Snake River

A lot of back-and-forth weather-wise over the past two weeks, with cold spells, warm spells, sunshine, and precipitation.  The best fishing has been on those days with temps between 20 and 40 degrees a few days after a weather transition.

Fish have been holding fairly deep and have been in tight pods.  This includes eddies, ledge rock pool and seams.  There are times when faster currents in riffles and along submerged structure is the ticket.  Midges continue to be the primary imitation primarily below the surface.  On those warmer days when temps are over 35 degrees, there can be action on streamers.  If going this route, go low and slow and use smaller patterns like Seal Buggers, Fruit Rollups, and Krystal Buggers.

South Fork

The best action has been on the lower reaches from Wolf Eddy down to Lorenzo where seams and eddies have been the most productive water to target.  As on the Snake, midges – especially, Zebra Midges, Perdigons, and Spanish Bullets – are working best.  Focus on deeper lies.  Most takes are occurring in the four to seven foot level in the water column.

Surface action is sporadic but there are days when a two hour window can produce consistently.  Eddies, the tail of seams, and riffle pools are where most surface feeding is occurring.  Go with imitations in the #18 to #22 range.  If you go bigger, consider Renegades, Mating Midges, and Griffith Gnats.