Fishing Report for July 2nd, 2011 by Boots Allen

Yellowstone National Park

Lewis Lake is fishing very well with Clousers (olive or white), olive or yellow Mohair Leeches, silver Zonkers, and white or gray Bow River Buggers on Type VI and Type VIII sink tips in the transitional zones between the flats and the descent of the thermoclines to deeper water. We have notices that lake trout are beginning to feed in deeper water each day so it might be better to start fishing with T-11 or T-14 to reach the deeper feeding zones. Nonetheless, it is still possible to pick up cruising trout, particularly brown trout, on the flats in Brookie Bay and near the inlet in the morning hours between 8a. and 11 pm. There is even brown trout feeding on callibaetis and drake adults on the surface. When this event occurs, hit the flats with drake and quill imitations or strip a streamer on a intermediate tip or floating line through the feeding areas.

Yellowstone Lake is also fishing well in the vicinity of West Thumb. Some very big cutthroat are being taken on Fergus Strungout Leeches in olive-over-white and brown-over-white as well as CH Woolley Buggers in olive, white, and gray. These patterns are being fished on intermediate and floating lines close to shore and retrieved with a moderate strip.

The Firehole continues its up-and-down flows but is still fishing in a productive patterns at the tail-end on riffles, and tailouts with olive or cream Soft Hackles, Long Hackles Prince Nymphs, and Lightening Bugs.

Henry's Fork

Some of the best fishing in the region can still be found on the Henry's Fork. All sections from Railroad Ranch down to Chester are fishing productively and there is some decent dry fly action in the reaches of river from Lower Mesa down to Vernon. Golden Stone Fly patterns and PMD imitations have been the most successful surface flies fished in riffles, along structure, and a few feet off of banks. Dropper rigs still remain the best bet for size and number however when fished in the same water. Pat's Rubber Leg (size 6 to 8), Batmen (size 14 to 16), Bubble Back Pheasant Tails (size 12 to 16), and black or olive Copper Johns (size 14 to 18).

South Fork

Releases from Palisades Reservoir have dropped to 14,800 cfs and each day there is partial clearing on the South Fork. Fishing continues to pick up each few days on Double Nymph Rigs consisting of Pat's Rubber Legs and Parkins' Stone Nymph trailing San Juan Worms in pink, red, and brown or egg patterns in pink, chartruese, or yellow. A triple rig consisting of all three have been especially productive. This rigging is working at the down stream ends of riffles, tailouts, and seams where slower currents develop.

Streamers are also producing along banks and structure on intermediate and Type III sink tips with moderate to fast retrieves. Larger streamers - olive or black Sex Dungeons, tan Zoo Cougars, black over light olive Quad Bunnies, and black or silver Silvey Sculpins - have been the most successful baitfish patterns on the upper reach of the South Fork in Swan Valley and in the Canyon stretches.

Fly Fishing Report for June 22nd, 2011 by Boots Allen

Snake River
The runoff continues on the Snake River but the section of water running from Jackson Lake Dam to Pacific Creek has fishable clarity and continue to show signs of additional clearing each day. The standard double nymph rig consisting on large rubber leg stone nymphs (size 6 to 8) and red or pink San Juan Worms are picking up cutthroat along banks, structure and the tail end of riffles. Big browns ranging in size from 16 to 19 inches are also being taken at the tail end of riffles and along flats and inside seams. Streamer fishing has also been moderately productive with large sculpin and leech patterns on intermediate and TYPE III sink tips.

South Fork
Flows on the South Fork have been increased to 17,100 cfs and fishing remain really tough. One bright spot is that there is some clearing occurring although visibility remains limited. Heavily weighted nymph rigs that includes Pat's Rubber Legs with either San Juan Worms or Egg patterns are producing in bits and pieces on flats and in riffles on the Swan Valley section of river running from Palisades Reservoir down to Spring Creek Bridge.

Henry's Fork
With the opening of the Railroad Ranch section on June 15th, all reaches of the Henry's Fork are now available to fly fishing. Good reports are coming out of Henry's Lake with mid-sized streamers, including Clouser Minnows in olive-over-white, gray-over-white, and brown-over-white, and Lite Brite Zonkers in olive, black, and purple. Box Canyon is flowing at 1276 cfs. Anglers are having moderate success with double nymph rigs consisting of large stonefly nymph patterns trailing Prince Nymphs (size 14 to 16), Flashback Pheasant Tails (size 14), and Copper Johns (size 12 to 18) in olive, black, and red. Riverside to Hatchery Ford and Lower Mesa are fishing well with the same nymph rigs as in Box Canyon. There is also decent surface activity on March brown patterns (size 12 to 16) as well as old standbys like Parachute Adams (size 14 to 16), and Ausable Wulffs (size 12 to 16).

Yellowstone National Park
The Firehole recently rose to above 350 cfs but has now dropped to below 200 cfs and is fishing very well with yellow, cream, or olive Soft Hackles (size 12 to 16), Batmen (size 12 to 14), Glasshouse Caddis Nymphs (size 14), olive, black, and blue Copper Johns (size 14 to 18), and Biot Bugs (size 12 to 16). Riffles and undercut banks remain the hot targets.

Yellowstone Lake is ice free now and fishing very well with mid-sized sculpin and leech patterns. Ice is coming off Lewis Lake but access is still difficult with heavy snow still blocking the boat ramp.

Green, New Fork, and Salt Rivers
Still high and off-color. It will still be a few weeks before we can begin to fish these streams.

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.

Fly Fishing Report for June 1st, 2011

Snake River

The Snake is well into runoff and will be for quite some time with a snowpack well over 230% still in the watershed. The one fishable reach is the tailwater section running from Jackson Lake Dam down to Pacific Creek. Here the water is high (5,800 cfs) but is crystal clear and dropping by the day and water temps are getting up into the low 40s by late afternoon. There is little surface action, but trout are being taken on double nymph rigs with Prince Nymphs (size 14), Lightening Bugs (size 12 to 14), and red or olive Copper Johns (size 12 to 14). The fishing on this piece of the Snake is by no means "off the charts", but there is enough activity to keep an angler happy until more water opens up.

South Fork

The South Fork is running at 23,000 cfs and is very much off color from upstream runoff above Palisades Reservoir. We don't anticipate the South Fork to be fishable until the reservoir fills enough to allow sediment to settle. This might be a couple of weeks.

Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone opened to fishing on Memorial Day weekend and it is offering some of the best action in the region. Lewis Lake still has plenty of ice on it, but the Firehole River and Crayfish Creek are almost in ideal shape right now. Olive, cream, and white Soft Hackles (size 12 to 16) are working very well when swung through riffles and along seams and undercut banks. These same waters are producing with black or olive Copper Johns (size 14 to 16), Flashback Pheasant Tails (size 14), Rainbow Warriors (size 16 to 18), And Bubbleback Pheasant Tails (size 14 to 16). Blue-winged olives are emerging around mid-day, giving the best opportunity for dry fly fishing right now with bwo imitations - BWO Comparaduns (size 16 to 18) and olive Furimsky BDEs (size 16 to 18) are particularly effective. These are some of the best streams an angler can be on right now.

Henry's Fork

With the cooler temps that came into the region last week, Henry's Fork tributaries have receded and allowed for a clearer river and some better fishing. Oro Bridge to Chester is fishing best of all. It is not in top-notch shape for this time of year but is offering fair fishing in comparison to most waters in the area. Riffles and inside turns are fishing well with red or pink San Juan Worms, Tungsten BH Prince Nymphs (size 14 to 16), and Glasshouse Caddis (size 14 to 16). The big news is that the salmon flies are beginning to pop in pockets from Chester up to Warm River. If this emergence begins to get going in earnest, the Henry's Fork could be a very good place to be.

Stream Flow and Fishing Report for May 18th, 2011

Unsettled weather has hit Snake River country with a bang! Sunny and warm for a few days, then cool with showers for a few days. All rivers in the area are in runoff. This is good news, but the peaks on each river will most likely vary until when get more consistently warm temps and sunny weather. At the very least, ice is starting to come off of the lakes. Runoff will last longer on most streams than usual with the Snow pack at over 190%. But some rivers have shorter overall runoffs than others. Here are some of our projections -

Expect the Teton River and the Henry's Fork to be in fishing shape sometime in early June. One bright spot is that Box Canyon is clear and has at least some fair fishing is being experienced.

The Green and the New Fork should be ready sometime in around the end of June and first of July.

Most believe that the South Fork below Palisades Dam will be fishing well as soon as the reservoir hits 30% capacity, which will allow sediment to settle and the discharge from the dam to run clear. The rest of the South Fork should be ready to by the last week of June hopefully.

The Snake River below Jackson Lake Dam is at 8,000 cfs and will not be ramped down until much more of a significant runoff develops. As soon as we get down to around 5,000 cfs, the stretch from Dam to Pacific will most likely start fishing (dependent on water temps). The rest of the Snake will probably not be fishing until the end of July at the earliest. But we have been wrong on this before.

We believe that the ice on Lewis Lake will be off by the end of the first week of June. The Firehole and the Madison are having fast runoffs, but the jury is out as to when it will be fishing. Opening day on May 27th.

Remember, these are only projections and things will change. Be ready for a big, but not necessarily fast, runoff. And be ready for some awesome fishing once the runoff ends.

Fishing Report and Stream Flows for May 8th, 2011

Snake River
The recent warming of temperatures have helped the fishing on the Snake to a certain degree. We are now experiencing some decent fishing on the lower reaches of the river from Deadman's Bar down to South Park Bridge. It is by no means on fire, but much better than what we had a week to two weeks ago. Side Channels and shallow riffles and seams are showing action on Lightening Bugs (size 10 to 14), olive, black, or red Copper Johns (size 10 to 14), Prince Nymphs (size 12) and Zug Bugs (size 12). Dry flies are also seeing some action in long riffles and along structure, as well as along the mouths of the numerous tributaries. Large attractors seem to be doing best - Kasey's Creature (size 8), red Rubber Legged Double Humpies (size 8), and olive or red SRA Chernobyls (size 10 to 8). Streamers are producing when fished along banks and structure, but there is very little by way of consistent action as of yet.

Flows from Jackson Lake Dam stand at 5000 cfs. Water temps on the tailwater section just below the dam are in the mid to upper 30 - a bit too chilly for the fishing to have picked up in a noticeable fashion on that reach. This may change in the coming week.

More warm weather is forecast over the next 10 days, so expect the runoff to start in earnest soon.


South Fork
Warmer weather has helped the fishing a little bit on the South Fork. Water temperatures have risen into the low 40s in the Canyon and the upper 30s to near 40 on the upper river in Swan Valley. Another factors in the uptick in fishing has been the fact that releases from Palisades Reservoir have been lowered to 14,000 cfs. The runoff has started on many of the tributaries both along the South Fork and above it in Palisades Reservoir. This has led to some discoloration on the river, but cutthroat and rainbows are still being taken on San Juan Worms, egg patterns, and large rubber leg stone fly nymphs in size 6 to 10.

Fishing should continue to get better as the river warms, but one issue to keep in mind is that the reservoir is only at 11% capacity and is down to only the original river channel in most places. This could mean that once the runoff starts upstream in Wyoming, we could see much of that sediment going straight through the dam and into the South Fork. The result could be one of the muddiest seasons on the South Fork in years.



Henry's Fork
Warmer temperatures have caused a bit of discoloration on the reach from Warm River to Ashton but much of the lower river (Ashton to Del Rio) has solid clarity and is fishing very well. The most prominent development over the past week has been initiation of the Mother's Day caddis hatch. Any section from the confluence with the South Fork upstream to Mesa Falls has a lot of caddis emerging throughout each day. This is producing a fair amount of surface action on olive or black X-Caddis (size 14 to 16) and Elk Hair Caddis (size 16). Nonetheless, it is nymphs that are working best, including Glass House Caddis (size 14 to 16), olive Copper Johns (size 14 to 16), and Z-Body Caddis (size 12 to 16). We are fishing these as double nymph rigs with Pat's Rubber Leg Stones and Crystal Creek Stone Nymphs. These big bugs are picking up fish as well, no doubt because salmon fly nymphs have been very active along much of the river.

Fishing Report and Stream Flow Report for April 29th, 2011

South Fork
The South Fork has been fishing quite well but recent cold temperatures have slowed the fishing noticeably. The feeling amongst many of us who have been fishing the South Fork over the past couple of weeks is that the cold temps, along with the flow levels being at 18,000 cfs, are translating to water temps too cool for much action. Fortunately, the forecast over the next several days calls for warmer temps and little precipitation. If we can stay stable at 18,000 cfs, we should see a return to some decent fishing on the South Fork.

Snake River
The recent increase in water levels have allowed trout to move into the side channels on the reach of river from Deadmans Bar down to South Park Bridge. The fishing in the side channels are one of the few places on the main river where there is respectable fishing, while the main channels and most of the riffles have been somewhat slow.

The one section of river that has offered somewhat more consistent action is the tailwater reach from Jackson Lake Dam down to Pacific Creek. Here the clarity almost 100% and the releases from the Dam - currently at 5,000cfs - is more than enough to produce good fishing. Nonetheless, the fishing is very much dictated by water temps, and if it is below 40 degree, the fishing can all but shut down. There is dry fly action on some of the riffles and seams above Cattlemens and at the confluence of Pacific Creek when conditions allow. Standard midge and bwo patterns working best on the surface. Nymphs like Zug Bugs (size 14), Tungsten Midge Pupas (size 18 to 20), Lightening Bugs (size 12 to 18), and black Copper Johns (size 16) can be productive throughout the day.

Henry's Fork
The Henry's Fork is still offering the best fly fishing in the area, although there has been a bit of slowing with the colder temps. As with the South Fork, there should be a pick up in action as warmer and drier weather moves in over the next week. Vernon to Chester and Warm River to Ashton have been the better pieces of water. Batmen (size 16 to 18), Lightening Bugs (size 16), Rainbow Warriors (size 18 to 20), Rojo Midges (SIZE 16 to 20), and Z-Wing Caddis Nymphs (size 14 to 18) are all producing in riffles and along submerged structure. Streamers are working very well for the bigger rainbows on from Warm River to Ashton. In particular, try Olive or black Bow River Buggers (size 2 to 4), Stacked Blondes (size 4), tan Zoo Cougars (size 2), and purple or black BH Zonkers (size 2) along submerged structure.

Green River
Recent cool temps have resulted in freezing upstream banks and tributaries, which in turn have resulted in a severe drop in stream flows (73 cfs at Warren Bridge). As temps warm, expect flows to increase and fishing to pick up significantly.