It’s Thursday and time for this week’s fishing report. But first, it was our pleasure to serve 70 lunches to EMT’s, Firefighters, and the great kids at the Swan Valley School this week.
Now on to the fishing, flows, and weather updates for the coming weekend and week ahead.
The flow out of Palisades Reservoir was bumped up about 500 cfs this week from 14,000 cfs to 14,500 cfs. Water managers are making storage capacity in the reservoir to “catch” the anticipated runoff from snowmelt. The snowpack above Palisades Reservoir is currently 109% of the Median. We are in store for another great water year and with storage capacity in the reservoir, we can look forward to limited high flows barring any crazy weather changes in the next 4 or so weeks.
Ok, on to the fishing. Similar to last week’s report with the cold water nymphs and streamers continue to be the best tactics for success. If you don’t mind nymphing deep and hucking streamers it’s a great time to be on the South Fork as many anglers will be headed to the Henry’s Fork to chase dry flies leaving the South Fork less crowded.
- Nymphs – Big stonefly nymphs such as Pat’s Rubberlegs or Cheater Belly Stones are the bread and butter right now trailed by a midge, BWO, San Juan Worm (pink!), or an egg pattern.
- Streamers – Focus on slow, deep, and even water that isn’t moving. Cold fast-moving water takes a lot of work to swim in so you can find fish holding in “slack” and even “frog” water. Don’t be afraid to make some casts in water you’d never consider in the summer.
- More on Eggs – Rainbows and Cutthroats are both spawning in the river right now and all the fish in the river will eat an egg. Remember to stay off any spawning beds (reds) if you see them but if you do see them, fishing below them with an egg pattern can be effective and a great way to catch and keep some rainbows if you’re into it. Keep your eyes open as you float over shallow gravel bars with smaller sized gravel that the fish like to build their reds in.
The weather is looking simply amazing this weekend with sunny skies and high temperatures forecast for 72 on Sunday. It should be a great weekend on the South Fork, just remember your social distancing skills and necessary precautions when traveling.
Speaking of social distancing and Covid-19, per the governor’s plan to re-open Idaho we are following those guidelines and are welcoming guests and anglers. We’ve been getting a lot of questions about the practices we are putting in place to keep our guests, guides, staff, and Idaho safe. Our current protocols are listed on this page and we are updating this page as restrictions are lifted.
If you have questions about fishing, lodging, shuttles, licenses, flies please give our fly shop a call at 208.483.2222.
Have fun fishing!