Fishing Report for June 11th, 2011 by Boots Allen

South Fork
Flows from Palisades Dam have been decreased to just over 16,000 cfs and the river is showing signs of clearing somewhat. It is tough fishing but by the end of the June this river should be in much better shape. The South Fork is heading in the right direction.

Henry's Fork
The Henry's Fork is still offering some of the best fishing in the area. Flows are variable on the different sections, but the big news to come out of the Henry's is the appearance of the salmon fly hatch, almost every part of the river has experienced this emergence thus far. Double nymph rigs with a Pat's Rubber Leg or a Bitch Creek Nymph has been producing very well. We are also getting action on the surface as well with size 10 and small size 8 attractors like Tara Xs, Will's Chocolate Ant, Chubby Chernobyls. Lower Mesa and Riverside down to Hatchery Ford are two of the hotter sections as of now.

Snake River
The only fishable section of the Snake is from Jackson Lake Dam down to Pacific Creek. The lake above has turned over and is causing a bit of dis-clarity on the river but it is far more clear than the rest of the river below Pacific Creek. Flows from Jackson Lake Dam have dropped to 3,100 cfs, making the fishing much better compared to the past two weeks. Pink or red San Juan Worms, Lightening Bugs (size 14 to 16), and Prince Nymphs (size 12 to 16) are doing well in riffles and along banks. We are seeing fish hit the surface, but not with enough consistency to warrant surface patterns yet.

Yellowstone National Park

The Firehole experienced a big peak over 450 cfs this past week but has receded to under 200 cfs and continues to fish as well as it has since opening day. Sporadic hatches of caddis, PMDs, and bwos are allowing anglers to go to the surface with dry flies. Nonetheless, nymphs are the best game in town. The standard double rig consisting of Green Beans (size 10 to 12), Long Hackle Prince Nymphs (size 10 to 12), black or olive Copper Johns (size 14 to 18), and Tungsten Midge Pupa (size 16) have been performing well, but the best pattern over the past two weeks have been blue Batmen (size 12 to 16). These are hammering Firehole trout in riffles and when swung along banks and structure.

Yellowstone Lake is mostly clear of ice and should be more than ready to go on June 15th (opening day).

Lewis Lake still has a lot of ice on it.