Ready for the big weekend? Even though the South Fork has been open to year round fishing since 2004, Memorial Day weekend still has that traditional “opener” feel to it and it’s a weekend many plan on spending on area water ways. I have fond memories of many many Memorial Day weekends on the South Fork and it’s fun to think back to that “database” of fishing memories. Last year I fished with my Dad and Son on Memorial Day and had some of the best fishing I had ever had on that weekend as we found several places where the fish were feeding eagerly on Blue Winged Olives both on the surface and on emergers. It was one of the rare occasions where we had really good dry fly fishing on that weekend.
The good news for this weekend is that several of our guides who were out this week reported finding fish eating Blue Wings, so keep your eyes peeled. Standard fare for this time of year will still rule the weekend, large nymphs with a Blue Wing dropper behind them should work well. I’d be spending time in riffles with this set up…but keep in mind the trout probably won’t be up high in their “summer” spots unless the hatch moves them up there. Don’t be afraid to fish streamers when moving from spot to spot. Streamer fishing was productive this week with good reports coming in from the Canyon stretch.
Flows are steady right now out of Palisades at 11,500 cfs. Hopefully they will stay that way through the weekend. There has been no word on a “freshet” this year but it could still happen, we had one last year that took the river to 20,000 for a brief time. Flows are up out of Jackson Lake and with Palisades at 81% it’s possible we’ll see the flow go up soon. Just have to keep an eye on it.
Have a fun and safe weekend!
