June 10, 2009

Fished a few places on Toponce Creek this afternoon and really had a pretty good time. Fish larger than expected have moved out of the mainstem of the creek to the softer water of the South Fork. I fished three areas of the S.F., the extreme upper only producing a few small cutts, the middle was the best and actually had a great mayfly hatch, and the extreme lower which had picked up more water and the flows were just a little too high. It was about 50 degrees and cloudy today which really aided all the bug action. In the stretches of faster water I ran some weighted nymphs with some good success and in the slower water with rising fish I fished dries. I found one hole where there were probably 10-20 fish sipping adult mayflies and I automatically thought it would be like shooting fish in barrell. An hour later I had finally found the right pattern and landed about 10 of those fish, but I had to clear out my box to get it done. Talked to a friend of mine that has fished a few more things and according to him the Bear River is terrible right now, probably due to the "recreational flows" for kayakers and rafters. The Portneuf is high right now but fish can still be taken if you don't mind getting out the lead and dredging for them. 8 mile Creek near Soda Springs is high but fishable. Pebble Creek is the same. In addition, I drove through Yellowstone Park the other day and the park waters are realy fishable right now. Here are some pictures of our Yellowstone trip just to spice up the blog a little.

Spring fishing report

I have had the opportunity in the last week to travel the area and check on the condition of some of the water. In general most Caribou County streams are still too high to fish with a few exceptions. The Portneuf River flows are at good levels and the water clarity is surprisingly good. The river bottom is exceptionally muddy this year, probably due to the low spring runoff that usually blows out the river. I went to only one spot on the Portneuf that usually holds good numbers of fish and did not even see a fish, so I need to do more exploring. The very top of the South Fork of Toponce Creek fished well in the beaver dams. I caught two very small cutthroat yesterday out of 24 mile creek, but watch out for the mosquitos. Ledge creek has some great brook trout fishing. I checked out a friends recommendation in Franklin County this week also and found the water looking in pretty good shape. I believe they call this water the West Fork of the Bear River. I will be out of town for the next week but it looks like flows are already on the downhill slide and that things should be pretty normal by the second or third week of June this year.

Life is Crazy Busy

School is now out and track season is over. It is time to get back to the blog. I really have not blogged because I have not fished in nearly two months. A new baby, sports seasons etc.... I will now hope to do better. Tomorrow is the opener and the upper Portneuf and some of the surrounding streams look pretty good. I plan to check them out tomorrow and report. If there is still anyone out there who reads this blog stick with me, it will get better. Wish  me luck on the opener. 

Great February Dry Fly Fishing

I was looking for some action on the fly rod last week and found some great fishing not too far from the car or from home. Anytime the temperatures rise above 32 degrees in February I can usually be found somewhere in my house turning cartwheels. Fishing trips lately have been few and far between. I escaped on a beautiful Saturday afternoon last week for a 1 hour trip to Black Canyon. The canyon stretch of the river upstream from the Grace power plant is a beautiful stretch of river with terraces separating deep pools. Each pool, run and riffle has its own character and the water can often be difficult to read and even harder to wade. The bottom of the river is lava rock from an ancient flow, the current has chiseled the large canyon and made some holes only as big around as your leg and deeper. On more than one occasion I have been walking along the downstream edge of a terrace shelf and with one misplaced step found myself up to the hip in a hole barely big enough for my boot to fit through. Take caution and it is always good if you don't know this stretch of river to take a buddy along. 

This trip didn't turn out to as much of a challenge as I thought that it might be. In fact since I have started keeping this blog last March, I have now caught a trout on a dry fly for 12 consecutive months. This is a feat that I am somewhat proud of even though if you know where to go on the Bear there is a good chance of fish rising in the middle of a blizzard. the fish don't seem to care much what is going on with the weather as long as there are midges coming off, and they come off in droves. Midge activity in the soft water where the fish don't have to expend much energy to get a mouthful of the little black bugs really get the fish going, and if you don't find midged coming off on top of the water there is a good chance there are active larvae and pupa working their way to the surface in the winter months. 

When I see mouths and tails I throw an 18 or 20 griffiths gnat or a parachute adams in the same sizes. When I see backs and dorsal fins I throw a small brassie or black midge emerger. If neither of the above are happening I chuck a standard nymph or a small midge larvae pattern or San Juan worm with success. Streamers will always work and as the famous Gary LaFontaine once said, "you know what they say about wooly buggers, they work" and the Bear River is no exception. A streamer fished very slowly may be what you really want to fish when you just want to catch fish, but fish them slowly, dead drifts work as well as slow upstream strips. 

Whatever seems to be going on around this area, Black Canyon is always the one place I can go to forget that it is winter. The scenery, wildlife and the river is beautiful and the fishing isn't bad either.

Bear River Report

Fished the Bear River last Friday and had a great time. The day was a bit warmer and I found some fish on the rise right away in some of the slower runs. It was just the medicine I needed during what appears to be never ending winter again. I then turned to the old trusty heavily weighted wooly bugger. I swung it through some of the deep holes with very little success and then found that by pulling them slowly directly upstream I could move the fly slow enough to attract some attention. All said the scenery was fantastic, there was very little snow in the canyon and I picked up about 15 fish in an hour and a half. It was just great to be outside again, hear the river and feel that crisp winter breeze (OK I could live without that). The fish do seem to be smaller than past years and the size did improve the farther that I got from the bridge. Awesome.

The Holidays have been good

I haven't fished for a while, but life has been pretty great. I have been at home helping take care of our new son Cam. He was born on Dec. 18th in Soda Springs. Life brings us all great gifts and the birth of a new child is certainly at the top of the list. Hopefully, if I play my cards right I will have 3 fishing buddies in a few years. Tyler is now 5, Jay is 2 and Cam is two weeks old today.

The week before Cam was born I did make a trip to Black Canyon by myself and the fishing was less what I had hoped for. Pacificorp ran a series of whitewater releases through the canyon this year in order to provide recreation for a few (I don't really think they exist) white water experts looking for class five material. What it seems to have done is wash sediments from upstream into the canyon and wash out the bugs. I have tried to verify my hunch about the bugs with other anglers and many of them agree that insect life appears to be much less prolific. One angler that I visited with that has fished the canyon for 15 years claims that this has happened every time that they accomodated the mystery kayakers. According to the local experts numbers of fish and aquatic life can stay down for up to two years. This is a poor management choice by Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Pacificorp. It seems as though they don't understand where their bread is buttered. 

Finally!!!

Whip finish and head cement and you're done. This is by far my favorite

winter pattern in Black Canyon. Tie them in a variety of colors. The only difference

from a regular wooly bugger is the large cone and thick lead wire. Tie them really heavy.

Wrap the chenille forward away from your body and then wrap the saddle

in the same direction. Remember with hackles shiny side forward.

Leave the tinsel for last and wrap it in the opposite direction of the chenille and saddle.

Next tie in the marabou tail and wrap over the lead to make it smooth.

Tie in a piece of chenille, tinsel and the tip of the saddle at the hook bend.

This is a size 4, 4x long hook with a large cone head

and heavy lead.

By the time I finish teaching and doing homework the last thing that I want to do is blog. I have somehow mustered the motivation tonight. I could use this time to complain about all of the fishing that I haven't done but I will instead say that I have fished once in the last month. Pathetic. I got down to tying some Buggers tonight and that perked up my spirits. With the winter all but here, I now dream of Bear River rainbows, and fat ones at that. In preparation for the trip that may never happen I began tying my Black Canyon arsenal. Part one the Wooly Bugger with plenty of weight. Here goes. As you can see the pictures are in reverse order. Great for the dyslexic.