Elk River - Fernie, BC Canada
A high snow pack and an cool spring has delayed the start of our season. Most driftable waters are high and dirty but we have seen a turn in the trends and levels are slowly dropping. Smaller tribs are clear but have high flows and can be fished if you find the slower pools and back eddies. We expect a good hatch of golden stones to come off in the next few days. Bull trout are moving in the cooler milky waters and are aggressively feeding tight to the banks. Rivers to watch are the Lower Elk, Crow, and Upper elk where the clear tribs come in.
Paul Samycia
Elk Eiver Guiding Company
www.elkriver.ca
(877) 423-7239
San Juan River - New Mexico
I suppose most of us that fished the San Juan for the week following the high water, have been spoiled. The fishing was almost too easy and the fish were, just-well, acting stupid. They were rising to big crazy stuff--ants, hoppers, beetles, you name it. Well, it has become a little more difficult, lately; although there are still plenty of opportunities to catch fish, you just have to work at it a little harder. The water is gin clear right now and flowing at 470 cfs.
There has been some decent dry fly action on small midge patterns--Griffith Gnats, Fore and Afts, Black Adult Midges in the late afternoon, just after sunset and there has been some caddis activity in the p.m., from Crusher Hole, down. If you plan on staying late for this, I would highly recommend some bug spray right now, as the mosquitoes are beginning to get fired up. We're still waiting and keeping our fingers crossed for the emergence of the PMD's, hopefully we'll see those afternoon blanket hatches like we had last year, real soon. We'll keep you posted, if it happens; meanwhile, there's still some great fishing out there, while most of the other Western waters are still locked in runoff for several weeks, so it's a great time to visit the San Juan. Give us a call at 505-632-2194, if you have any questions or need to book a guide trip.
Jay Walden
Abe's Motel & Fly Shop
www.sanjuanriver.com
(505) 632-2194
Pere Marquette -Michigan
Pere Marquette is fishing but not to par lately. Cooler then normal conditions have kept the HEX HATCH down to a dull roar with only a handful of good nights of angling. Midday Iso, Stone, and even some Caddis are coming off with some consistency, but it is still only 69 degrees for a high today... A solid 10 degrees below normal, which lately has been the normal; this after we have to live down one of the wettest Junes on record!!
Mouse fishing was great for awhile, back when the thermostat managed 80 degrees a few times a week, since then, coupled with about 5" of rain, streamer fishing has been good. The water is coming down, and they are "Forecasting" some much warmer temps, but at this point seeing is believing! Nymphing will replace the streamers as the subsurface GO TO, but it will take some heat to really resurrect any type of quality bug fishing on the surface. This will be our second "WET HEX" in a row with last years bugs being dowsed pretty good too!
On a positive note, the fish are getting nice and fat and look as healthy as I have seen them in some time. Constant gorging on crawlers post storms, along with quality crawfish and fish hunting no thanks to all that dirty water is keeping the fish well off and not as interested in what we like! This pattern will break and give way to some better summer fishing, BUT WE NEED HEAT!! Without it, it is going to be a subsurface summer and nobody likes it when the trout don't "RISE" to the occasion.... I am just looking forward to mouse fishing from my new RM SKIFF, which if it were any "Troutier", it would have scales and not gelcoat!!
Bring A Rain Coat.....
Tommy Lynch
Hawkins Outfitters
www.hawkinsflyfishing.com
(231) 898-4832
Jackson Hole - Wyoming
The Water is so high there is not a lot of fishing going on right now. It looks like in a couple weeks the flows will drop and we'll start to see that dull green water. Once that happens we can start throwing some streamers and catching fish. Give us a call for updates on the river and we'd be happy to help!
Klay Mangis
Mangis Guide Service
www.mangisguides.com
(307) 690-8553
Green River - Utah
Look for morning, and afternoon midge hatches on the water on the A section. There are crickets on the banks these days. Hopefully the Hoppers will be along shortly. We are now seeing some evening caddis hatches also.
Nymphing with a tandem rig has been the best producer in the back eddies. Small emergers, midges, BWO's, or swimming Scuds trailed deep behind a large attractor (emergers 18-24) Don't be afraid to get down and dirty. The fish have adjusted to the flow, and are feeding. It is easier to find the fish right now in these higher flows. The fish are in the back eddies, and they are stacked.
Streamer fishing is fair, our sunny days that we are starting to see have slowed the streamers down. The streamers can really turn on again, but it will take a cloudy day in the forecast to do so. Streamer patterns will take fish on a dead drift as part of a double nymph rig or stripped. Streamers are a good option to try to catch the big one. Please give us a call for more information!
Kevin Clegg
Flaming Gorge Resort
www.flaminggorgeresort.com
(435) 889-3773 ext.6
