Two days ago flow out of Palisades Dam was reduced to 1060 cfs. With our current bright skies, nymphing and presenting soft hackle patterns through riffles is likely to be more productive than fishing on the surface. Presenting streamer patterns during low light times will the best way to encounter larger trout.
Just like the old expression “gold is where you find it”, you can find Henry’s Lake trout in shallow waters anywhere around the lake. Some locations like the State and County parks will be more crowded than others, but everyone seems to be catching fish. Large woolly bugger flies presented on intermediate lines seem particularly effective.
The park angling season closes at end of the day on Sunday, November 6th. Better hurry if you want to present streamer patterns to migrating brown trout in such as the Gardner, Gibbon, Lewis, Madison, and Snake Rivers!
As with the South Fork BWO activity is bringing good action for the dry fly enthusiast throughout the river. On the lower river presenting streamer patterns is the best way to encounter large browns and rainbows. A temporary flow increase is going on in the river below Chester Dam and the Fall River confluence where storms have significantly increased the Fall River inflow. This inflow will soon decrease unless storms continue in the Fall River drainage.
We can now answer questions on when our 2016-2017 Saturday fly tying demos will begin. The first demo will be held Saturday, November 26th. Demos will continue each Saturday through the middle of March, 2017. As in the past, demos begin at 10 AM and extend to around 1 PM. We are contacting tiers to work out a schedule which we will begin posting and updating here within a few weeks.
Flow out of Palisades Dam was reduced to 1800 cfs early this AM. As of noon this reduction had not reached Heise where flow is 2800 cfs, but will drop later today. BWO activity continues to attract trout, but streamer fishing is the best way to interest big browns (and rainbows) to strike.
Flow out of Palisades Dam was reduced to about 3200 cfs two days ago, This translates to about 3700 cfs at Heise. Great action for walk-in wade fishing. Other than that, no big changes here since our 10-15 update.
On 10-13, flow out of Palisades Dam was reduced to 3670 cfs. This gives a flow of a bit over 4000 cfs at Heise. Looks like the favorable weather for BWO and mahogany dun activity will continue into next week, but keep those streamer patterns close by.
There are no “where are the fish?” questions going around now about Henry’s Lake! Fishing has really picked up, and with cooling weather can get better.Typical good areas to fish include the west side, creek mouths, and around the State Park. Expect crowding in many locations, and you will have company when you get into fish. As we mentioned in our October 1st report, big flies flies (various leech and streamer patterns) presented in shallow water (less than 10 feet) seem to work as well as anything.
A piece of important information is that the Fun Farm Bridge is closed. Signage just off Highway 20 proclaims this closure, and so do the berms placed at either end of the bridge.
Increasingly streamer fishing on the Henry’s Fork will become effective as we move through October. But a current problem with presenting these along much of this river is extensive aquatic vegetation. Trying to get streamer patterns to run deep in many locations brings contact with beds of waving weeds. Eventually this stuff will break up and drift away to impact dry fly fishing (!) Here are few ideas to help minimize those clogged up flies. Switch to a floating line and unweighted patterns when presenting in shallower water, cover upstream water, and try to keep that rod tip high. Trying shallow water is always a good strategy under low light conditions, such as twilight, because low light becomes increased cover and large pre-spawning trout are more likely to migrate with it. Some areas where weed growth interferes to a lesser degree include The Tubs above Mack’s Inn, below St. Anthony, and the Chester backwaters,