South Fork, July 12th, 2022
Not much change since our last report. Nymph fishing is great throughout and dry fly fishing is good “where you can find it.”
Not much change since our last report. Nymph fishing is great throughout and dry fly fishing is good “where you can find it.”
All major aquatic insect hatches are moving up the river. For example, a few of the big stone flies have been seen in the Conant area. It seems like the best time of day for fishing up and down the river is early AMs and evenings. Boat traffic is increasing throughout. Flow has changed little throughout the river ( now 11600 cfs at Irwin, 11900 at Heise, 5650 cfs at Lorenzo) and remains slightly below normal for the time of year.
Flow throughout the river has been nearly constant (10700 cfs at Irwin, 10900 cfs at Heise, 5200 cfs at Lorenzo) for about a week. The activity we described in this report for July 2nd is moving upstream past Byington and into the canyon. The fun in this fly fishing game will be in finding which of the insects the fish will be keying on at any given time and location. Traffic at launch sites will now increase as will boats on the river. So the time to be considerate have arrived for all of us.
No significant change in flows at this date. Best fishing on the river is from Byington downstream. Significant hatches going there include, yellow sallys, PMDs, green drakes, some giant stones and golden stones and PM caddis. Take your pick on which fish key on at any time. Rubber legs continue to work and small nymphs of choice attract fish in riffles. Look for all this activity to move upstream in the coming days.
You will see recreational floaters on the river. They are asked not to use boat launch areas. There are designated locations just above Byington and Conant for them to launch and debark.
Some yellow sallys and green drakes are beginning to show on the lower river, but not in significant numbers to date. Water needs to warm for these to really get going. Flow has not changed significantly since our last report. Palisades Reservoir is about three-quarters full.
Flow our of Palisades Reservoir ( now 66% full ) was increased to 9100 cfs yesterday ( now about 9600 cfs at Heise and 3800 cfs at Lorenzo). This increase should not impact fishing where the Lorenzo to Menan section seems to offer the best fishing through using streamer, woolly bugger and ribber leg patterns. A few golden stones have been sighted in that section.
90, 96, 38
The Lorenzo to Menan stretch of the river is offering its best fishing. Flow is about 2700 cfs, but a bit discolored (7800 cfs at Irwin, 8400 cfs at Heise). Fish respond best to streamers, rubber legs and nymph patterns of medium sizes. No significant dry fly activity anywhere on the river to date.
Because of recent widespread rains and the need to conserve water, flow out of Palisades Reservoir has been decreased (now 7900 cfs at Irwin, 8400 cfs at Heise and 2500 cfs at Lorenzo). Continue using the same strategy we suggested in our June 11th report.
Flow in the river has been essentially constant (currently about 9250 cfs at Irwin, 9860 cfs at Heise, 3340 cfs at Lorenzo) for several days. A good strategy anywhere along the river is presenting a rubber leg pattern trailed by a glo-bug.
Thanks to our recent rains, flow out of Palisades Dam was reduced a few days ago about 1000 cfs to 9180 cfs (now 10100 cfs at Heise, 5080 cfs at Lorenzo). This change should not impact streamer fishing or offering such as rubber leg patterns. Some BWO activity may be happening at the very heads of riffles because of the weather, so concentrate BWO life cycle presentations there.