Winter has been rather gentle to the eastern Idaho and western Wyoming area this year. I recently returned to the region to find one of the lightest snow packs in recent memory. Not as light as 2007 but certainly as light as 2001. As of this morning, the NRCS Snotel sights for the Snake River drainage show total precipitation at 57% and the snow water equivalent at 52%. The upper Green is at 54% and 52% respectively. Snow pack at the 9,300can ft. level is standing at only 70 inches. We can call this a drought for the most part. However, we still have April and May to go and they can be big in terms of precipitation. In 1998, it rained almost everyday from May 2nd to June 27th. On the other hand, I can remember some pretty dry ones as well. 1992, 2000, and 2001 come to mind as examples.
Right now I would estimate that we are about a month ahead of schedule and looking at a very good possibility of our runoff ending much earlier than normal. The result could be some extremely good early season fishing. The mild weather is already producing some fantastic fishing on the upper Snake River. Chironomids, blue winged olives, and capnias have been wildly active due to the warmer than usually water temps and large cutthroats, browns, and rainbows are responding. Our shop has had about a half dozen trips already and the guides are reporting fantastic fishing at the middle and tail of riffles and along seam lines. On the Snake, the reaches of the river running from Wilson to Dog Creek have been fishing the best. On the South Fork, dry fly and nymphing action has been described as "steady" on the section of river running from Palisades Reservoir down to Palisades Creek. Below Palisades Creek, things are a bit more difficult. The best action is coming on streamers on intermediate sink tips stripped through long riffle pools. Expect the South Fork to get better as we get deeper into April.
But it is May and June that we are waiting for if the runoff ends early. Some of you may remember 2007, when we experienced top-notch fishing on the South Fork and Green in May and the blizzarding caddis hatch on the upper Snake in June. Could the very same fishing be in the cars this year? What happens in April and May in terms of temperatures and precipitation will give us the answer.
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