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San Juan Worms Tag

Fly Fish Food Jimmy's / Posts tagged "San Juan Worms"

South Fork 6-26

Flows were increased last night to 12,000 cfs. The increase is due to irrigation demand and unfortunately we do not get any word when these increases will happen. Things will settle down in a day or two and the fishing will be back at it. As Jimmy mentioned yesterday lots of Yellow Sallies on the lower river and some PMD’s. I was in the canyon Sat. and we had really good success on stonefly nymphs, yellow sally nymphs, Zebra Midges and Lighting bugs. I didn’t have any fish hit the indicator so I didn’t throw any dry flies with droppers. I still found most of my fish in the gravel bars and side channels. I did however pick up a few fish on the bank which means they are starting to move out of the winter water. A beetle or ant would work this time of year if your really needed a dry fly fix.

South Fork 4/9

Flows got bumped again his weekend to 10,000 cfs. Looks like they did it around noon on Friday. So things should have calmed down by now as far as fishing goes. You will want to fish deep. 9-10 feet from your indicator to your first fly. I would also fish with really heavy flies. Stonefly nymphs, and larger bead head nymphs that are bright and noticeable in the off color water.  Look for fish to be in the slow water and they will be on the bottom.  Also look for fish looking for some relief from the higher flows in the side channels and eddy’s.

South Fork 8/1

Flows on the South Fork have remained steady at 13,600 cfs. for the past few days. Fishing is defiantly picking up on the river. the Nymphing is really good and the dry fly is getting better everyday. PMD’s, Yellow Sallies and Golden stones are flying around, fish are starting to key in on them. Dry Fly fishing is better in the afternoons and they have been eating in riffles and slow flat water. Rubberlegs early in the morning have been producing large fish, and streamers presented against the bank have had the same results. The water temp is steadily rising and I expect to have red hot dry fly fishing very soon. Keep posted!

South Fork 7/5

Flows on the South Fork have been bumped up to 17,00cfs out of Irwin. Flows into the reservoir have been fluctuating up and down with the warm weather. Its going to be about 6 days before the reservoir is full, so I talked to the Bureau of Reclamation today and they told me that the Flows out of Palisades will be increased to 19,000 cfs. Will the flows be increased more? Who knows, I hope not, but most likely it will happen. I wish I could give you better news for the flows on the river but I don’t have any to share.

Fishing on the river is all nymphing. I have had reports of Salmon Flies, golden stones and Yellow Sallies on the lower section of the South Fork. However these reports have not had any luck catching fish on the dry fly. Nymphing is producing the most amount of fish on the fly. With the water being increased you will want to fish deeper with your nymphing rig. I would have at least 10 feet between the indicator and your first fly. Also be sure to fish with some weight so you can get those flies down to the bottom quickly.

South Fork 6/27

We have some news for the South Fork. First off the clarity is starting to clear up and you have about 2 feet of visibility, until you get down to Fall Creek Falls. The visibility goes downhill from there. The good news is we feel like the peak of the runoff has happened and things should start shaping up and clarity will improve greatly. Insects have starting hatching on the lower river. We have pretty good reports of fish being caught through the canyon on nymphing rigs. Rubberlegs and San Juan Worms have been producing fish. So despite the water clarity being less than desirable the fish are still eating and we catch them. I prefer to fish a larger and brighter fly when the water is off color. The large silhouette of the fly in dirty water makes it stand out to the fish.

The lower river is floatable but it is dangerous. Jimmy floated it this past weekend and he can help you if you have specific questions. The river has completely changed and channels that used to be floatable are no longer. As always we have encouraged people to get out of the boat and walk channels before floating them. I can’t emphasize how important this is right now on the lower river. I would also bring some type of saw with you. If you want to float this section please feel free to call us for any questions.

South Fork 6/23

I was driving through Hoback and Swan Valley last night so I got to put an eyeball on the river. The Snake river above the reservoir is muddy. The lake is starting to settle out and there is about 2-3 feet of visibility at the Dam. The South Fork looks somewhat clear coming out of the Dam with possibly a 12-18 inches of visibility, until Palisades Creek. At the Spring Creek Bridge the water is off color but you could fish with a large stonefly nymph, bright streamers and glo bugs. It appears that the runoff in starting to back off and the water from the tributaries should be clearing off in the next week or two. Once the tributaries clear up the river will become a aqua green color it will have a few feet of visibility and will start fishing really well. Dirty water will actually produce more fish on the fly with the water this color. Very similar to an overcast day, the fish will feel more protected which means they will eat more aggressively.

If I was going fishing today on the South Fork I would set up a nymph rod with a big bright streamer/leech type of pattern and a rubberleg as a dropper. I would also have a streamer rod set up with a sink tip and a big meaty fly. I would fish the upper section, Dam to Spring Creek.

Henry’s Fork 6/17

Flows on the lower river have dropped again and Warm River to Ashton section is fishable again. Don’t forget about Ora to Chester stretch. Golden Stones, Salmon Flies and Caddis. No sign of Pale Morning Duns or Drakes yet. Stay posted and we will keep you updated as soon as we confirm they are hatching. The Stoneflies have moved all the way up to Box Canyon. The cooler weather and rain has prevented them from flying around but they are there and crawling. The best time to catch dry fly action on the stones in the Box is towards the late afternoon and evening.

South Fork 6/17

Things have changed once again on the South Fork as far as flows are concerned. Due to the higher than expected amount of runoff the BLM has decided to increase the flows coming out the Dam to keep a larger buffer in the reservoir to catch water. The run off has come down faster than they expected this week. I am actually happy to see them do this because it would really suck to have water at 15,000 cfs in the middle of July with hatches and good fishing than have the river bumped over 20,000 cfs cause the lake is full and they need to match outflow with in flow.

The upper river is actually fishing with Rubberlegs and San Juan Worms. Look for fish in the usual places like gravel bars, slow banks, and banks with structure. As the water temps warm up the fish will also move into the holes below the gravel bars and the nymphing will really get good. Don’t let the color of the water discourage you from fishing the South Fork. These fish have to eat. Larger brighter flies will help when it come to catching fish in these water conditions. Try a white zonker below a strike indicator, glo bugs and rubberlegs will be the ticket as well.

Henry’s Fork 6/14

The water is back up again on the lower Henry’s Fork from Warm River down. Due to a large amount of rain yesterday in the Ashton and Island Park area the Fall river and Robinson Creek are bringing muddy water into the system. Once the water drops again the fish will be looking up for the big Stoneflies and Caddis. The stonefly hatch has moved up to the Riverside campground area. Hiking into Hatchery Ford and below the Riverside campground will offer some very good secluded fishing. Stonefly nymphs and a bead head dropper or a Stonefly dry with a  bead head dropper should be very effective. Nymphing in the Box Canyon is still highly effective right now and I expect the stoneflies to be hatching any day now. If you need a up to the minute report call or stop by the shop.

Henry’s Fork 6/8

You can find Stoneflies from Chester Dam all the way up to the Lower Mesa Falls. Timing is the key for catching this hatch. If you are getting refusals on a Salmon fly, change up to a smaller golder stone. Caddis and Pale Morning Duns should start hatching any day now.

Looks like the main push of the runoff is here. The Fall River at Chester is reaching flows over 7,000cfs making the river below Chester basically in flood stage. Warm River and Robinson Creek have blown out as well. There is good hiking and wade fishing around Mesa Falls and Riverside campground. Rubberlegs, Caddis Pupa, Rollin Stones and CFO Hummer Stones should produce fish.