Snake River

The Snake continues rock on with excellent dry fly fishing on all reaches. The weird thing is that it is starting to fish just as well in the afternoon as it is in the morning despite increasing water temps. This is primarily happening on the upper reaches from Jackson Lake Dam down to Moose and on the lower reaches from South Park down to Sheep Gulch. The middle reaches from Moose down to South Park still have decent afternoon action, but not to the same degree as above and below.

Hatches are diminishing but you will still find PMDs, yellow sallies, and caddis about, and sometimes in very good numbers. Beetles can be on the water as well. Fish imitations of these patterns, as well as #10 and #8 attractors in almost every conceivable piece of holding water. Target riffles, seams, banks, structure, and bankside troughs. Almost anything you throw will work as long as you can see it and it isn’t some obnoxious #6 pattern (although those are working, too.

Subsurface patterns are still working really well in most holding water types. Moderately weighted double nymph rigs and dry-droppers rigs can produce on all sections no matter what time of day. Don’t go too deep. Six feet from indicator to lead fly is sufficient. Two feet from dry to dropper is all you need if you go that route. Moderately sized streamers are the key if huckin’ junk. The brighter the better. The same floating, hover, and intermediate lines are the primary tackles we are using, but we are starting to get more action on 3ips and 6ips sinking tips.

Effective dry flies – Rubber Legged Double Humpies, Will’s Winged Chernobyl, Circus Peanuts, Fat Franks, Snake River Water Walkers, Stimulators, Parachute Extended Body PMDs, Comparaduns, Booty’s PMD Emerger, Quigley Cripples, Film Critics, Q’s Loop Wing Cripple, and Power Ants.

Effective streamers – Kreelux, Murphy’s Bling Minnow, Chickletts, Bow River Buggers, J.J. Specials, Strung-out Leeches, Galloup’s Peanut Envy, Baby Bunnies, Silvey Sculpins, and Fulsher’s Thunder Minnow.

Effective nymphs – Pat’s Rubber Legs, 20-Inchers, Biot Bugs, Lightening Bugs, Rainbow Warriors, Copper Johns in red or olive, Booty’s Deep Stinker Nymph, Psycho Princes, Hares Ear Nymphs, Flashback Pheasant Tails, Cole’s LOF, Mercer’s Bead Tail Caddis Pupa, and PMD Redemption Nymphs.

South Fork

Its official – every reach of the South Fork is fishing extremely well with dry flies. Salmon flies are in the upper Canyon and are slowly working their way into the Swan Valley reach. But just as intense is the daily emergences of PMDs and yellow sallies. You will also see green drakes in bits and pieces. These bugs are the reason that riffles, seams, and eddies should be the main focus of your surface fishing, especially during the afternoon hours. Yes, large surface attractors will work during the morning hours and throughout the day on banks and structure and just about everywhere, but don’t ignore the smaller and more imitative patterns in the waters that make sense – riffles, seams, riffles, and flats.

Nymphs do not need to be the center of the universe in the coming weeks, but they are working, and doing so quite well. You can fish double nymph rigs throughout the day, but nymphs as part of a dry-dropper can work at all times. They are producing best at the head of riffles and seams throughout the day, and on flats in the afternoon.

Streamers are producing when fished with floating, hover, and intermediate lines fished in the top foot and a half of the water column. Do not go too big, or too dark, and give them a lot of movement with speedy retrieves and lots of rod movement. Target banks, submerged structure, seams, and bankside troughs.

Effective dry flies – Chubby Chernobyls, J-Slams, Rubber Legged Double Humpies, Trina’s Carnage Stone, Stimulators, Twisted Stones, Kasey’s Creature, Booty’s Green Drake Emerger, Red Butt Sallies, Cole’s Sallie Emerger, Lawson’s Sallie, Parachute Extended Body PMD, Booty’s PMD Emerger, Parachute Adams, Film Critics, and Quigley Cripples.

Effective nymphs – Pat’s Rubber Leg, Bitch Creek Nymph, PR Muskrats, San Juan Worms, Biot Bugs, Lightening Bugs, Rainbow Warriors, LOF Pheasant Tails, Copper Johns in red, olive, or black, Bruised Mays, Psycho Mays, Bubbleback Pheasant Tails, Booty’s Deep Stinker Nymph, and Hickey’s Auto Nymph.

Effective Streamers – Baby Bunnies, Kreelux, J.J. Specials, Tequilley’s, Silvey Sculpins, Teller’s Nightmare Streamer, and B-Yotch Buggers.

Green River

Still some pretty good fishing on the Green with flows at Warren Bridge at just under 800cfs. However, water temperatures are approaching 70 degrees by 3pm and there is a significant downturn in productivity by early afternoon. The best bet is get an early start and fish until things start to slow down.

We still have good hatches of drakes and yellow sallies, and adult or emerger imitations of these bugs are what is working best, with moderately sized attractor patterns also producing to a lesser degree. Submerged structure, eddies, bankside troughs, and seams are the prime water types to target. Submerged structure and bankside troughs maintain their activity to a degree through the afternoon.

Subsurface wise, nymphs are producing through the morning and early afternoon hours just as well as surface patterns, but their activity continues to a limited degree into the late afternoon and early evening. Go with moderately weighted double nymph rigs or dry-dropper rigs and target the same water as you would with your dry flies. Streamer action is pretty damn good through the morning and until about 1pm, and then there is a serious slowdown in activity. Banks, structure, bankside troughs, and eddies are prime waters to target.

Effective dry flies – Chubby Chernobyls, Will’s Winged Chernobyls, Circus Peanuts, Booty’s Gray Drake Emerger, Extended Body Hair Wing Drakes, Parachute Adams, Film Critics, Stimulators, Red Butt Sallies, Lawson’s Sallie, and Galloup’s Sallie Stone.

Effective nymphs – Pat’s Rubber Leg, Kaufmann Black Stone, Biot Bugs, Lightening Bugs, San Juan Worms, Copper Johns in red or olive, Robins, Psycho Princes, Zug Bugs, Flashback Pheasant Tail Nymphs, and Flashback Prince Nymphs.

Effective Streamers – SRA Bunnies, Booty’s Quad Bunny Leech, Galloup’s Zoo Cougar, J.J. Specials, Tequilley’s, Silvey Sculpins, and Kreelux.