The South Fork 8/10 - 8/16

The South Fork continues to be on and off. For the most part of this week I have focused on the Canyon. The Canyon has been fishing fairly consistent with a hopper dropper setup. The Franken hopper has been catching some large fish, and the Lightning Bug has been getting the average fish. Each day we have had opportunities at some big fish. Actually almost every day this week we hooked a 20'' fish. It seems as though the trout are more willing to rise in the morning, and then the afternoon sees more success from the dropper. At this point I will take them anyway we can get them. The weather this week did not help either. Most of the week saw strong winds between 15-30 mph. All of us fly fisherman of course love the wind.

I fished the upper one time this week. It was the first time I have fished the upper river since the first week the lodge opened. The fishing in the morning was good, but the afternoon was warm and we were forced to do some nymphing. I could feel my blood boil when I tied on the indicator. I kept thinking, I cannot believe that I am nyphing in Idaho. But to tell you the truth we caught several nice rainbows on a size 14 copper bob.

I am getting excited to go home. Only two more days of guiding in Idaho, and then my wife and I go back to Chico to start school and guiding on all of those California rivers. Give me a call if you want to get in on the Lower Sac this October, because the space is already filling up.

The South Fork 8/2 - 8/8

The South Fork was hit and miss this week depending on the day you were on the water. We saw the end of the golden stone fly hatch, and the beginning of hopper season. The lower sections of the river are getting extremely warm and the fish are getting sluggish and not responding to our flies. Most of the action this week was in the canyon and upper sections of the river. Most days saw about and average of 30 fish caught each day.

I had a few exciting events that happened in the last seven days on the water. The first was when a guide bet was put up by the clients. The Walker group put up $150 for grabs between three different guides for the biggest fish landed. I was lucky enough to have the fish landed in my boat. The winning fish was a nice 18'' rainbow. The other exciting event happened on the same day as I won the $150. One of my clients caught a tagged fish, but unlucky for me the tag was not worth any money.

I am only going to be out here in Idaho for the next week and a half, so if you want to get a shot to get in on some insane hopper fishing on the South Fork then you need to give me a call. For all of you guys out in California I will be doing trips on the Sac, Yuba, and Putah starting the first of September. I look forward to seeing all of you soon. TIGHT LINES!

The South Fork 7/29 - 7/30

I had a good couple of days fishing the South Fork with two very mature kids named Ben (11) and David (13). I was extremely impressed with their up beat attitude, and willingness to try really hard to get their flies in the right place. The first day they hung in there and both caught some fish. The second day was even better, and both did significantly better than the first day. Actually on the second day, Ben caught a 16'' Cutthroat and David got a 18'' Rainbow. Not to bad for a few youngsters. The hot flies for the two days were the Chubby Chernobyl and the infamous Lightning Bug.

These two young men have completely changed my attitude toward guiding and kids. Even though I had taken kids before, Ben and Davida are truly special. I look forward to fishing with them again in the future. I think we all learned a few things from each other. Give me a call if you are interested in doing a trip down the South Fork.

The South Fork 7/24 - 26

The South Fork has stayed in its mid summer trend. The fish are becoming very wise these days. It is probably because most of them have been hooked several times over. I don't know about you but I wouldn't want my lip ripped up a bunch of times either. So on hot and clear days they are being extremely cautious and coming up and looking at our flies but mostly refusing them. However on Tuesday the weather was cloudy and rainy and every fish in the river was blowing up on our bugs. The trend of good fishing on cloudy days and tougher fishing on sunny days is continuing. Come on rain!

All three days I fished from the Heise Bridge down to Lorenzo. Tuesday the fishing was awesome and we caught lots of fish under the cloudy wet conditions. Wednesday the fishing was average and we boated 21 trout under sunny condition. Thursday it was really tough and we landed about 10 under super hot conditions. One cool thing about Thursday though is that one angler got the South Fork Slam. The guy caught a cutthroat, rainbow, and brown all in the same day. This has only happened to me a few times since I have been here.

Well if you are interested in coming out and giving this river a try I am not going to be here much longer. So you need to start making arrangements because I will be going back to Northern California in less than a month. Come on out and do some insane dry fly fishing with me.

The South Fork 7/12 - 7/21

The South Fork has gone from red hot to very tough in the last week and a half. The first part of last week there was a huge resurgence of Golden Stones, and the lower part of the river turned on fire. The trout were gorging themselves on any golden pattern that floated past them. This hatch was much more impressive than the Salmon Flies, and my clients were getting tons of opportunities at fish.

There were a couple of memorable moments that happened this week. The first was when this woman named Robin caught her first fish on a fly rod. This in itself is exciting, but it becomes even more exciting when the fish she caught was a 20'' brown. I guess when your first fish is big one it is all down hill from there. I should also say Congratulations to Robin on her recent wedding to her husband Scott. I hope God blesses your marriage for many years to come. So within 4 days Robin caught herself a husband and a 20'' brown. Now that is a pretty darn good week.

The other memorable moment was when Gordon from South Carolina caught two browns at the same time. He had a 12'' brown eat his dry and a 10'' brown eat his dropper. I had only seen this one other time in the 12 years I have been fly fishing. It caught us all by surprise.

Since then though the weather has gotten extremely hot and clear, and this warm weather has dramatically affected the dry fly fishing. So the last couple of days have seen an increase in the number of fish eating the nymphs. Most of the guides on the staff have said that it is going to be tough on clear days, but if you can manage to land on a cloudy day the dry fly fishing should be insane. Golden Stones and Hoppers should continue to work for the next several weeks. Give me a call if you are in the area and you want a chance to fish the South Fork. I will be out here in Idaho for the next month!

The South Fork 7/1 - 7/11

The South Fork is continuing to see the large hatches of PMD's and Golden Stones. It has been so nice to be able to throw dry flies everyday I am on the river. I must admit though that the fish are becoming very smart because of the heavy pressure they are receiving. Most of the trout in the riffles are taking emerging mayfly patterns. Thank God for my buddy Hogan Brown (check out his bugs on the Idylewild site), because he has hooked me up with a California pattern that is continually fooling big fish. If it were not for that fly I would be getting my butt kicked. Hopefully this one particular PMD emerger continues to work, and the fish don't wise up to it.

The banks have continued to fish well also with big Chernobyl Ants. So for the most part of the day we are throwing big dries down the bank, and for a couple of hours we are throwing the small bugs on the riffles. If you have a chance come on out fish the South Fork. The river is a true gem in the state of Idaho.

The South Fork 6/25 - 6/29

I had a busy week on the South Fork last week. The fishing was great. All five days I focused on the river from Cottonwood down to Lorenzo. The lower sections of the river has been holding the larger golden stones and yellow sallies. So we are getting the fish to look up at big Chernobyl Ant patterns. The middle of the day has also been terrific as the PMDS have been coming off from 11:00 to about 2:00. This is a great time to be out on the river. This was a fun week for me. If you have any interest in checking out the South Fork you should give me a call.

Carrie and Joe Roche from Sonoma came out and fished the river three days this week. The last day Carrie ended the trip with a great bang. We stopped on this riffle where we saw a few fish rising. The first cast resulted in a 16'' brown that came out of twelve inches of water. The third cast resulted in a 19'' brown that was laid up in five inches of water. The fish was so shallow it was like sight fishing to bonefish on the flats in Mexico. I was so fired up for her. After we landed the second fish, the next cast resulted in an 18'' brown that was pissed off. It was a great 5 minutes. I am absolutely in love with this river. Every fly fisherman and women should experience this dry fly paradise.