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South Fork

Jimmy's All Seasons Angler / South Fork (Page 38)

South Fork 5-3-16

Flow out of Palisades Dam leveled off at just under 10000 cfs a few days ago. At Heise flow is 10600 cfs.  Might be time to begin pitching rubber leg and yuck bug patterns with flows stabilized for a while.

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South Fork 4-30-16

Flow out of Palisades Dam still going up. It’s now at 10000 cfs. Rainbows are spawning in river, and pitching streamer patterns, glo-bugs, and San Juan worms will attract the more aggressive ones.

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South Fork 4-26-16

It’s cold, its discolored, and flow out of Palisades Dam is being increased almost daily to satisfy downstream irrigation demands. Currently flow out of the dam is around 8000 cfs. Tomorrow it will be more, and so on, and so on. So for the time being consider the Ashton Dam to Chester reach of the Henry’s Fork or the Madison River between the lakes or below them.

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South Fork 4-12-16

Looks like the flow graph for the gage below Palisades Dam will read like a step function for weeks to come. That means irrigation demands for the upcoming agricultural season will dictate increased flows out of the reservoir. Right now flow out of dam is at 2200 cfs and remains quite cold. Try zebra nymphs and rubberleg patterns as increasing flows will scour the bottom relative to the low winter flows. Also rainbows are moving to redds, so the cutts are hoping you will target those love-making ‘bows!

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South Fork 3-21-16

Flow just below Palisades Dam is a little under 900 cfs. At Heise it is 1400 cfs and remains in the mid 30’s in degrees Fahrenheit. No wonder there is not much dry fly activity! Zebra midges, rubber legs, and San Juan worms fished around riffles are bringing responses. Expect many of those responses to be from whitefish.

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South Fork 11-12-15

We’ve had a spell of colder than normal daytime temperatures which appear to be a factor in slowing fishing on the river. The biggest impact is on top water fishing (BWOs and midges). Browns are moving and streamers presented under low light conditions remains effective. Flow out of Palisades Dam is 900cfs, the winter maintenance level. At Heise flow increases to 1300 cfs. Such flows make for great wading conditions. There are a ton of places to choose from to do so. Get it touch or visit us for information on which may be best to try.

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South Fork 11-3-15

Flow out of Palisades Dam was reduced yesterday to 887 cfs. That’s right around the winter maintenance flow of 900 cfs.  Flow at Heise is 1400 cfs. Flow going into Palisades Reservoir is close to 3000 cfs, so storage for 2016 irrigation season has begun.  Let’s  hope there will be water in abundance for users and recreationists alike in 2016.

It’s great weather for encountering migrating brown trout, and it looks like that will be the case for the next several day.  Dress warmly, keep your favorite streamer patterns handy, and wade carefully!

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South Fork 10-31-15

That wind is keeping the BWOs down even with the present overcast.  Try midge emerger patterns if you’re into top water fishing this time of year. Otherwise presenting streamer patterns for migrating browns is the way to encounter some big trout this time of year. Flow out of Palisades Dam is about 1150 cfs, a bit over the winter management flow of 900 cfs which will come soon. Flow at Heise is currently about 1500 cfs.

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South Fork 10-24-15

Flow out of Palisades Dam is currently a subject of interest. There is a proposal to reduce it to 600 cfs for a few days to perform repairs on a canal head gate. Currently flow out of Palisades Dam is just over 1400 cfs making for great walk-in and wade fishing.  U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, however, will eventually reduce flow out of Palisades Dam to 900 cfs, the winter maintenance flow, and likely no lower.  As the river flows downstream to the Heise area, it picks up flow from Palisades,Rainey, Pine, Burns, and other creeks thus increasing water to the benefit of the fish population.

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