No real change since our June 8th report. With recent warm weather streams draining high country are roaring a bit, so stick with those we recommended on June 8th. Look for the same flow increases as we warm up on streams carrying irrigation water. We have word of some good fishing because of caddis activity on the Blackfoot River below the dam, but flows can fluctuate and impact fishing success.
Warm weather is melting snow on Pitchstone and Madison Plateaus. This means flow into Fall River Basin streams is increasing. Ice has been off Shoshone and Lewis Lakes for weeks. We will be packing float tubes down the DeLacey Trail to Shoshone Lake in a few days (hoping for some of those gorgeous browns, but sure to get into juvenile macks), so look for a report on fishing there afterwards. Lewis River between Shoshone and Lewis Lakes is a great choice now for fishing streamers. Firehole River is warming up, but fishing remains good as related in our June 8th report. Same with Duck and Cougar Creeks. U.S. Forest Service Ashton Office recommends only four-wheel drive vehicles from bottom of Calf Creek Hill east on the Flagg Ranch Road.
Bluegill are finally being caught with some consistency down at Twin Lakes. We have been hearing a mixed bag of reports from down there but it seems like this last warm spell has finally got them going. With the water situation we have this year though, traditional bluegill areas might not be as good in years past. If you don’t find them where you usually do just keep searching and checking out different areas until you find them, they are there. We have been hearing good reports from other Preston area lakes like Winder and Lamont so hopefully the Bluegill fishing will be good the next couple of weeks.
Bass fishing is good and will continue to get better, especially for Largemouth. Any Preston area lake you like to fish would be good, but I would pay special attention to Twin Lakes and Glendale for Largemouth. If you prefer Smallmouth, American Falls Reservoir and the Snake below are fishing very well right now. Its spawning time for smallies so look for them to be in shallow water and very aggressive.
Carp fishing at Blackfoot Reservoir and the Snake River is great right now. This is a fun time of year to sight cast to carp if weather permits. If you get a windy day, fish any good looking flat and look for mud lines to signal the carp are feeding. Fly choice won’t be terribly important, I would start big and go smaller if the carp aren’t responding to the bigger stuff. San Juan Worms always work………..
Stillwaters in the area are fishing well right now. Damsels are hatching on most area lakes and the fish are going to be looking for them. I like to fish Damsels under an indicator this time of year but stripping damsels in with an intermediate or super slow sinking “hover” line works great too. The Rio Camolux and Rio Hover lines are great for that type of fishing. Callibaetis are also hatching and the fish seem to key on them early before the damsels really get going. As far as where to go Twenty Four mile, Springfield, Chesterfield, Daniels, Hawkins, and Island Park reservoir are all fishing well.
If you enjoy Stillwater fishing, I would get out soon and as often as possible. The fishing is good right now and the weather isn’t too terribly hot yet.
Pretty much everyone likes to fish streamers and even if you don’t, chances are you know all about Kelly Galloup and his innovative fly patterns. We have a new DVD from Galloup in the store called “Streamers on Steroids”. In this DVD Kelly personally ties five of his patters including the: Nancy P, Barely Legal, Tips up, Boogie Man, and the Pearl necklace. People are always wanting to know how to tie Galloups patterns and I can’t think of any better way then to watch the man himself do it. So if you have always wanted to try these patterns out, swing by the shop, pick this DVD up, and get to tying!
Firehole River is still producing with BWO, Caddis and White Miller patterns presented, but lots’a of fly-fishers are present. Duck Creek remains good, challenging fishing with small leech patterns and any thing resembling a worm cluster. Tough-to-fish, little Cougar Creek offers some good fishing if you do not mind bushwhacking. Fall River Basin streams will have added run-off with this warming weather, but when run-off is over look for some great fishing.
Small streams not carrying run-off or irrigation waters are really shaping up because of the reduced runoff this year. With the warmer weather, however, consider avoiding such run-off streams as the Teton River and irrigation water loaded streams such as the Blackfoot River below the dam. The Palisades tribs on the south side of the reservoir (Bear & McCoy creeks) would be very good choices ( C&R fishing) with such as wooly bugger and leech patterns. The Salt River tribs (Jackknife, Tincup, Stump, Crow creeks) are also in great shape, so try your favorite bead head nymphs, small leech patterns and caddis life cycle patterns. Robinson Creek is now a good bet with the same types of patterns.
Flows on the South Fork have been increased this week. Currently the flows this morning are 12,300. The rise in flows are due to irrigation demand that is being called for downriver. We haven’t heard of these increases hurting the fishing. The water is beginning to warm up and we will see stoneflies in the next few weeks. Everyone in the shop expects the stoneflies to be early this year with the water conditions and how low the reservoir is. We will update you when the flows level out.
Flows have remained steady at 10,800 cfs. The river is fishing good with nymphs. I realize we have written the same thing for the past few posts but we want to keep this report updated and let you all know whats going on. The water quality is really clear and fish have seemed to start to move to the banks and pile up in the riffles. Stonefly nymphs and San Juan worms have been the ticket for hooking lots of fish. The streamer fishing is also good as well. The overcast days are going to be the best days for streamer fishing. If you don’t mind fishing indicators you can catch a lot of fish right now.
Now that the temperature is starting to rise, I wanted to show you guys an awesome shirt we are carrying to keep cool this summer out on the water. The new shirt is from a company called ” FreeFly” and it is made out of bamboo. You read right, bamboo! I thought it sounded crazy but after fishing in this shirt for the past couple months, I can tell you this is one of the best fishing shirts I have ever worn. The shirt fits perfect, not too loose or too tight and breathes incredibly well. There is so much to like about this shirt but here is some information directly from FreeFly;
As you can see this is a sweet shirt and one worth checking out! We have a bunch of different colors and each shirt has our logo on the back. Come by the shop and check them out!