Snake River

Runoff is coming to an end with all tributaries peaking within the past two weeks and the Snake showing substantially better visibility.  It is safe to say that all reaches are now fishing and the vast majority of sections displaying broad hatches, including caddis and PMDs (both of which dominate most days), alloperla golden stones, calinueria golden stones and yellow sallies (the latter of which can hatch heavily on the lower reaches below the Hoback River.  This is one of the best times of year to be fishing on the surface with a plethora of patterns, as there is significant top-water action most days from around 10:30am until 3pm.  Riffles, troughs, seams, eddies, and banks are all producing.  If using a dry-dropper rig, keep your dropper tippet short – 14” to 24”.

Streamer fishing is producing on all reaches and perhaps best on the mid-river reaches from Moose Bridge down to Astoria.  Working best are smallish patterns like Slumpbusters, Sparkle Minnows, and Woolley Buggers.  Moderately sized patterns like Lil’ Kims, J.J. Specials, Sparkle Yummies, and Kreelux are also producing, but is more of a second fiddle fashion.  Fish these on floating lines or short sinking tips in the INT to 3ips range.  Target eddies, seams, backwater side channels, and confluences.

South Fork

Flows from Palisades Reservoir are at approximately 12,600cfs.  Visibility is strong on all reaches and surface water temps are going from 52 degrees in the morning to around 58 degrees in late afternoon.  Salmon flies have started to emerge on the lower reaches (nothing huge yet certainly noticeable) and have made it up to the vicinity of Wolf Eddy.  You will also see PMDs and a smattering of caddis on the water, which is your better bet if fishing on the surface.  Time of day is not reliable in terms of consistency.  Some days it occurs from around 11am until 4pm.  Other days it starts strong, wanes considerably from around 10:30 am to 1:30 pm, then kicks back into high gear until 5pm or so.  It is worth throwing a dry-dropper rig or tandem dry rig, but there is more consistency below the surface with stonefly, cdc soft hackle, mayfly, and midge imitations fished as part of a double/triple nymph rig.  Riffes, seams, troughs, and banks with moderate currents are producing best.

Streamer action is decent if you focus on the lower 2/3rds of the water column.  This is best accomplished by fishing sinking tips in the 3ips to 8ips range, a full sinking INT line, or a floating line with heavily weighted patterns. Go with slow to moderate retrieves, asteady cadence, and slower currents.  Target banks, structure, confluences, parallel drop-offs, seams, and riffle current margins.

Green River

Flows at Warren Bridge are at approximately 750cfs.  The Green has cleared and dropped substantially over the past week with only Horse Creek and 40-Rod Creek bringing in sediment from time to time and not near as much as has been the case over the past month.  Gray drakes, golden stones, yellow sallies, PMDs, and flavs are all popping and literally at the same time.  Most days, gray drakes are the dominant hatch.  You can see them as early as 9am before they build into a crescendo from around 11am until 2:30 pm.  Even without gray drakes, there are enough other bugs emerging to keep surface action fairly consistent.  Eddies, seams, undercut banks, and structure with slow to moderate currents are prime targets for both tandem dry rigs and dry-droppers.

Fishing streamers is a solid approaches on all reaches and very much nailing fish below Daniel Bridge.  Both large and moderately sized patterns are working equally well.  Fish these on floating lines or sinking tips in the INT to 3ips range and concentrate on variable retrieves and hesitations in your line strips.  Target undercut banks, submerged structure, eddies, and seams.

Yellowstone National Park

Firehole River – Most hatches are waning but there is still decent action on the surface as PMDs, yellow sallies, and caddis experience emergence spurts of an hour or two each day.  Hatch timing is leaning towards mid-morning and lasting until 2pm most days.  Riffles, seams, and deflection foam lines are key waters to target with both dry flies and nymphs.  Look for eats on nymphs to occur more on a dead drift as opposed to swinging your riggings.

Snake and Lewis Rivers – The Snake and Lewis system is fishing well with good hatches of golden stones, PMDs, and caddis popping during the late morning to mid/late afternoon hours.  Moderately sized attractors fished with a short – 14” or so – dropper is producing well in riffles, troughs, and along submerged structure.  Expect green drakes to start emerging over the next two weeks, with them joining golden stones as the primary hatches on the Lewis River.

Lewis Lake – There is decent action on flats in the morning hours until around 10:30 am after which the action shifts to drop-offs and deeper portions of the lake.  Gray drakes and callibaetis are starting to pop with some frequency, which can keep flats rather active into the afternoon some days.  Their nymph imitations, fished with movement, are outperforming damsel/dragon fly patterns.  Fish all of these with hover lines or full sinking INT lines.