The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

Well for those of you planning a trip to eastern Idaho and western Wyoming you might want to postpone your trip a few weeks. They have gotten tons of snow this way and the majority of the rivers look like chocolate milk. You can find some decent water clarity if you fish some of the tailwaters, but all of the freestones are unfishable. According to some of the locals this is the most snow they have seen in over twenty years. The weather forecast is projecting more snow this evening and through tomorrow. With all of the rain and snow it is going to be a late summer for fishing. People should expect great fishing in the rockies all the way through September. There shouldn't be any river closures this year due to low warm water.

With all off the freestone rivers being unfishable I have got one day in fishing the Blackfoot and then another fishing the South Fork of the Snake. The Blackfoot in Idaho is a little gem that not to many people know about. The Blackfoot is a tributary to the Snake River. The river doesn't boast a huge population of fish but the cutts and rainbows in there grow to large unhealthy proportions. For some reason they are short and fatt. The two times that I have fished the river it has resulted in some chubby specimans that are strong and full of fight. Well last week the fishing was pretty tuff with only about two feet of clarity. A fellow guide friend and I spent the whole day throwing streamers and we only managed to hook 7 fish. But 4 of the fish hooked were all 18''-20''. The great side about it was that I was able to get some fishing in before my busy season starts here this next weekend.


Monday I went and checked out the South Fork of the Snake. It was good to get back on this river after guiding it all last summer. For those of you who have not been here it is a must see for any fly fisherman. The bugs on the South Fork traditionally come off near the end of June so for the next couple of weeks we will be stairing at indicators in the riffles and throwing streamers on the banks. The fishing was good the other day with about 30 fish landed between two of us in about 5 hours of fishing. We decided to float from Palisades Dam down to the Lodge at Palisades Creek. The streamer bite looks like it is just getting started and the fishing with eggs and San Juans was pretty silly. The big fish of the day was a 21'' cutty that had the biggest shoulders I have ever seen on a cutthroat. It was probably a 5lb fish. At first I thought that I hooked a decent brown because it just stayed on the bottom and bull dogged me for about 5 minutes. To be honest I was thoroughly impressed that it didnt do its normal cutthroat roll and give up routine.

Just for some additional information. I have heard that the Henrys Fork is fishing. It should be any day now before those Salmon Flies come off on Henrys. That means we are about 2-3 weeks from having them come off on the South Fork. Get exicted because those big bugs will drive the most seasoned fly anglers crazy. I guess you could say that it is a hatch of a lifetime.

I hope this helps for those of you coming out this way in the next couple of weeks.

Fish Hard!

Ryan,

Thanks for the report. I love the south fork, been fishing that river since I was 4 years old. I get to fish it every year because my family are from Idaho Falls and my uncle and grandpa still live back there.

Nice job on the south fork, talking to my uncle I know the flows were at 20K like 5 or 6 days before you hit it. Down to 14K, when you fished it? Still damn high, nice catch rates for those type of flows.

So you guided out there last year, very cool. Ever see a the flyfisherman on the river (usually by himself in an avon raft) that oars with his feet while fishing?
If you have that's my uncle, coolest, craziest, best flyfisherman, I have ever known, and my guide every year.

dryflychico (aka Josh)

Ryan,

I was just reading your profile, when did you start your MBA at CSUC. I did my MBA/MSA there from 2002 - 2005 and taught a couple undergrad accounting classes.

My full name is Josh Conner, I tended bar and waited tables at Logan's Roadhouse while going to grad school. Wasn't sure if we had met at some point, your name seems familiar.

take it easy,
dryflychico (aka Josh)

Josh,

Dude...That is crazy I saw your uncle rowing with his feet last summer on the Byington to Lorenzo drift. I must say that it takes some major game to row with your feet and fish at the same time. I can absolutely tell you that there is no way in heck that I could pull that one off. Small world!

Yeah the flows on the South Fork yesterday were at 12,500 cfs. It seems like they are slowly lowering it each day. It will be interesting to see what happens with the snow melt this next week because it looks like we have some warm 70 degree days ahead. I guess that all of those tribs are going to blow things out again.

I started my MBA at Chico in 2006 and only have one more semester left. So I think that we must have just missed each other. Do you still live in Chico? If you do then maybe next fall we should try to hook up and do some fishing.

Take it easy and if you see a blue and yellow hyde this summer with your uncle then feel free to say hi.

Tight Lines,
Ryan Johnston

Ryan,

That's cool you've seen my uncle, Byington to Lorenzo is where he fishes a lot so you are dead on. It's pretty incredible to watch, I honestly think someone should write and article or do a piece on him (although that is not his style). I agree with you I can barely row as it is (not saying you can't row) and my fly fishing is not bad but trying to put those two together and then rowing with your feet on top of that, not a chance.

He grew up in Idaho Falls and has been fly fishing his whole life, never worked a summer and retired in his late 30's so he has a ton of time on the water and fishing for him is like chewing gum for most people and he has almost that much time on the oars thus he is able to do both together. He's an engineer and got the idea when he started getting a little older and didn't have people to float with every day and started thinking about a way to float and fish by himself. The engineer brain kicked in and he came up with his current set-up which is damn cool. The thing is he still out fishes me (and I mean really out fishes me) every time I am out with him and he's rowing the damn boat with his feet .

Yeah we must have just missed each other at Chico. I actually live in Lincoln now and work in Sac. but still go back to Chico farely often. My wife and I are going up there this weekend. She has to take a test and I'm going to go fish. We should definately fish in the fall if you have the time.

I was going to be on the South Fork for the Salmon fly hatch this year but because of the Snow/water conditions I might be moving the trip to Sept instead so I can get some better water conditions and avoid the crowds, we'll see how it plays out. Have a great summer back there and keep the reports coming and if I see you I'll definately say "hi".

Congratulations on your degree, one more semester left, I remember that time. Man I miss Chico Did you already take BADM 393? Trailer still teaching it? I like that guy, he has some cool stories, for some reason he reminds me of Nicolas Cage.

take it easy,
dryflychico (aka Josh)

Sweet! Sounds like my BH trip last week of June will be spot on. Thanks!