Top

Tungsten Nymphs Tag

Fly Fish Food Jimmy's / Posts tagged "Tungsten Nymphs"

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 6/14

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.

South Fork 3/25

We have some important news to share with you about the South Fork. Flows will be increased to 10,00 cfs for the next week. These flows will remain steady until they decide to dump more water. I do not expect to see flows drop again until next fall, this is why:

  • We have about 120% snowpack in the hills.
  • It is still March and winter is not left us yet.
  • Who knows what kind of rain we will get this spring(May & June)

So what does this mean for fishing? They’re 2 things that we should consider. First, wait for the water flows level out, the fishing will pick back up. Second, is the water is still cold (38 degrees) So the fish are not going to move out of the original holding water they have been in all winter. However, there is 5 times the amount of water in the system, so basically the barrel just got bigger.  So you need to think about how to target the fish. Continue to look for fish in slow moving water, eddy’s and flats. Plan on fishing deeper and that is most likely your best bet for reaching the fish.  With the cold water temps the fish will not move a great deal to eat your fly, you will need to get your fly to the fish. This is what I suggest: Strike Indicator to your 1st fly should at least be 10′ than drop your 2nd fly 24″ from there. I would fish heavy flies, like tungsten bead heads, and weighted stonefly nymphs. Streamers will pick up when the water warms a little. If you have any questions call the shop or stop by the shop.