Guide Zack, pictured with a big recently stocked Two Year Old brown, says "Stockies need love too!". Notice the excellent color, almost looks like a holdover. The clipped adipose fin is one giveaway that it's a Two Year Old. I fished outside of the TMA/C&R section last night, found a little elbow room under otherwise crowded conditions. Picked up some nice fish nymphing, but unfortunately what would have been the fish of the night cannot be counted- an 18-19" beautiful holdover, a colorful hook-jawed male brown that was foul hooked in the body, grrr. Probably was late on the hook set, it was on my bottom fly. Saw some Henny spinners with yellow egg sacks in the air around 7pm. I was in fast water that wasn't good for dries, but a guy downstream in the pool said he had a decent number of trout working the surface by him. Hendricksons are hatching all the way in Riverton near the dam now, the upper 2 miles or so above the Still River stays colder and thus the hatches start there later. Still seeing good spinner falls in the TMA (they will go an easy week beyond the hatch), but the afternoon Hendrickson hatch is waning in the TMA and is best upstream of the TMA, all the way up to the dam now. But like I said, still good spinner falls in the TMA/C&R- they have been falling in the evening (late evening on hotter days like now), but also frequently in mid/late mornings. The hot weather has the green leaves out on the trees now, which means the Caddis cannot be far behind. I was catching trout on Caddis Pupa last night already. I love Caddis hatches, I catch some of my biggest trout of the year during them. Typically they hatch in the mornings, and egg-lay in the evenings, giving you a second "hatch". This is a general rule, we often see them hatching & egg-laying in the afternoons too, especially if it's cloudy- they are a creature of low light. A 70cfs boost in release from the dam Thursday has us back to a statistically "normal" flow (325cfs is the historical typical median flow)-327cfs total flow in TMA, a medium, very fishable & wadeable flow. 232cfs from the dam in Riverton, 95cfs from the Still River. They were supposed to cut the flow back by 70cfs by this morning, but as of 8am they had not yet done so. Warm to hot weather here now for the next few days has boosted water temps, and has the hatches cranking at moments, often at oddball times of the day. Hendrickson spinners can bring 20" plus browns to the surface. Plenty of assorted Caddis out, plus Olives & Blue Quills/Mahogany Duns/Paraleps. We've had some good to exellent fishing reports from many anglers stopping in over the past week.
The C&R section was stocked 4/28 & 4/29 with thousands of trout trout, including 1,000 Two Year Old Survivor Strain brown trout which average over 16 inches and some of which are bigger and top out at 3 1/2 to 4 pounds- they put in some hefty trout this year. Many are confusing the recent large Two Year Olds that the state put it with big holdovers. Suffice it to say that if you catch a 16-20" insanely obese brown in the C&R section, chances are it was stocked recently. Trout are being caught on the surface using a combination of Hendricksons (sz 12-14), Hendrickson Spinnners (sz 12-14), Winter Caddis (sz 18-22), Tan Caddis (sz 16-18), Blue Wing Olives (sz 16-24), and Mahogany Duns/Blue Quill (sz 16-18). Heaviest angling pressure has been in the TMA, but the double-edged sword is that it also holds the most fish and the most holdovers/wild fish. Outside of the TMA sees less pressure, but still plenty of trout. Most anglers focus on the major pools, so if you fish the "In Between Water" you should be able to get more elbow room. Trout are currently being caught via all methods: wets, dries, nymphs & streamers with many big fish have been landed over the past week, both holdovers & recently stocked two years.
Subsurface,
Hendrickson nymphs (sz 12-14) Golden Stoneflies (sz 8-12), Pheasant
Tails (sz
12-18), Olive/Green Caddis Larva (sz 14-16), Princes (sz 12-18), and Yellow Sparkle Prince
(sz 12-16) have been working well, Flashy/attractor-type nymphs, have
been working well on the recently stocked
trout and on the occasional holdover.
Streamers such as Rich Strolis's Ice Pick are still landing some of the truly giant trout, but unlike a couple of weeks ago when the waters were cold, they should be more aggressively fished in the shallower quick water between the pools, targeting rocks, cutbanks, downed trees and other river debris that create current breaks for the trophies to hold behind. Smaller streamers, such as the famous Wooly Bugger are catching many trout by letting them sink into the deep pools then retrieving with short (two foot or so) quick strips. As always, the key to fishing streamers is to keep moving.... you are triggering the most aggressive trout into attacking, if nothing happens after a few casts, its time to move a few feet to throw into some virgin water. Also play with colors & sizes, it can make a BIG difference. The low light periods of early & late ate the prime times to target bigger trout with streamers, overcast or rainy days too.
UpCountry Sportfishing is always looking for good used fly fishing gear for cash and trade. This is how we get those great items we list on our website and you see on our racks. We buy fly rods, reels, quality classic bamboo, and fly tying equipment etc. Bring in your old items and we can help turn them into something new. Call ahead for an appointment at 860-379-1952.
Streamers such as Rich Strolis's Ice Pick are still landing some of the truly giant trout, but unlike a couple of weeks ago when the waters were cold, they should be more aggressively fished in the shallower quick water between the pools, targeting rocks, cutbanks, downed trees and other river debris that create current breaks for the trophies to hold behind. Smaller streamers, such as the famous Wooly Bugger are catching many trout by letting them sink into the deep pools then retrieving with short (two foot or so) quick strips. As always, the key to fishing streamers is to keep moving.... you are triggering the most aggressive trout into attacking, if nothing happens after a few casts, its time to move a few feet to throw into some virgin water. Also play with colors & sizes, it can make a BIG difference. The low light periods of early & late ate the prime times to target bigger trout with streamers, overcast or rainy days too.
UpCountry Sportfishing is always looking for good used fly fishing gear for cash and trade. This is how we get those great items we list on our website and you see on our racks. We buy fly rods, reels, quality classic bamboo, and fly tying equipment etc. Bring in your old items and we can help turn them into something new. Call ahead for an appointment at 860-379-1952.