April 29th, 2010 Update - What A Great Couple Of Weeks We Have Had!

The past two weeks have been fantastic on our area waters. Gorgeous weather and gin clear water has made this an April to remember. A big low pressure system has moved in, bringing some snow and cold temperatures. The forecast is for the weather to be cold and wet for the next several days. So this is a great opportunity to reflect on what we have had -


Snake River


The dry fly action has been some of the best we have experienced in the month of April. Even on those few days when the water showed a little bit of sediment, we had cutthroat rising in riffles and along most pieces of structure. Blue-winged olives, skwalas, capnias, midges and little green stones made an appearance on the surface on most days, but what was surprising was the amount of activity we had on large attractors like Melon Bellies, Snake River Water Walkers, and SRA Chernobyls. We may not see this kind of activity for another seven weeks or so.





South Fork

The South Fork had a slow start but kicked into gear by the middle of the month. The upper reach in Swan Valley fished great on nymphs from the Dam down to the confluence with Palisades Creek. Nice sized cutthroats and rainbows - going up to 18 inches - could be taken in most riffles on that piece of the stream. The Canyon begin to fish well over the last 10 days of the month. This is where we had some of the best dry fly action on BWO and caddis imitations. Furimsky's BDE Olive (size 14-16) and rust Tent-Wing Caddis (size 12) were working like charms.



Henry's Fork

Caddis caddis everywhere! The past week has been incredible. Blizzards of caddis almost everyday. Everything from Warm River down has been fishing very, very well. Yes, nymphs have been what most of the action has been on, with the olive or gray Sparkle Caddis Pupa (size 12-14) and the RW Chamois Caddis (size 12). But the dry fly action has really been something. One friend of mine made an observation that as soon as a cloud passed over the sun, the rainbows would start to dimple the surface. Troth's Elk Hair Caddis (size 14-16) worked in a variety of colors. Really good stuff! And there was a consistent number of plump 14 to 16 inch rainbows.





Despite the cold and wet weather we have in here currently, this does not mean that the fishing has nose-dived. There can still be some very good activity out there. The only difference is that the surface activity will be squeezed into a tighter time period and you may have to hunker down when it gets chilly. And the nymph fishing can still be fantastic through it all.