Still fishing very well for cutthroat trout in the 15-18″ range. Use an intermediate line to get down at moderate depths for presenting black, purple and olive leech patterns. Expect tough weather conditions the next few days as a windy cold front is coming in.
His book “Fly-Fishing Guide to the Henry’s Fork” says it all for the river.
Along the upper river major mayfly hatches move on from continuing PMDs to include those of flavs and brown drakes. Caddis accompany them during PMs. So the “name of the game” is finding which of these fish are taking: PMDs, flavs or caddis. Go to the water with life cycle patterns for all of these. Brown drakes coming on will most likely be what trout look for during the evening hours. If you fish at twilight, don’t overlook drifting a hair mouse pattern close to banks adjacent to water offering good cover. You could encounter your fish of the year!
The crowds on the lower river are a bit thinner now. The above aquatic insects are important to trout as are gray drakes during evening hours.
The Firehole River is warming. Some of the best fishing in the Park can be enjoyed in the upper Lewis River drainage where getting out onto water of Lewis and Shoshone Lakes to locate weed beds will bring on action from leech patterns presented on full-sink lines. The meadow section of Lewis River between the two lakes still provides the fastest fishing around for brown trout chasing streamer patterns.
With flow out of Mackay Dam around 350 cfs, wading the river below requires a bit of care. Afternoons feature BWO, caddis and some yellow sally activity. So life cycle patterns of these and woolly bugger patterns are working.
Nearly all small streams are in good fishing shape. Exceptions include the Teton River drainage, but run-off into these streams is beginning to drop while the lower Blackfoot River is running high with irrigation water. Flow at the Shelly gauge is around 850 cfs. South Fork tributaries below Palisades Dam will open to fishing on July 1st.
Some of the best still water fishing around here can be found at the upper end of MacKay Reservoir. Try the channel mouths with leech, rubber leg, dragon and damsel fly nymph, and streamer patterns.
Flow is at summertime rates (about 12000 cfs out of Palisades Dam and around 13000 cfs at Heise) and likely to stay around that amount for the near future. See our recent fishing reports for fly pattern suggestions. In several days the big stone flies will begin their activity, and we will offer strategies and fly patterns for enjoying that event. For now the river offers a less crowded and more tranquil, but less colorful option to the Henry’s Fork.
Fishing here has been nearly excellent with moderately sized (16-18″) cutthroat providing the bulk of action. Leech, fly rod jig, damsel fly nymph, and streamer patterns: all seem to bring action from moderate depths. Just about anywhere you can access the lake is suitable for enjoying the fun. Expect crowding at the State Park and the County Boat Dock with anglers of all types telling believable and unbelievable stories and coming and going.
The big stoneflies have come and gone from the river. Straggling goldens can be around on upper sections including Coffee Pot and wind blown into the Flat Ranch section. Now the big mayfly emergence array has taken over. Green drakes are diminishing on the lower river, but flavs, gray drakes & PMDs are taking over to be accompanied with PM caddis and a growing amount of sallies. The trick here is to find trout’s preference at a given time then present life cycle patterns for that preference. If you want fly-fishing company, the Box Canyon to Riverside section is for you.
The array of mayfly activity ( minus gray drakes in number) continues on the upper river. From the top end of the Mesa Falls Scenic Highway to view towards the river looks like a massive trailer camp. The Last Chance rest stop is full of parked vehicles, and there you can hear foreign languages and English language accents from all corners of the earth. Dozens of boats will pass you by along the river during a day of fishing. All this is for good reason: this section of the river currently offers arguably the best trout fishing in the country. So be patient and considerate if you plan a visit!
All sorts of hatches are taking place on the river. The lower river still offers golden stoneflies hatching along with PMDs, PM caddis and green drakes starting. Hopefully gray drakes will join this array. On the upper river golden stones predominate over giant stoneflies and green drakes will start being important any day. PMDs and PM caddis offer action almost everywhere. All this means this near best of all trout streams is attracting fly-fishers in numbers in accordance with the variety and number of aquatic insects for trout to enjoy. You will certainly have company almost everywhere on the river whether you wade or use a boat. Be patient and diplomatic. Remember that many visitors are coming from areas not as fortunate as locally with respect to the pandemic impact and social unrest. Show them how lucky we are to live in eastern Idaho.