South Fork Looking Up

Well the flows on the South Fork are slowly decreasing. There is still lots of water coming out of Palisades Reservoir with the current flow at 21,000 cfs. The upper part of the river has a nice emerald color to it with about 4-5 feet of visibility. While the lower river has about 2 feet of visibility. The visibility at this point in time is not a problem. What is exciting is that the bug life is starting to pop. We are seeing more Salmon Flies each day. There are PMDS and Sallies everywhere and the Green Drakes are just starting. Things are getting really exciting out here.

I was able to get in 6 days of guiding this last week and the entire river is fishing fairly well. Things are not on fire yet but we are days away from things blowing up. Most days we are boating around 25+ trout. Big fish this week was a great 22.5 Inch Brown caught by Craig Brummell from South Bend, Indiana. I guess you could say that he has the luck of the Irish. We are doing lots of nymphing on the banks and in the riffles. But Yesterday we hooked around 15 fish on dries. Caught a few fish on pmd emergers, salmon fly adults, and some golden patterns. The hot bugs have been pink pmds, lightning bugs, chernobyl ant, and the salmonfly club sandwich. Probably by next week we will be throwing dries all day. Well at least I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

South Fork of the Snake

Things have been put on hold out here on the South Fork. As of Sunday we had 19 straight days of rain and there is no more room for the water in Palisades Reservoir. Yesterday the Reservoir hit 100% of its capacity. So the water resource guys were forced to match the inflow and outflow. Currently the South Fork is flowing at 23,500 cfs. Needless to say that this is a lot of water. Making the fishing a little difficult. All of the trips for the Lodge have been cancelled or rescheduled this week. Things should start to look better next week with clear weather in the forecast. I think summer has finally made its way to southweast Idaho.

Prior to the large dose of water things were progressing nicely. Lots of fish eating rubberlegs and cobberbobs. Most days we were boating around 20 trout with a mixed bag of rainbows, cuttys, and browns depending on what stretch of river you were fishing.

For those of you looking to do some fishing out here in Idaho I would wait about another week. By that time things should start settling down in southeast idaho and western wyoming. Keep your fingers crossed as dry flies are just around the corner.

I do have several availabilities through the month of August for those of you that want to come out and give the South Fork a try. Big Dry Flies are the name of the game out here.

Tight Lines!

Back in Idaho for the Summer

Last week the wife and I took a nice 15 hour drive to our home for the summer in Idaho. I will once again be guiding on the South Fork of the Snake in Swan Valley through the month of August. I am excited for all of the dry fly fishing that awaits in the next couple of weeks. But at this point in time the dry fly fishing is going to be a while. It is really wet and cold out here. It has been raining for the last week and we have been stuck doing some nymphing. Haven't done any of that before in California:) We have been able to pull a couple decent days of throwing streamers but as a guide I get nervous of big hooks flying over my head. Wednesday I took a size 2 out of my neck. Gotta love the dangers of being a guide. That hard hat is starting to sound better each day I am on the water.

Right now the word on the street is that the Salmon Fly Hatch is about a week and a half away. That means by the first week of July things are going to be on fire. So for those of you coming out to Southeast Idaho get excited for what is to come. For those of you heading to the freestones expect some muddy water. Most of the rivers around here are high and brown. The tailwaters are fine but everything is probably not going to be fishable until the first part of July.

I will be back in the middle of September to start guiding our home waters for the famous egg bites for trout and steelhead on the Sac, Yuba, and Feather.

Lower Sac Back on Fire

The Lower Sac this last week has been really good. The flows have stabilized around 8000 cfs and the fish are on the grab. This is a beautiful time on the river. Good weather, lots of fish, and consistent hatches. Lately the river has been fishing the best from the morning until about 4PM. It seems like the whole river really starts to shut down in the afternoon. The later you fish in the day the harder it is to get those fish to eat. Most days I have been focusing on the water between Bonnyview and the Barge Hole. The upper parts of the river continue to fish well so there have not been a whole lot of reasons to go down river. Probably by next week we will start checking out the lower stretches down by Bend.

This last week there have been good PMD hatches from about Noon until 2PM. I had two days this week where we boated 35+ fish. Pretty darn good for the middle of May. These are more numbers that you would expect in March and April. The hot bugs of late have been the rubberlegs, yellow microspawn, Mercer's PMD, and the tan Fox's Pupah. In the middle of the day they want that PMD and they switch to the caddis later in the day.

One really cool thing that happened to me yesterday is that I had a client named Linda hook and land a 23" wild steelhead on the Sac. This is the latest that I have ever seen a steelhead on the Sac. Prior to this fish I had caught one on May 3 of last year. Even though the fish was a little snaky looking it really fired me up. It is good to see that the Lower Sac steelhead population is holding strong.

For those of you looking for another discount I have a couple of days in the next three weeks that I am trying to fill. So I will take a $100 off anyone wanting to fish May 19, 26-27, and June 4. These are my last days open before I leave to guide on the South Fork of the Snake for the summertime.

I hope everyone is getting some fishing in. Get ready for some dry fly stories.

Tight Lines!

Big Dose of the Lower Sac

I have been on the Lower Sac a whole lot the last couple of weeks. Prior to this recent storm things were getting back to normal. The water clarity was looking good, the hatches of pmds were thick, and the fish were feeding. Most days during the last ten days we were boating 25+ rainbows. Lately I have really been bouncing around on different drifts from Bonny to Anderson, Anderson to Barge, and Jellys to Bend. It doesn't seem like there is one drift that is fishing better than the others. It definitely seems like the fish are bigger on average on the upper drifts. The hot flies lately have been mercers pmd, rubberlegs, yellow micro spawn, black micromay, and mercers gidget.

The recent storm on the Lower Sac has added a lot of color to the river. The river yesterday afternoon only had a couple of feet of visibility. Both Clear, Cow, and Cottonwood were all pumping mud as of last night. This should improve quickly as soon as this recent rain lets up.

The cool thing about last week is that 6 out of my last 7 days I only had one client in the boat. Gotta love how the boat weighs a couple hundred pounds lighter on those days. Actually my back is feeling pretty good after 7 days of rowing. I can't say that to often. Wish I could do that more.

To keep everyone posted I will once again be leaving to guide on the South Fork of the Snake river in Idaho for the summer. I am excited for another summer of throwing big dries on the banks of the Snake. I do have some availabilities still open for the Lower Sac and Yuba for those of you looking to do some fishing in May.

Fish Hard!

The Tale of Two Rivers: One Nice & The Other Can Kick Your Butt

I have spent the last seven days on the river. Equally spent between the Lower Sac and the Yuba. This last week I have been on the Lower Sac four days and the Yuba three. Needless to say that we are having some wacky weather for this time of year. Start of the week I was layering in fleece but by the end the sun was frying the the legs as the shorts came out. Looks like this next week things are going back to normal. I guess global warming isn't here to stay just yet. To be honest I'm not ready for those 100+ degree days.

So whats the word on the fishing?

The Lower Sac continues to fish well even with the off color water. Most days we are boating 25+ rainbows. Every time they increase the flow there has been some major fluctuation in the clarity of the water. The first 2-3 days after a flow bump the clarity has been going down to 2-3 feet of visibility. Currently there is about 3.5 feet of visibility on the river. With the off color water those fish are really wanting the rubberlegs and the yellow eggs. It has been really hard to get those fish dialed into one specific small bug. Some small bugs to try are amberwing princes, pheasant tails, and tan pupahs. It seems like to me that you just have to get the flies in the trouts face to get a grab. If you bump them in the nose they want to eat it!

The Yuba has been hit and miss this week. I had two solid days in a row on Wednesday and Thursday with about 20 fish hooked each day. Then the Yuba did its great humbling trick on my clients Monday with only 9 fish hooked. Just like everyone else sometimes I have a love hate relationship with this place. I guess everyone once in a while gets their butt kicked on the river. The cool thing is that on Monday we were able to raise a couple of rainbows on caddis dries. Throwing dries gets me pumped up for my summer in Idaho.

The fishing should remain good for the next month before the real hot weather of June shows up. Expect the lower stretches of the Lower Sac from Barge down to Bend to start fishing really well with the warm weather and the higher flows. This is the time of year when the lower river really starts to turn on. Also expect some great caddis action on the Lower Yuba in the evenings. This is the time of year where you can have epic days with the dry fly rod.

For those of you looking for some open dates I have May 7, 12-14, 18-21 still open before I leave for another summer of throwing dries on the South Fork of the Snake.

I hope everyone is getting some good fishing in!

Tight Lines.

Bouncing Between Rivers

This last week I have been bouncing back and forth between the Yuba and Lower Sac Rivers.

The Yuba has been fishing really well. I have been on the river a couple of times in the last week and both days we did really well nymphing. The dry fly fishing has been really spotty with limited hatches on the lower river. One of those days that I was out there with my clients was magical. It was one of those days that you live for on the Yuba. We hooked 35+ fish and two of those fish were fresh spring steelhead. We landed one clipped steelhead that was 18" and then lost a HUGE hen that was estimated at 8-9 lbs. I was so bummed when we lost that fish. Up to this date this is hands down the biggest fish I have had a client hook on this river. I guess that is what keeps you coming back. The other day we had was really solid with 20 rainbows hooked. The hot bugs have been stones, march browns, pmds, and small baetis patterns. Like most Yuba days if you are patient and methodical it seems like you can force feed them.

The Lower Sac has had some major changes in the last couple of weeks. There have been two major flow changes on the Lower Sac. Each flow change has dramatically changed the color of the water. The clarity on the Lower Sac before the flow changes was about 4-5 feet in the upper river. Now the clarity of the water is back to 2 feet. The water looks like it did back in the late part of February. Needless to say the off color water has been affecting the fishing. Most days right now we are landing around 20 rainbows. So the fishing is still solid but it should be better than that in April. You know we have a special river when a tough day out there we are working hard to land 20 fish. You gotta love the Lower Sac. If the flow of the river stabilizes this week expect the clarity to improve and the fishing to pick up again. Right now the hot bugs are the rubberleg and yellow micro spawn. The last three days on the Lower Sac there has not been a hot small bug.

For those of you looking for a discounted guide trip I will take a $100 off a trip on April 27, 28, & 29.

Fish Hard!