Lost River Outfitters fishing report May 19, 2015
Amazing. At last
report we were looking a bit grim with our water flows for the near and long
term. I remember mentioning that I have
seen it change and make a huge difference in the months of May and June. We are not out of the woods yet, but the Big
Wood, the Big Lost and the Little Wood drainages have gone up over 10%
precipitation in our year to date numbers in the last week or so. We are pushing 80% of average. The water bucket at my house measures 2 3/4
inches since this started. The jet
stream is favorable for more precipitation.
Two more storms are predicted to arrive in the next week. We must have been very dry as the rivers have
not gone over their banks , but over the course of last night, the Wood has
taken on some color. The general season
opener is this coming weekend. It is
supposed to be wet. These are our
thoughts for what you might expect on some of our local waters.
Big Wood River
The Big Wood is not pushing a lot of silt right now in spite
of the rain. Hopefully it is cleaning
itself of the build-up washed in from the fire ground. It is flowing at 682 cfs today and rising,
but is only about half of normal. There
was some clarity until this morning. If
you were to attempt catching a fish on the upper Wood this weekend, the side
channels are your best bet. The rainbows
seek the softer flows and spawn in the side channels this time of year. A black wooley bugger would probably be the
fly of choice. It might be best to leave
the spawners alone and pick another piece of water for now.
The river at Stanton is flowing at 259 and is pretty big for
most fly fishing. Once again a streamer
is probably the best choice it you wanted to wet a line there, but you could
run into spawning rainbows there as well.
We don’t see this very often, but the Lower Big Wood in the
canyon is at 9-10 cfs. The dam was
opened the first of May, and flows went over 900 cfs, but with the rains, the
irrigation district saw fit to save some water for later and shut it down. Good water management. Hopefully save some fish later in the
summer??!! Weighted pheasant tails size
16-18 and zebras under an indicator or a streamer stripped in the deep water
would be the best options on this water right now.
Magic Reservoir, which is usually great fun in the spring
for big triploid rainbows and smallmouth, has been a real disappointment this
year so far. Catching has been spotty
and sparse to say the least. The
tournament had 26 boats register and only 6 of the boats weighed fish. I will try to get a handle on it and report
in our next writing.
The Big Lost
The Upper Big Lost is flowing at 517 and is rising. It is colored and too big to fish. The East Fork fished a bit three weeks ago,
before the rains began, but I would wait on the upper waters. The Lower Lost is flowing at 193 cfs and has
for the last couple of weeks. It does
not look like there will be a water call in the short term. We have been taking trips there over the last
couple of weeks and it has been quite productive. On cloudy days baetis have been hatching in
sufficient numbers to fish the dry. Some
PMDs have shown in the afternoon. Best
catching has been nymphing. Tiny
weighted nymphs in the really soft water and stonefly imitations in the rocky
faster reaches. The fish are off their redds
and already fat and sassy.
Silver Creek
Silver Creek is flowing at 170 cfs this morning and is
rising. Normal flows are 115 cfs. It is up from 90 cfs a month ago. This is good.
Bigger flows will spread out the fish and flush some sediment. Trout are rising to callibaetis and some
afternoon PMDs. The creek looks good,
especially after what we experienced last year.
The early callibaetis are large even a size 14. The PMDs a 15 or large 16. Sparkle duns or parachutes should work for the
early season hatches. Be ready with the
6X tippets . With our warm winter and
spring up to now we could see an earlier Brown Drake emergence. Usually it happens the first week of June,
but it could happen late May this year.
The Little Wood
The upper Little Wood is high and cold. The Little Wood in the dessert is an unknown
at this time. We would love to have that
water return to its former glory.
The South Fork
The South Fork of the Boise is flowing at 611 today. It will be a bit of a sporty wade at that
level, but should fish with girdle bugs and stonefly nymphs. Copper johns and weighted pheasant tail
double fly combos would be a good choice in the riffle waters.
Anderson reservoir has been fishing for bass and there has
been a report of good sized land locked Chinook which were introduced again to
control the kokanee population. Sink
tips or full sinks with streamers. I
like to tie a blood leech stinger about 3-4 inches long with marabou and some
uv crystal flash for Anderson.
Yellowstone Park
Snow pack in Yellowstone was not exceptional this past
winter. They are getting more snow than
rain right now with these storms so the rivers on the west side are not
high. The Madison is flowing at 512 this
morning with normal flows at 875 cfs.
The Firehole at Old Faithful is at 78 cfs with normal flows 160. The cooler weather will delay stonefly and
caddis hatches, but baetis and PMD hatches in the afternoons should bring fish
to the surface. Swinging soft hackle
emergers is always a good trick on the Firehole.
We still have two dates for the Park if you have not been
and would like some help on figuring out that wonderful fishery. Open dates are June 15 and 16, and September
16, 17, and 18.
If you want any other dates we can surely accommodate.
The Idaho 2 Fly is scheduled for June 13th at Ron
Sali’s 96 acre “pond” . It is a fundraiser for Idaho men with
cancer. Entry fee is $500. It is a great event and amazing fishing for
largemouth bass and big rainbow, with some nice blue gill as well. If you are interested give me a call at
208-720-3813 or stop by the shop for information.
If your fly box is full and you need a break from the bench
it would be worth your while to take a walk in the woods. The buntings and tanagers have arrived, the
wildflowers are blooming and morels are up.
Welcome to spring in the Rockies!
Fish far and fine,
Scott Schnebly
