Fishing Reports

 Been dropping really hard over the past few days and has finally turned that green color that everyone loves to see.  There are a few salmonflies kickin around in the canyon as well as drakes on overcast days.  The streamer fishing has been off the charts with the increase in clarity.  Slow presentations are key on this river.  Find slower moving water and dredge it with bigger sculpin imitations.  Anything that moves a lot of water will turn a considerable amount of fish.  The bigger the better right now.  Now is the time to boat the fish of the season on this river.  Look for the emergence of salmonflies to only get better throughout the week.  Prospecting with higher riding dries with a worm off the back is a good idea for those who want to get their salmonfly fix.  The flows are still high so be careful on the oars. 

Nymphs: Pats rl, rock n' rolliln stones, jimmy legs, davies explsion stones, 20"ers, SJW, princes, copper johns

Dries: Wike's big-r bug, M's stone, carnage stones, chubby chernobyls, bigger PMX's, purple hazes

Streamers: Sex dungeons, peanut envies, big gulp sculpins, MT mouthwashes, BJ minnows, tarpon toads (yes they work for trout)


-Cornfed

Fishing continues to be pretty solid considering the indian summer we're currently experiencing over here.  Chernobyl style attractors and mid-sized tarantulas have the goods on top (along with the purple haze...duh), but you're gonna be playin with a lot of small to mid-sized fish.  If you're looking for quality over quanity, go subsurface with bunny style streamers in olive, tan, and black.  October caddis have been out as well.  Skating a #10 or 12 orange stimi chew toy across the thigh deep rips will get you some very aggressive strikes.  Standard bfoot nymphs such as red copper johns, bh princes, red sjw, and smaller sized pt's will keep you into fish throughout periods of high sun (but you'll be playin a lot with whities and squaws...rocky mountain bones and snooks if you will).  Look for baetis on days of clouds, which are few and far between right now.


-Cornfed

 Fished Harry Morgan to County Line (Russel Gates) on Friday.  Fishing was somewhat above average considering the clarity of the water.  The NF of the Blackfoot is gin clear and the MF had zero clarity whatsoever.  Nymphs worked, moved a few fish to the top, but overall streamers were the best.  We caught the majority of our fish on black, but had some luck contrasting it with white.  There were no more salmonflies out, but we did see a few golden stones, some green drakes, pmds, yellow sallies, and lots of caddis towards the evening.  I'm sure that section of water has cleared by now and dries should be the ticket.  If you do head over here, check the flow charts.  If they're moving up or cresting, choose a section of water on the lower river.  The closer you get to Missoula, the cleaner the water is.

Suggested patterns: Big R bugs golden, carnage stones golden, Kyle's king kong hopper (trim the red legs off the back and it turns into a killer golden stone pattern), madam x's, pmx's, elk hair caddis, sparkle pupas, purple haze, SJW, princes, copper john's, yuk bugs, JJ's, sparkle minnows, skiddish smolts, what ever else big and horrific your streamer box may have in it


-Cornfed

 Floated Cable Car to Waystation yesterday.  The water temp. is still very cold (was around 37 at 2pm) up here.  We fished the river with one intention and that was to bring the biggest fish possible to the boat.  I had two bull trout that were 24"+ boil on a woolhead and one other brown that was 20"+ swat at my streamer.  Total, we landed four bull trout, two browns, and two cutties, all on slow moving streamers.  We could of easily had a 20+ fish day if we nymphed the winter holding buckets.  This river is on the verge of becoming very good.  Give it a week or two of warmer nighttime temps. and it will be fishing big.  

Suggested patterns:
Streamers: natural colored buggers, sculpzilla white, JJ's, white zonkers, flank heads
Nymphs: princes, pts, copper johns, the worm, pats, db stones, yuk bugs
Dries: not happinin

Cornfed