Friday, August 22, 2014

FISHING REPORT


By BILL MASON

We do have some productive fishing but sadly, it remains unusually limited. I could pontificate on all the reasons why our most important waters continue to be unfishable. But it’s really irrelevant. It is what it is and there is not much anyone can do about it. Like many others, my patience is getting a bit thin as we all wait for clear and fishable water conditions. Let’s talk about what there is available to fish.

SILVER CREEK—Flows are below normal, but fishing has been quite decent depending on where you are casting a fly. Unfortunately we are also entering a hatch transitional period. Those that exist are beginning to dwindle in quantity and duration. Others will hopefully begin to appear at month’s end. Beatis and Trico are still present in good numbers but their time frame is getting shorter with each day. Dave’s CDC Trico Spinner #22, Mason Quill Beatis Spinner#22, Beatis Sparkle Dun #22 and Rusty Spinner #22 should do the job. It’s still very early, yet the emergence of Callibeatis duns (end of month into September) may begin to appear on the water in the afternoon. It remains to be seen what kind of hatch we’ll have, because of its past history of showing itself in floating/pond sections that have been totally restructured over the year. I have my fingers crossed. Hopper fishing in the afternoon is worth exploring. Don’t forget Ants and Beatle imitations.

BIG WOOD RIVER—Self-explanatory. Warm Springs and Baker Creek continue to spew run-off mud making the river unfishable. It is a bit better above Ketchum but not by a hell of a lot. It’s anybody’s guess what it all means for future angling production when this clears up.

BIG LOST RIVER DRAINAGE—The upper river (North Fork/East Fork) is very low and comes with varying reports of success. The lower river, still  abnormally low for August (137 cfs) continues to be a top producer with Trico the main hatch in the morning. The hatch will begin to slide from this point on, so taking advantage of this unique situation NOW is my best advice. Don’t forget Prince Nymphs, Copper Johns and Cranefly imitations.

WARM SPRINGS/TRAIL CREEK—Warm Springs is out of the question but Trail Creek, if you get off the beaten path, is actually fishing nicely. Water is very low and the fish are a little spooky but a small Para Adams#16 and a Royal Wulff #16-18 are about all you‘ll need for success.

PENNY LAKE/LAKE CREEK/GAVER’S LAGOON (HAYSPUR)—Always supplemented with fish. Use various bait combos and fly imitations for success.

SOUTH FORK OF THE BOISE—As I indicated last week, to clean out the fire damages debris and help restore and hopefully improve some fish habitat, flows were increased Monday from 1700 to 2400 cfs. In my judgment, that makes the river unfishable and most certainly un-wadable. I’m not sure what this means for fishing over the rest of the year. Will keep you updated.




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