The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

Well......Once again it has been a slow start to our fishing on the South Fork of the Snake here in Irwin, Idaho. Currently the river is still high at 16,000 CFS and a frigid 52 degrees. With the high and cold water our hatches have been delayed by a couple of weeks. That means no dry flies yet. The name of the game has been nymphing. The fishing has been fairly average the first couple of weeks with most days landing 25-30 trout per boat. The hot flies have been rubberlegs, San Juans (pink & red), and any small baetis nymph. The last week there have been lots of rainbows and browns caught. Not to many cuttys yet as they are starting to finish their spawning season. Right now the best fishing has been on the Lower Stretches of the river (ie: Cottonwood to Byington & Byington to Lorenzo).

The good news is that yesterday I saw my first Salmon Fly of the season. So get ready because the S. Fork is days away from blowing up. Big Dry Flies are on the horizon. In addition to the big bugs we are starting to see more Green Drakes each day on the river. So I have to assume by the middle of next week it will be time to put the indicators away and string up those dry fly rods.

I also wanted to mention that the word out here in the Rockies is that there is going to be a huge infestation of hoppers this summer. Fish & Game are calling for one of the largest hopper hatches that they have seen in years. If that forecast holds up we could have some ridiculous fishing this August. So get excited any of you that are making your way to Idaho, Montana, or Wyoming this summer. Gotta love throwing hoppers against undercut banks.

Lastly I wanted to finish my post with an awesome fishing story. Last week I guided Daniele and her husband Bart for 6 days on the S. Fork. All week Daniele was catching the largest fish of the trip. So naturally Bart was excited and frustrated all at the same time. Well the last day of the trip Daniele laid it on thick with some great big fish mojo. Her last day of fishing on the upper resulted in her catching a 19" rainbow, 20" brown, 21" brown, and 22.5" brown. It was awesome watching her pull in big fish after big fish. What a way to end the trip! Check out the two photos!

Tight Lines!

The South Fork has hit its prime. The dry fly fishing this last week has been epic. If you are into sight fishing in riffles and foam now is the time. Every afternoon from 1-4PM the riffles are loaded with cuttys and rainbows eating pink PMDs and Yellow Sallies. The trick to the game is to pick off the easy fish with the emergers. Currently my hot fly has been a pink hackle stacker. Once you have got the easy ones add a beadless pheasant tail to get the more picky fish. Then finally throw a larger dry with a lightning bug and pheasant tail behind it. This is a fun time of year because you can get the majority of the fish that you see. Find a riffle and park yourself there and wait for the noses.

As for the big bug fishing it has been hit and miss. Somedays the fishing has been really good with Chubby Chernobyls and the Eldens Ant. However there are other days where you dont get a lot of action on the big dries. The big bug fishing should continue to get better as those stoneflies make their way into the upper and upper canyon. The next week the upper is most likely going to go off. Get excited because this is when the really big monsters of the South Fork start feeding on the surface. When throwing those big dries make sure to use your favorite pmd dropper underneath. Currently half of our fish are eating the dry and the other half the nymph below. Setting the hook on the dropper eat is not the easiest thing in the world but just remember to cast every time that dry fly sinks below the surface of the water.

Hope you guys are having a great summer.

Tight Lines!

...I'll be fishing in Montana and Idaho for the next two weeks and to think I spent all that time last week tying Epeorus emergers, duns, and spinners(E. Albertae)that are active in the evening instead of PMD's...oh well, live and learn.

Paul

Paul,

Maybe the PMDs have the 4 PM to 10 PM shift.........

I don't think so...even on Mountain time, mornings is when them pale guys like to come off the water...the Pink Alberts seem to be partial to afternoons and evenings in July and August.

Paul

Yaeh, if that is the case, I would likely do better with the Pink Alberts....

What do they eat in the early evening?? Would a Jameson fly work??

The insect is the Epeorus (E. Albertae). Here are three good imitations:

http://blo...07/10/fly-friday-070910/

This bug is a clinger and emerges as an adult - SUBSURFACE. The Emerger and Spinner are the most important stages to imitate. I once sat on the bank, at 6:30PM, here:



Above $3.00 Bridge,

and was astounded by the number of very large fish swirling and slashing on rising emergers...

PT/TB

planettrout wrote:
The insect is the Epeorus (E. Albertae).
PT/TB

Aint that what I said?

Paul

The South Fork is in its late season pattern. These fish have seen thousands of flies go over their heads. So needless to say the big bug fishing has slowed. Its not to say that the fish wont eat them but they will eat a small pmd much better. So the last week we have been fishing pink Lawsons Cripples, Hackle Stackers, and purple wolfs down the banks. It is not quite as easy to see them floating in the foam but those fish love them. Lots of the big fish have retreated to their deeper homes and are sticking to nymphs and streamers. So most of the larger browns that we have caught in the last couple of weeks have been on the infamous lightning bug.

Currently most days we are landing between 30-40 trout. Mostly cuttys this last week. But we definitely saw some great browns and rainbows. Check out some of the good ones from the last couple weeks. We caught a great 23.5 inch brown on a dry fly! Now it doesn't get much better than that.

The fishing on the South Fork should improve over the next couple of weeks. The hoppers are just starting to fly around so it should take a week or so before they hit the river. The pmd fishing will continue for another month. So if the banks don't fish then just wait for the small bugs to come off in the afternoon. The fishing from noon until 4PM is awesome in the riffles and foam holes.

The good news is that I will be returning to Northern California in two weeks. Looking forward to the egg bite this fall.

Tight Lines!

The South Fork has finally hit the dull-drums of summer. This typically hits about the first week of August but like everything else this summer we are about 3 weeks behind schedule on our hatches and weather patterns. The PMD hatch is pooping out and the hoppers have not started yet so the fish don't have a lot to be excited about. Needless to say we are really having to work for the grabs and those fish are becoming little picky snobs.

Currently there are no hot drifts in the river. All of the sections are fishing about the same. The upper and canyon stretches have small windows of PMD fishing in the afternoon. While the lower still has a few golden stones and the random hopper to entice the fish. I saw my first hopper two days ago. So that should reignite the river for a couple of weeks once we see enough of them. The last week I have been bouncing back and forth between the upper canyon, lower canyon, and lower sections of the river. Lots of fish between 12-18" being caught but no real big dogs of late. The hot bugs have been para-hoppers, Lawsons Pink PMD cripple, rusty spinner, and the lightning bug.

Last Sunday I got the chance to go fish with a couple of guide buddies of mine from the Lodge. We took my friends jet boat down to Tilden on the main snake. This is the land of big fish. Not lots of grabs but the ones you get are good. Between three of us we hooked 10 trout and landed 6 of them. We had 4 rainbows between 20-21". No monsters that day but the video on my blog says it all.

The good news is that I am coming home in 7 days. I am excited to take a couple of weeks off before the grind of the fall starts.

I hope you are all doing well.

Tight Lines!