Fall-like weather arrived this week along with a drop in the flow. How did it affect the fishing? Let’s dive into this week’s fishing report. Cooler rainy weather rolled in on Sunday, on Monday morning, the Bureau of Reclamation dropped the flows out of Palisades Dam 500 cfs, signaling the unofficial arrival of Fall. The rainy weather and flow drops continued all week until this morning when the sun came out and the flow stabilized at 7,100 cfs.
This week’s flows and weather brought out some of the best features the South Fork has to offer. With the water drops more riffles and runs were exposed, wading opportunities increased, and banks/foam lines are easier to fish now from a boat. The cooler weather brought with it excellent hatches of Blue Winged Olives and Mahogany Dun Mayflies with fish still looking out for PMD’s and Mutant Golden Stones. The streamer fishing was also excellent!
So how about this weekend? The forecast this weekend is calling for a return to summer-like weather with sunny days and increasing temperatures, maybe even pushing 80 by Sunday. The warm sunny weather will likely put a damper on the small Mayfly fishing but they shouldn’t go away entirely. I would focus on fishing Mutant Golden Stone patterns (with a twitch) in the morning, then add a tungsten thread midge as a dropper (red, green, or brown). Keep your eyes peeled in riffles and foam lines for risers and if you aren’t seeing any, fish those same runs with a double nymph rig. (tungsten thread midge and olive WD-40 would be a killer setup)
The water is lower and gin clear and the fish are wise so bring your “A game”…but you’ve been practicing all summer so you’ve got this!
Aside from the South Fork of the Snake the Main Snake will be fishing really well as we turn into Fall, book a trip down there with our friends at Snake River Fly. We’ve got guides and boats available for duck hunting coming up in just a few weeks! Who’s ready for the Cast N’ Blast?
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