the sun hits the water and then its back to nymphs and small dries. The last 1 1/2 hours before dark has been good too.

fishing report

The flow today is at 7500 cfs but look for it to drop a couple of times sometime this week in increments of 500 to 1000 cfs. We are constantly asked how this will affect the fishing and I have seen both great fishing on a water drop and slow fishing so the best thing to do is go anyway.

The Fall colors are starting to really turn now and the canyon is gorgeous.

Here is a list of Fall fly patterns to use now through October.

Mayflies: Duns, Emergers and Nymphs

Blue Wing Olive Thorax Dun #18 and 20

Blue Wing Olive CDC Emerger #18 and 20

Blue Wing Olive Nymph #18 and 20 ( swing through the riffles or fish as a dropper fly under the Thorax Dun)

Bead Head Bubble back nymph #16

UV2 Nymphulator #14 and #6

Mahogany Thorax Dun #16 and 20

Mahogany CDC Emerger #16 and 18

Remember to fish the heads of riffles with these small dries even though there are no hatches.

 Nymphs:

Bennett’s Rubber Legs (orange and brown or black) #6 and 8

Black or Red zebra Midge #14 and 16

Olive Crystal Golden Stone nymph #12

Streamers:

Coffee’s Sparkle  Minnow (sculpin or silver color) #4 and 6

Sculpzilla #4 or 6

Wilson’s Articulated Sparkle Minnow #2 and 4

Galloup’s Articulated Circus Peanut ( white, tan, black or olive )#2

Galloup’s Sex Dungeon (same colors as above) Size 2    Remember to use rope for leader for the articulated streamers. 12 to 15 lb at least.

Big Dries:

Chubby Chernobyls (purple,brown or gold body() #8 and 10

Big Parachute Hoppers #4 and 6 (good below Byington, not very good above Byington))

Other patterns:

Sandy mite #12 and 14

Standard Renegade #12 and 14

Purple or Bright yellow and orange bodied Soft Hackles #14 and 16

Fish the last three patterns after the sun drops below the horizon. Just use a standard wet fly swing. Make a cast, let the fly swing and straighten out below you. Make two or three steps downstream and repeat. You can thank me later.

 

 

 

Share

South Fork 09-04-14

There have been two drops in the flow the past week bringing the South fork down to 6434 cfs. We should see these drops throughout the Fall until irrigation season ends sometime in October. We are seeing less pale morning duns and more blue wing olives and mahogany duns. Continue to fish chernobyls in the flats and over the color changes along the banks.

Overall the fishing has been very good for this time of year. There have been some days where it has been slow during the middle of the day ,especially on bright days. On the sunny days we have done better in the late afternoon until dark.

Streamer fishing has been good early in the morning and again at night. Finally we have mentioned before that we have done well  fishing dry flies in the shallow riffles even when there are no hatches,  A good combination is a small parachute adams trailed by a mahogany dun or small CFO ant.

 

 

Share

South Fork 8-15-14

The South Fork continues to fish very well. We have benefited from cool water temperatures and some great overcast weather and rain showers. The flow dropped another 1,000 cfs earlier this week bringing the river down to 10,300 cfs at Irwin. We should continue to see additional drops in the flow as irrigation demand goes down.

Each drop in the water exposes more cobble and causes the wingless golden stone to emerge. The decreases are also making the riffles more defined and creating more riffles. We are seeing good hatches of pink pale morning duns during the day and caddis in close to dark.

The lower river below Byington has been productive with big hopper and chernobyl patterns. The riffle fishing has been good to which is probably due again to the cooler temperatures this summer. The morning water temps at Lorenzo have been cooler(58 degrees) than the upper river at (60 degrees).

We have been having good success fishing a pair of dry flies in the riffles even before the hatch starts. Try a #14 or 16  parachute trailed by a thorax pale morning dun, thorax pink albert or a parachute pmd spinner. Once the hatch starts and the fish start rising to the actual bugs be ready to change patterns from duns to emergers to nymphs and then maybe back to a dun.

In addition to caddis in the evening fish a #6-10 gold or purple bodied chernobyl against the bank and over the drop offs.

 

Share

South Fork 07-29-14

Overall fishing  the South Fork  has been good. There have been a couple of days where it has been slow but the cooler water temperatures this July has made the fishing better than recent summers.

Most days there is some good activity in the riffles with pale morning duns, both olive/yellow and pink. When fishing the riffles your best success will come by constantly changing your patterns from high silhouette duns to emergers and then maybe a nymph suspended in the surface film.  Drift purple or gold bodied chernobyl stones against the slower grassy banks and over the riffle drop offs. There are some big hoppers out on the lower river below Byington and down to Menan. We are starting to see some golden(mutant) stone casings  along the shore but we need to see some drops in the river flow to really get those bugs emerging.  If you stay on the river late there has been a good caddis hatch.  Finally we have still been relying on a brown rubber leg/small tungsten nymph combination when nothing is going on topside.

The next two to three days we are suppose to have some good cloud cover and that usually makes for better fishing. Good luck!

Share

South Fork 07-14-14

Fishing on the lower South Fork from the lower canyon downstream has slowed down a lot from last week. The best fishing is in the upper river from the dam through the canyon and that is where most folks are targeting until fishing improves on the lower river.

If you do venture out on the lower river look for nymphing to be your best method. We should start to see the mutant golden stones appear first on the  river below byington which should makes thing better for that stretch.

 

 

Share

South Fork 7-3-14

There is no significant change from earlier in the week with the types of insects and fly patterns. The fishing is very good and we are in the beginning of that time period on the south fork that everyone looks forward to. For those interested in the big stoneflies, they are out in good numbers above Cottonwood. Again we want to emphasize that there are many types of bugs out and you’ll find fish in different parts of the river eating different insects. Below is a list of flies that we will use for the next couple of weeks.

Big Stoneflies:

Rogue Foam Stone #4 and 6

Brett’s Stone #4 and 6

Improved Sofa Pillow #4 and 6

Golden Stoneflies:

CFO Golden Stone #8

Rollin’ Stone #10

Chubby Chernobyl  (purple and tan) #8 and 10

Yellow Sally Stones:

CFO Yellow Sally-X #12 and 14

Kyle’s Yellow Sally #12 and 14

 

 

 

Mayflies:

Pale Morning Dun Thorax Dun #16

Harrop’s PMD Cripple #16 and 18

William’s CDC Pale Morning Dun #16

Harrops Pale Morning Dun Nymph #16

 

 

 

Other:

Super-X  #4

Sculpzilla (streamer) #4 and 8

Share

South Fork 6-28-14

The fishing has been very good the past few days and should continue to stay good for the next couple of weeks. There are a lot of different bugs hatching so you will have the opportunity to fish many different types and sizes of dry flies. The big stones are up as far Wolf Flats.

There is some dry fly fishing on the upper river with pale morning duns but it will be a week or so before we see the activity there that we see now on the lower river. Nymph fishing with rubber legs or a pair of small nymphs has been good on all sections of the river.

Share

South Fork 6-25-14

There is a nice variety of dry fly fishing on the the river now. Most of the activity is from Cottonwood downstream and usually starts by noon. There are good hatches of pale morning duns, blue wing olives and some green drakes. The golden stones and yellow sallies have started too. There are some big stones out below Heise.

We are having great success underneath before the hatches start with rubber leg nymphs, yellow sally nymphs and bead head flash prince nymphs. Streamer fishing against the bank and over the drop offs has been productive too.

The water level is at a normal flow of 13,000 cfs and has a green tint. It is has a little more color closer to Palisades Dam. We’ll post again tomorrow as Everet and I are leaving Tom and Parker to tend the shop and heading up to the south fork for the afternoon………

 

 

Share

South Fork 4-17-14

The flow is up to 10,021 cfs from Palisades dam. Some of the tributaries are starting to rise with the beginning of spring runoff giving the water its customary green spring look. Continue using a rubber leg/glow bug combination for the rainbows. Streamers cast on a full sink or sink tip line will be a good technique in these water conditions.

The great feeder canal is still shut down for maintainance so the flow down to Lorenzo is high.

Share