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March 2011

Fly Fish Food Jimmy's / 2011 / March

Big Lost River 3/30

March 30, 2011
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Big Lost River

Flows on the Big Lost have been bumped up to 214 cfs. Fishing has been good, but the bumped flows will cause the fish to move around a little. However good Blue Wing Olives and Midges have been producing fish on the surface and fishing has been good. Nymphing has been good while waiting for the dry flies action to happen. This river will stay open after the 31st of March this year, I would check flows before driving out to the big lost once flows reach 300 cfs wading will become difficult.

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Henry’s Fork 3/30

March 30, 2011
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Henry's Fork

The biggest news about the Henry’s Fork is Chester Dam boat ramp is closed and you can not take a boat out here. You can not put a boat in either. This will change in the future but we do not know when, as soon as we hear we will be posting it on the fishing report. They are doing construction on the Chester Dam which is blocking access to this boat ramp.As far as I know the boat ramps are still snowed in so floating right now is not really an option. We will be updating you as soon as this changes int he next few weeks.

Fishing has been really good. I hear of a few Blue Wing Olives hatching but not many fish keying in on them yet. The midges are hatching in good numbers and the fish have been responding to those hatches. I would have a few Skwallas and Caddis in my box if I was fishing the the Henry’s Fork this month. This insects will begin to hatch as the water warms. Nymphing is still producing fish, use Rubbelegs, beadhead pheasant tails, glo bugs and San Juan worms.

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South Fork 3/30

March 30, 2011
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South Fork

Flows on the river reached 10,00cfs today. If it holds steady and we have been told it will the river should clear in day or two. The rubberleg fishing and streamer fishing will begin to pickup. Look for the fish to be holding in slow moving water and on the inside banks. When presenting streamers fish them really really really slow. The water is still cold and the fish don’t move to aggressively when the water temp is below 40 degrees. Beadhead nymphs and glo bugs will also produce fish.

Now that the water is up, side channels will be have water in them. Be sure to check out side channels before floating them. We will keep you updated on information as soon as we hear about it. This includes water flows and access in and out of the river. If you have questions call the shop of stop by.

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Today at Jimmys 3/30

March 30, 2011
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Today at Jimmy's

Many of you have noticed some changes around the shop in the past month, if you haven’t seen it yet come pay us a visit. We are going to continue to make some remodeling changes in April, its all very exciting. This is a fun time of year for us at the shop because we finally start seeing all the new gear we ordered last summer and fall.

We have got many new Simms items in the past few weeks. We have some new Simms gear that looks really nice. The new G4 and Guide Wading jackets are in. We also have the new Windstoper Hoodies, and the new camo Rogue Hoodie. Yesterday we received a bunch of new Simms T-Shirts sporting some Derek De Joung and Jeff Currier fish artwork…In all honesty they’re pretty awesome!

We finished up our Demo’s this past Saturday. I had a great time tying for all of you, that was a really fast 4 hours! We still have some special topic classes coming up in April, and we are taking names of people interested, hoping to generate another beginning tying class. We also teach private fly tying lessons.

On the subject of Fly Tying, don’t forget the Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Expo coming up on April 15-16 at the Shilo Inn. We have fly boxes here that you can fill with flies and donate to the expo to have them raffled off. Also there are a lot of workshops for kids, women and men. The expo is a great show and lots of information for anyone angler. If you have never been its time to go check it out.

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Today at Jimmy’s 3/25

March 25, 2011
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Today at Jimmy's

I thought I would give you all an update and let you all know that I am tying tomorrow for the final Tying Demo for the 2010/2011 Demo season. I am really excited to share some patterns with you, and talk about my strategies and fishing techniques. I have put a lot of planning into my presentation and I am confident that you will find it worth your time.

My plan is to tie Trout Flies for the first 2 hours or until I am finished. I will be tying highly effective patterns that have worked for me while guiding on the South Fork and fishing the surrounding rivers and streams in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. After I tie some nymphs and Dry Flies I am going to show you a few streamers that I have tweaked and been fishing and find effective. Between Noon and 1pm I am going to change directions and tie Steelhead Patterns. I will show some classic patterns that every Steelhead fisherman should have in their fly box. Than I am going to show you some new innovative patterns that have been developed by individuals like Ed Ward, Scott Howell, and April Volkey. Intruders and big leaches are the name of the game here. These patterns follow the lines of big silhouetted flies that are tied sparsely. I have used these patterns on the Salmon River and been successful. I plan on tying as long as people are interested. Its important to note that these large steelhead patterns can be tied in Trout colors (brown, black, Olive) and are very effective catching trout as well.

In the past our demo tiers will hand out flies after they are tied. I will pass each fly around for the group to look at but I will not be handing out samples tomorrow. Instead we are going to put those flies into a nice fly box and everyone who is in attendance will be able to throw their name in a hat and one lucky winner will get the box of flies. You must be present to win. I will do the same with the Steelhead flies. Randy will be recording the demo and if there is a fly you really want, talk to me at another time and I am more than willing to get you a sample.

I am excited and hope to see you all there tomorrow morning ready to have some fun, swap some lies, and learn something.

-Tim

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South Fork 3/25

March 25, 2011
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South Fork

We have some important news to share with you about the South Fork. Flows will be increased to 10,00 cfs for the next week. These flows will remain steady until they decide to dump more water. I do not expect to see flows drop again until next fall, this is why:

  • We have about 120% snowpack in the hills.
  • It is still March and winter is not left us yet.
  • Who knows what kind of rain we will get this spring(May & June)

So what does this mean for fishing? They’re 2 things that we should consider. First, wait for the water flows level out, the fishing will pick back up. Second, is the water is still cold (38 degrees) So the fish are not going to move out of the original holding water they have been in all winter. However, there is 5 times the amount of water in the system, so basically the barrel just got bigger.  So you need to think about how to target the fish. Continue to look for fish in slow moving water, eddy’s and flats. Plan on fishing deeper and that is most likely your best bet for reaching the fish.  With the cold water temps the fish will not move a great deal to eat your fly, you will need to get your fly to the fish. This is what I suggest: Strike Indicator to your 1st fly should at least be 10′ than drop your 2nd fly 24″ from there. I would fish heavy flies, like tungsten bead heads, and weighted stonefly nymphs. Streamers will pick up when the water warms a little. If you have any questions call the shop or stop by the shop.

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South Fork 3/11

March 11, 2011
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South Fork

Just a quick update on floating the river. Huskies boat ramp to Conant on the upper river in Swan Valley, and Wolf to Byington is open for floating. These floats will take you the majority of the day because the water levels are still at 2200cfs. I still suggest wade fishing this time of year giving you the ability to move to many different parts of the river and not deal with a shuttle and a boat. If you do decide to take the boat Julies Shuttle service will run your rig. Nymphing is the name of the game. Very little midge action right now, and no Blue Wing Olive action yet. Glo bugs have been working as well.

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Today at Jimmy’s 3/8

March 8, 2011
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Today at Jimmy's

If you haven’t been into the shop to see our new remodel you are really missing out. We have a new look at the front of the shop.

Still have some spots in our tying classes. beginning tying starts Thursday, and we still have a few spots in our special topics classes! Sign up before they fill!

We have lots of god stuff on sale right now. We have Redington fly rods and Simms gear greatly reduced. Sorry no waders on sale. We do however have some wading jackets, wading boots, and shirts on sale. They will not last long so hurry up before someone else buys your size!

If you don’t know already we have a facebook page. It has been up for at least a year. To find us log onto Facebook and do a search for us. Hit the “like” button and your now following us. Lately I have been posting articles concerning conservation and issues that involve the fishing world. Some of them are local issues and others deal with issues like the Pebble Mine in Alaska. I am going to try and continue to post these links here on “Today at Jimmy’s” for those of you who do not follow Facebook. I wanted to share this film about Bob Clay and his family. Bob’s daughter was Jimmy’s guide this summer on the Dean River. Check out the film!

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Henry’s Fork 3/8

March 8, 2011
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Henry's Fork

Well the Henry’s Fork has been fishing fairly decent as well. Midges and nymphing still seem to be the name of the game. Try the San Juan Worm, and glo bugs…I like to call is spaghetti and Meatballs. This combo have been really getting the fish to eat.

Who knew trout were into Italian food?…Sorry bad joke.

The entire river system is open now except for a few exceptions, like Herriman park and Ashton Dam to Vernon Bridge. There is so much water you can fish. I would recommend ski’s or snowshoes if you fish up in Island Park cause the snow is deep. The warming weather this weekend should produce some nice fishing.

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South Fork 3/8

March 8, 2011
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South Fork

Lots of people have been getting out when the weather has been warming up. Nymphing seems to be the most effective way to catch fish. Lots of whitefish have been caught and seem to keep everyone entertained. I was told by a customer yesterday that he had a whitefish jump like a Rainbow trout….That had to be exciting! The trout are there as well you just need to find them. Think outside the box and look for them in water that is shallow and slow, or try really deep holes and make sure you get to the bottom. Remember the water is crystal clear right now so the can see you. Try being stealthy. Midges are hatching every once in awhile. They seem to hatch better on days when its warm and there is cloud cover. As always you can call the shop or stop by for a updated fishing report. Its supposed to be nice this weekend, if you experiencing some Cabin Fever this could be a good time to get out.

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