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May 2013

Fly Fish Food Jimmy's / 2013 (Page 20)

Still Waters 5-25-13

May 25, 2013
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Fishing Reports, Still Water

Best days are ahead on almost all still waters, but try them before irrigation demands set in. Both Chesterfield and Daniels reservoirs are several feet low. This is not the best situation for going into the irrigation season. Twenty-Four Mile, Springfield, and Hawkins reservoirs appear to have full pools, so these should remain in good shape well into the irrigation season.   For now try midge life cycle and damselfly nymph patterns on all these. When fishing on these reservoirs picks up, we will report such here.

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Henry’s Fork 5-25-13

May 25, 2013
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Fishing Reports, Henry's Fork

 

The big attention getter right now is the giant stonefly “hatch.”  Folks come from far and wide to try for that big fish through using a big dry fly.   So some locations can become quite crowded.  Knowing this, I seek out locations sure to be less crowded.  Yesterday I walked into Hatchery Ford from Highway 20 to fish the west side of the river.  Two fly-fishers had walked in from the east side boat access, but they left early.   Only three boats came by  ( that won’t happen at Box Canyon, Warm River to Ashton or Ora to Chester!) during the time I fished.  Action began just after 2PM when big bugs were warmed enough to fly and deposit eggs.  Some olive duns, BWOs, midges and a number of caddis species were also active, but only small fish responding to them.  I did not catch a big number of fish, but had two “hogs.”  All fish I caught appeared to be in early stages of keying on the big bugs.  None were “full of bugs.”  Based on this experience I recommend that during the next few days Riverside Campground to Hatchery Ford will offer some terrific fishing with adult stonefly patterns whether you fish  from a boat or by wading.

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Yellowstone Park 5-25-13

May 25, 2013
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Fishing Reports, Yellowstone Park

Yellowstone Park’s fishing season opens today, so it is time to pass on some information on fishing there this time of year. The Firehole River will be the stream drawing the most attention for a while with  legendary BWO and caddis activity  (Don’t overlook presenting  dragonfly and damselfly nymph patterns on slower reaches).   Gibbon River, Duck and Cougar creeks are in fishing condition.  The Madison River will host a few Hebgen Lake rainbows heading home, but better fishing days there are around the corner.   The Ashton-Flagg Road will not open until the end of June, so those great fisheries east of Calf Creek Hill along the Park’s south boundary are not accessible until then. You can walk  into Bechler Meadows and even fish some of Fall River Meadows, but high water will limit you big time.  The best days fishing in the Park are ahead, and we will keep you well informed of their arrival and progress on this web site.

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Warmwater 5-24-13

May 24, 2013
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Fishing Reports, Warmwater

If you are a warmwater fly fisherman now is the time to get out and really start chasing bass, bluegill, carp, etc….. We have been hearing good reports on the warmwater fishing from all over the area.

 

Bluegill– Although the water is a little lower then what we would typically like to see at Twin Lakes, we have heard of fisherman doing well on bluegill this past week. Any shallow structure you can find in the lake is likely to have bluegill on it. Fish to these fish either under an indicator with small nymph patterns or even try a popper if the fish are aggressive. The Bluegill fishing should continue to get better in the coming week in all of the Preston area reservoirs containing Bluegill.

 

Carp– Any shallow bay on blackfoot reservoir or on the lower Snake is fishing great for carp right now. If you can choose a day to fish, pick a day in which the weather has been consistent a day or two prior. Any of the carp flies we carry in the shop paired with a full floating line will work great on both places.

Bass– Smallmouth in Ririe and the lower Snake are active right now and this is a great time of year to get into a bigger fish. I like fishing crayfish or clouser minnow/baitfish type patterns on an intermediate line. Fishing out of a boat is nice, but not necessary. Right now and the next couple weeks is peak Smallmouth time, so if this is something you like doing or wanna try get out there and do it! The Largemouth fishing really turned on this past week down around Preston. I visited a couple lakes down there and found the bass had moved into very shallow water and for the most part, were very willing to eat. Any bigger leech pattern will work on the largemouth right now. Switch up your retrieve to see what kind of mood they are in. The largemouth fishing will be good all the way through the summer and as it warms up poppers can be a great way to take these bass as well.

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Today at Jimmy’s 5-23

May 23, 2013
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Today at Jimmy's

So if you haven’t heard yet Idylwilde who is a major supplier of flies for our shop is having some issues getting their spring orders from their manufacturer overseas. We don’t know what the problem is but we do know that the majority of our spring order of flies will not be coming this season. This effects you as a customer because we will be all out of Idylwilde’s very popular dry fly, the Chubby Chernobyl. We have already begun to sell out of the carryover stock from last year. With this news we are encouraging people to tie their own Chubby Chernobyl’s. It’s a super easy fly to tie and we just received a wing material that is perfect for tying these flies. The Para Post Wing from Hareline is a synthetic material that is very visible and will float well. We also recommend it for parachute flies. It is available in the 4 colors that we have displayed in the photograph above.

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Henry’s Fork 5-23

May 23, 2013
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Fishing Reports, Henry's Fork

The Salmon flies are continuing to hatch in good numbers. This cold weather might slow things down a little. The hatch has started to move up the Canyon and bugs can be found at Hatchery Ford. The main portion of the hatch is still below Warm River. Caddis are still present on the river and make a great alternative fly when the trout are not keyed in on the Salmon Flies. We have some awesome patterns here at the shop for imitating both insects.

The water below Ashton Dam to Vernon bridge opens on Saturday morning. This is going to be a great section to float if you one of the first boats down the section. Lots of fish have not seen any flies all winter and they will be eager to eat some Salmon Flies on the surface.

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South Fork 5-22

May 22, 2013
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Fishing Reports, South Fork

Just wanted to give you all a heads up on the fishing conditions on the South Fork. Rollin fished yesterday and they caught plenty of fish. He mentioned they caught fish on the riffles and a few on the banks. Egg patterns and San Juan worms were the best flies yesterday. The water clarity is good and the flows are continuing to drop I expect the flows to level out on Friday around 13,000 cfs. If you want to escape the crowds chasing salmon flies on the Henry’s Fork, the South Fork should be a great alternative this weekend.

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Still Waters 5-21-13

May 21, 2013
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Fishing Reports, Still Water

Not much change in activity since our last report. Midge life cycle and damselfly nymph patterns are producing on Chesterfield, Daniels, Hawkins and Twenty-four Mile reservoirs.  Try the upper end of Daniels or around the point just west of the boat dock on Chesterfield.  Better days are ahead, especially when damselfly nymphs become active big time.

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Horseshoe Lake

May 21, 2013
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Articles

Horseshoe Lake

Grayling are tough to find in eastern Idaho. Your best chance of encountering them is in some mountain lakes further west toward Copper Basin and such high locations where they are present because of IDF&G stocking programs. You can also encounter them as wild fish in Yellowstone Park’s Cascade, Grebe and Wolf lakes where occasional individuals escape to the Gibbon and Madison rivers below.  Not far away in Montana wild grayling are also present in upper reaches of the Red Rock, Ruby and Big Hole river drainages.  Fishing all of these require some travel time.  There is, however, a near-by location in eastern Idaho that hosts a put and take grayling population.  That is Horseshoe Lake east of Ashton.  Take the Mesa Falls Scenic Route  (State Highway 47) east out of Ashton to the Green Timber Road, also known as the Cave Falls Road.  Travel east into Targhee National Forest past the Porcupine Creek and Rock Creek crossings.  About a mile past the Rock Creek crossing the signed road to Horseshoe Lake leaves on the left.  It is fairly well maintained and suitable for two-wheel drive passage after drying out from winter snows.  It accesses the north side of Horseshoe Lake and goes on to a youth correctional facility on the east leg of the pond.  Primitive camping locations dot the northwest shoreline where only primitive boat launch facilities are present.  Motorized boats are not allowed on the lake which has no surface outlet and inlet.  Float tubes and pontoon boats are the best bet for fishing here as the shoreline is mainly swampy or timbered.  Along with grayling,  put and take rainbows are present in the lake.  Midge activity is ongoing most of the season, but sometime in June damselflies will emerge to be followed later by speckled duns.   Beginning in the early season with damselfly nymph patterns, moving to dry damsel patterns and on to speckled dun life cycle patterns one can attract grayling the entire season.  Lilly pads dot some of the shoreline, and these locations provide a tip of where to concentrate fishing efforts.  Get out in front of the pads,  that host copious insects, and watch for active fish. Light weight equipment with a floating line is the name of the game here, and I really enjoy presenting with my two-weight system whether it is small nymph, emerger or dry patterns.  When grayling are active catching a few dozen is possible.  A braggin’ size grayling here is a bit over a foot long (but they are beautiful!) meaning that with their small mouths, small flies (#14 on down) are necessary.  You might encounter as many rainbows as grayling, and they range  a bit bigger.  If you camp here, you also have the option of a scramble down the rocks to Robinson Creek where few people fish. It’s a bit of a tough go, but company on the creek is doubtful.  Pocket water cutthroat and brookies will respond well just about any time to your dry and wet offerings here.  But if you are looking for some unique fishing in this part of Idaho, Horseshoe Lake’s grayling population offers it.

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Henry’s Fork 5-21

May 21, 2013
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Fishing Reports, Henry's Fork

Well if you haven’t heard yet, the Salmon Flies are out in full force. You can expect to see good numbers of these stoneflies from Warm River down to Chester Dam. As the week progresses the hatch will begin to move up stream into Island Park. I am expecting Salmon Flies in Box Canyon for the Holiday weekend. The fish will key into the big dries for a few hours during the day. When the fish are not taking the big flies on the surface, fish with nymphs or try a caddis or Yellow Sallie. Streamers is also a good option for those slow times during the hatch. Remember that the fish gorge themselves on the nymphs and the adult flies. This is also the first major hatch that we see in this area and it brings a lot of anglers to the river. Mixing up the patterns or your fishing technique is a good option for showing the fish something different or interesting. That could make all the difference between a 2 fish day and an epic day. Don’t hesitate to call the shop if you have any questions.

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