Top

Fishing Reports

Jimmy's All Seasons Angler / Fishing Reports (Page 61)

South Fork, August 17th, 2021

Flow out of Palisades dam and the entire river below has been essentially constant for many days but above normal for the time of the season. With Palisades Reservoir approaching one-third of storage capacity current flow will eventually drop. We’re still waiting for the mutant golden stones to be significant. Meanwhile two nymph rigs, hopper-dropper combos and caddis life cycle patterns during PM hours produce up and down the river. Try riffles during the evening when overhead disturbances from passing boats diminishes.

Share

Henry’s Fork, August 17th, 2021

Not much change from our August 14th posted fishing report. Look for AM Trico activity to increase and the same for trout interest in honey ants and other terrestrial insects. Excerpts from Rob Van Kirk’s Henry’s Fork drainage status posted today follow.

Headlines:  

  • Yesterday was hot, dry, and smoky again, but relief from each of these things will arrive tonight and persist through the weekend.
  • Rain over the next five days could be heavy along the northern and eastern edges of the watershed.
  • Diversion increased yesterday while natural flow continued its slow recession; streamflow in the lower Henry’s Fork is at the target flow this morning.
  • At an average outflow of 724 cfs, Island Park Reservoir dropped by around 600 ac-ft yesterday and is 43% full, compared with 57% full on average and 23% full in 2016.

Details:

Mean temperature yesterday was 7 degrees F above average despite continued heavy smoke cover. The water-year precipitation total to date stayed at 78% of average. Much cooler, wetter weather is forecast to arrive tonight and persist at least through the weekend. Expected precipitation amounts continue to increase with each forecast cycle. The current 5-day forecast calls for around 0.25 inch at lower elevations on the Snake River Plain to 0.5-0.75 inch in Island Park to 2 inches at the highest elevations in the Teton Range. These amounts are slightly lower than what we received 2-3 weeks ago but will be concentrated into a shorter time period. Although precipitation is expected to end on Sunday, temperatures are forecast to remain near average, if not below, through next week.

Natural streamflow continues to recede slowly and was 68% of average yesterday for the watershed and within two percentage points of that in each of the three subwatersheds. Diversion increased a little yesterday, and streamflow in the lower Henry’s Fork is at its target this morning after staying just a little above it for several days. Delivery to the Teton River through the Crosscut Canal has been stable at 210 cfs since Sunday afternoon. Upcoming precipitation is expected to be heavy enough to increase natural flow by around 100 cfs again, and I expect diversion to decrease a little as well, depending on precipitation amounts in the valleys.

At an outflow of 724 cfs, Island Park Reservoir dropped by 596 ac-ft yesterday. The reservoir is 43% full, compared with 57% on average and 23% in 2016. Together, the three reservoirs in the Henry’s Fork watershed are 62% full, compared with 70% on average and 52% in 2016. Reservoir draft rate will slow tomorrow through the end of the week due both to direct precipitation on the reservoir surface and to increased stream inflow. After some higher values last Thursday and Friday, peak water temperatures have decreased watershed-wide by 3-4 degrees since then, due primarily to increased wildfire smoke. Turbidity continues to increase at Island Park Dam due both to increased algae growth in the reservoir and continued reservoir draft. Data from past years shows that sediment transport out of the reservoir accelerates when the reservoir drops below about 60,000 ac-ft, which happened on Saturday. The upcoming rain will slow algae growth but is also likely to generate more suspended sediment from shoreline erosion. In general, I expect that turbidity in reservoir.

Rob Van Kirk, Ph.D.

Senior Scientist

Henry’s Fork Foundation

P.O. Box 550

Ashton, ID 83420

208-652-3567 OFFICE

208-881-3407 CELL

208-652-3568 FAX

Share

Yelllowstone National Park, August 14th, 2021

Beula Lake

The park’s version of hoot owl closures remain on all streams. Lakes are exempt from this closure. Likely the best lake in the park for successful fishing is Beula Lake. If you can pack a flotation device with waders and fins plus fishing gear 2.5 miles off the Ashton-Flagg Road, you can encounter Yellowstone cutthroat trout here ranging to trophy size. Speckled dun, cinnamon caddis, damsel fly life cycle, small leech and scud patterns will bring action. A floating line, 4-5 weight system, 3-4 X, 9′ leader are ideal size gear for this lake that sits at around 7300 ft in elevation. Hering Lake is a few hundred yards to the south and holds the same trout in fewer numbers, but larger in size. You will not find the crowded conditions here seen so much on streams in the northeast corner and other places in the park where roadside or back country waters attract so many enthusiasts.

Share

South Fork, August 14th, 2021

No reports of significant mutant golden stones appearing yet. Palisades Reservoir is at 39% of capacity, and with uncertainty in what next winter will bring for snowfall, water managers are looking at starting storage. That means flow ( now 13600 cfs at Irwin, 14200 cfs at Heise 8910 cfs at Lorenzo ) in the river is certain to fall to normal soon. Normal flow for this date at Irwin is about 9000 cfs.

Share

Southwest Montana, August 14th, 2021

Activities to fight the Beaverhead-Deer Lodge National Forest’s Goose Creek fire have closed access to Hidden, Goose and Otter Lakes and to the upper end of Elk Lake until further notice. The access road is closed just above the Elk Lake Resort. Hoot Owl closures remain on several streams in this area. Use Montana FWP News web site to see closures in effect.

Share

Southwest Montana, August 10th, 2021

There are no new hoot owl or other closures in this part of Montana since our last fishing report. The best restriction-free fishing in the area is the AM gulper action on Hebgen Reservoir and is concentrated on its Madison Arm. Avoid Hebgen’s Grayling Arm where blue-green algae have reached levels toxic to domestic animals

Share

South Fork, August 10th, 2021

Flow out of Palisades Dam is being gradually reduced ( now 13800 cfs at Irwin, 14300 cfs at Heise, 9740 cfs at Lorenzo) as irrigation needs wind down. Storage for next year’s irrigation season is on water manager’s minds. Normal flow for this date at Irwin is around 9800 cfs. Use tactics we suggested in our August 7th fishing report. No significant mutant golden stone appearances to date

Share

Yellowstone Park, August 10th, 2021

Hoot owl closures remain on all park streams. There are no such restrictions for fishing park lakes. Go to the Yellowstone National Park Fishing Restrictions web site for more details, and note that if stream conditions worsen the park suggests that fishing in these waters could be curtailed.

An interesting happening is that cutthroat trout are being caught in the Madison River. Where they came from is a good question.

Share

Big Lost River, August 10th, 2021

Flow out of Mackay Dam is around 125 cfs. This flow makes for easy wading in the river below and may go lower. AM tricos are becoming more numerous with fish beginning to respond until late morning. Terrestrial insect patterns ( mostly those for hoppers and ants ) and caddis life cycle patterns are best bets from late morning on. Don’t overlook traditional attractor patterns such as the renegade in medium sizes and two-nymph rigs to drift into deeper holes. Expect some company arriving from the Ketchum-Sun Valley area even though The Nature Conservancy has re-opened their portion of Silver Creek to fishing.

Share