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South Fork of the Snake River Fishing Report March 23rd, 2017

high flows south fork snake river

Hi there anglers and welcome to our South Fork of the Snake River fishing report. The story of the week is the abnormally high flows.  You can see in the image above a comparison between the average flow for this date, last years flow, and this years.  The Bureau of Reclamation is moving water out of both Jackson Lake and Palisades Reservoir in anticipation of the a large runoff event due to our excellent snow pack.  16,000 cfs is a lot of water for this time of year but it’s not necessarily bad news.

Research has shown that higher spring flows benefit the native Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout and it’s a bit of a TLAPC secret that some of the biggest fish we see each season are caught in exactly this type of scenario.  See this blog post from last year for details.

For this weekend if you’re out on the water focus on finding slower water for best success.  Fish will be hiding in back eddies, riffles, and behind islands to get out of the fastest moving water.  Similar to last week’s report, nymphing will be your most effective technique with a two fly rig and possibly some split shot to get those bad boys down.  Stonefly nymphs, bead heads, and san juan worms are top picks.  Tossing a streamer through these same slow water sections may also produce some fish.  While our lodge isn’t opening until May our guides are available for day trips just give us a call 208-483-222 or email [email protected].   Have fun out there.