Well here I sit watching last nights snow melting. We got about 3 inches here in Victor, Id. It’s melting fast. Waiting until noon to warm up enough to keep my guides from freezing.
It is common knowledge that our rainbows are starting to spawn right now. Interestingly the Fish and Game want them out of the river. I will try to help them today. But I won’t be focusing on the redds, instead the tail water below Palisades Reservoir. The Mysis shrimp come through the turbines and the fish seem to stack up below the dam. This will continue from now into the summer. The water has been slowly rising as the BOR(Bureau of Reclamation) releases water they have caught as our below average snow pack melts.
As of yesterday the guides have done very well catching cutthroats, rainbows, hybrids and brown trout looking for an easy meal. We generally use our “Yo Bangy” set up which consists of two small shrimp about size 16 on a stong hook. The flies are tied on the tag end of blood knots and the sinkers are the last thing on the line. We usually use 2x or 3x.
The lower river has been fishing good with bright streamers that move a lot of water. There has been some dry fly fishing with midges and blue winged olives size 18. I’m talking about Heise Bridge to the Lorenzo bridge sections
I will post some pics now of the trip on the Henry’s Fork I did with Chris Jensen and a new friend, Owen. We attempted the slide below Mesa Falls but we couldn’t get to the access due to snow on the road. The caddis hatch during the middle of the day was amazing. We chose the warm river to Ashton float. Fishing was good and we found plenty of dry fly action. Something I have not seen much of on that section during this time. What a blast.