It appears that fish are moving away from shorelines and out into the lake. Trolling and presenting wooly bugger and peacock leech types is successful in deeper water. Use a fast sinking line to get down for the best action. Beware of what the wind can during otherwise nice days.
The Firehole River is living up to its reputation as an early season destination with fish responding to PMDs, BWOS, and caddis. Some giant stoneflies are emerging in the lower Firehole River canyon with wind blown individuals flying above and below. If you visit the Madison Junction area waters in the next few days, consider having some adult stonefly patterns on board. Duck Creek is in prime fishing shape. Runoff is out of it, but leech and woolly bugger patterns work best because post spawning ‘bows and ever hungry brookies look for this source of easy protein so recently abundant. Ice is off Lewis, Shoshone, and Yellowstone Lakes.
A Park policy which is causing some inconvenience is the necessary and suitable inspection of all boats for invasive species. Fishing regulations state that float tubes are excluded from this inspection, but it might be best to ask at any entrance or facility what the Park considers to be a float tube. These inspections are performed only at Grant Village and Bridge Bay Marina, and therein lies the inconvenience for boaters coming in the west, north, and northeast entrances. So for the remainder of this year, at least, put some extra time on the front of your boating-fishing trip into the Park and make sure that the Park agrees with you concept of what a float tube is.
The flush is on with peak of around 18000 cfs already happening. About 17000 cfs is currently coming out of Palisades Dam. Looks like the flush will be decreased about 900 cfs per day and finished this weekend with flow out of Palisades Dam dropping to around 12500 cfs. Water temp below the dam is 51 deg. F which is good for things like the big bug hatch to happen. But consider other locations to fish for the next several days.
As some of you may have heard, Highway 20 construction this summer and fall on Ashton Hill can result in up to half-hour travel delays. That means plan your travel to include this inconvenience that could impact fishing. An alternative to reach the river at Harriman State Park-Last Chance and above is to travel via the Mesa Falls Scenic Highway. Doing so adds about twelve miles onto travel. But it is a scenic trip and much better than waiting for who knows how long in a mile-long traffic jam sure to include many 18-wheelers and slow moving recreational vehicles.
Water coming out of Palisades Dam was bumped up to 14000 cfs from 12000 cfs yesterday. Should not impact fishing all that much. If you are considering floating from Byington or above to Twin Bridges, you can get out of the river from the south channel at Twin Bridges. Big (#4-6) rubber leg nymph patterns remain the best way to find fishing success on the South Fork.
Not far after heading east and crossing the Idaho-Wyoming border, the Ashton-Flagg Ranch Road currently becomes impassable because of snow. Some tourists from Texas found this out the hard way a few days ago. Relying on their GPS and disregarding Mother Nature, they drove their vehicle until it became mired in snow resulting a four-hour walk back out to get help.
The Ashton-Flagg Ranch Road gives access to some of the best fly-fishing locations in our region. However, it passes through some of the country most prone to heavy snowfall in the region. This means the road usually is not passable until the end of June. When it becomes passable, we will post that change here. When it opens, expect to have a wonderful choice of waters to fish, still or moving. We will also have information that will help you to enjoy these to the utmost.
For the next several days all streams, larger or smaller, that drain high country will be full to overflowing with run-off. This includes streams draining the Grand Teton Range, the plateaus in Yellowstone Park, and the Snake River drainage in Wyoming and extreme eastern Idaho. When the run-off drops to levels making these waters worth a fly-fishing visit, we will post such information here. The same applies to other waters such as the lower Blackfoot and Big Lost Rivers currently full of water to satisfy irrigation demands.
SLOUGH CREEK
When run-off leaves Yellowstone Park’s Slough Creek, it becomes a destination from July through September for fly-fishers from all corners of the world, especially to encounter Yellowstone cutthroat trout. Just viewing Slough Creek is a pleasure, and not having a high resolution camera when fishing it is a mistake. Few places anywhere can be a better example of a meadow stream, and it is the stair-step meadow reaches of this stream that attract so many fly-fishers. The first meadow is approached from the access road beginning at the Northeast Entrance Highway and ending at Slough Creek Campground, a distance of a few miles. Needless to say this meadow reach gets “hammered” because of being beside or not far from a well maintained road. In addition to cutthroat trout, this part of the stream also holds cutthroat-rainbow hybrid trout, and Yellowstone Park now requires that these be killed. Not far above the campground, Slough Creek passes over a steep cascade which prevents, on a natural basis, these hybrids from entering the stream above. Above the cascade Slough Creek flows through two breath taking meadows, known unofficially as “first above” and “second above.” When traveling to the campground from the highway, one passes the trail head and parking lot for reaching these meadows. An entertaining past time here is to see how many states, provinces, or countries are represented by visiting fly-fishers. At times little parking space remains there, so popular is the stream in the two meadows above. But the further upstream a fly-fisher is willing to venture, the less company that person will experience. The lower of these two meadows requires a walk of about two miles up a well maintained trail which also serves as a tote road for supplying a ranch north of and predating Yellowstone Park. The stream in the upper and larger meadow requires about another three more miles of effort to approach. A good strategy for enjoying the stream in the upper meadow is to reserve one of the primitive campsites to use as a base of operations for an overnight or longer visit. The rewards for efforts to fish the stream in either meadow is a population of essentially only Yellowstone cutthroat that range up to trophy sizes. As previously mentioned, the fly-fishing season here is best when run-off leaves. That is usually before the first of July, but can be later following heavy snowfall winters. Yes, there is the early season progression of mayflies (and later in the season that of tricos) and responding trout here, as is the case on many Greater Yellowstone Area streams. But where Slough Creek really comes into its dry fly fishing own is when terrestrial insects become important in the trout’s diet. That usually begins as the meadows dry out in July. At that time a much overlooked opportunity comes from presenting patterns for mating and egg-laying damselflies on the stream. Success during times when trout take terrestrial patterns has a major requirement: the angler must keep out of sight of feeding trout. One must remember that these trout inhabit the water “24-7,” and any temporary change in their field of vision puts them into flight mode. Thus long casts, a low profile, gentle stepping, and subtle use of sunlight are required where even a person barely five feet tall can be the most prominent object around. Want to lessen these requirements? Try fishing waters in the timber reach between the two meadows. There is a background of tall timber here, and shelter from winds and intense sunlight. In my experience the trout are not as cautious as those in the stream out in the meadows, and you will have fewer interruptions from other fly-fishers. So if you have yet to visit this superbly attractive stream, put in on your “to-do” list. Also we can help you with strategy details.
If you are following the big stonefly emergence, it is about over in the river from Ashton Dam to Chester Dam. Your best bet for enjoying it through dry fly fishing is to concentrate on the Riverside to Hatchery Ford and Box Canyon areas. Expect a lot of boats, especially through the Box Canyon.
Flow out of Palisades Dam was bumped up to 12000 cfs from 10400 cfs this morning because of irrigation demands. This action should not impact fishing success very much.
McCoy Creek
McCoy Creek is the most easily fished of the major Palisades Reservoir tributaries coming out of Idaho. That is because a well-maintained gravel road parallels most of its length. As with Big Elk Creek (and Palisades Creek below the reservoir), a large and popular campground sits very near its confluence with Palisades Reservoir. McCoy Creek is approached from Idaho Falls by traveling US Highway 26 to Alpine Wyoming. From there one goes south out of town a few miles on US Highway 89, turns right on the McCoy Creek Road which crosses Salt River, skirts the southeast corner of Palisades Reservoir, then crosses McCoy Creek to parallel it upstream for several miles.
Entering the reservoir several miles southeast of Bear Creek, McCoy Creek is a significant run-off stream through draining Caribou Mountain and nearby high country. This means high and discolored water can make it difficult to fish in the early season. The most attractive locations to fish this stream are its meadow reaches that begin a few miles above the reservoir. Upstream of these meadows the stream flows through a small canyon, much like Bear Creek. Above this canyon reach the stream branches into tributaries, several of which host beaver ponds. McCoy is also a significant spawning and rearing stream for cutthroat trout. It is subject to catch and release regulations from December 1st until the opening of Idaho general fishing season. A daily limit of six salmonids applies, but no harvest of cutthroat trout is allowed. Other than cutthroat trout, whitefish and a very few brown trout are present in most of the creek. Some brook trout, escaping from beaver ponds, may be present in upper reaches.
Winters of major snowfall can push the beginning of good fishing here past the general season opening on Memorial Day weekend. Lingering snow can also make the road paralleling the creek impassable into June, but early season fishing can be good as run-off diminishes and access improves. Streamer and large woolly bugger patterns work best in the early season. Cutthroat having spawned will return to the reservoir but will take these flies when properly presented. Some of these returnees can exceed twenty inches in length. However as water drops to base level by early summer, few large trout remain. By this time the best fishing McCoy Creek offers begins. A good population of moderate sized individuals are present, and aquatic insect emergences attract them. Caddis, yellow sallys, and PMDs predominate with a few golden stoneflies, but as time advances through July, terrestrial insects become important food items. Lightweight equipment with a floating line and fine leader (4X-5X) are a best fit. Long casts will not be necessary for success here.
Easily approached in its meadow reaches, and having a good population of eager trout, McCoy Creek is an ideal stream for introducing a youngster or entry level person to dry fly fishing. The same applies for a taking a physically challenged person fishing. Afternoon and evening hours are the best time for dry fly action beginning in July and going well into September. The only disadvantage to fishing this stream is its distance from town compared to near equivalent creeks such as Palisades, Big Elk, and Bear Creeks.