Hey folks, fishing has been pretty solid lately. We’re still seeing big bugs and strong caddis hatches — yesterday I counted four different caddis coming off at the same time, from tiny black ones to big tan and brown varieties.
There’s still quite a few Chinook out there. If you’re looking to avoid that madness, stay above the hatchery or below the dam. If you do want to join in, I’d guess we have another week or so until the harvest quotas are met. Not much to it: eggs, leeches — stick it in their face and make them mad.
Salmon River:
The Salmonfly and Golden Stones are still here. We’re fishing the same bugs as last week — sizes 6, 8, and 10 in Golden and Salmonfly patterns. Chubby Chernobyls and Water Walkers are the ticket, but we have a few other great patterns in the shop too. The forecast calls for two weeks of stunning weather — highs in the 70s and low 80s, cooling well into the 40s at night. We’ll start to transition into hopper-dropper season soon.
North of Stanley:
Fishing is much better up north these days — lots of hatchery rainbows and whitefish around. Keep your flies a bit smaller for these fish — size 14 and smaller. Nymphs work well for the whitefish.
Lakes:
The lakes around Stanley are fishing well, with plenty of stocked fish to be had. Woolly Buggers and balanced leeches during the day, then switch to small dries once they start to rise.
Alpine Lakes:
The high-elevation lakes are on! Fish are sitting pretty low in the water column, so unless you’re there around sunset, stick to balanced leeches and Woolly Buggers with a bit of split shot, jigging the drop-offs. Once they move higher, switch to terrestrials and mosquitoes.
Middle Fork:
Our Rocky Mountain River Tour guides came off the river last week saying the Middle Fork is fishing great. Water has dropped to more fishable levels and is running cold and clear. The cutthroat are hungry and aggressive after a long high-water season. The top of the MFS is seeing Salmonfly and Stonefly activity, while the middle and lower sections are starting to see and hear grasshoppers. Doesn’t hurt to have a few nymphs along, but those larger, leggy foam bugs will get you plenty of action. Big foam is fun fishing!
We are sending out guided boats daily. Drop by the shop, check out our Streamtech boats.
See you downriver,
Joshua