I am happy to report that on the 4th of July the PMD’s and caddis that seemed to be in hibernation woke up and treated us to the kind of hatches we have been anticipating. With the arrival of these hatches came rising fish and fishing opportunities that we fishermen have been anxiously awaiting. Along with the hatches came a cessation of the wind that had been plaguing us for a good part of the week leading up to the fourth. Bulletin! Up-date! Today is the 6th and the fishing was very good until around eleven am when Mr. Wind reared his ugly head again. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the wind lays down this evening so that I might be able to drive into Harriman State Park and catch what’s left of the brown drake hatch at Millionaires Pool.
Box Canyon: Fishing in the “Box” continues to be very productive mostly with nymphs. Rubber Legs and small beadheads dead drifted in tandem have produced the best results. A couple of beadhead patterns I have not mentioned in the past that produced a few good fish this past week were a 2 Bit Golden and an Iron Sally. There have been a few reports of fish being caught on adult golden stone imitations.
Last Chance: This section of the Henry’s Fork continues to be one of the most consistent producers. There are still a few green drakes hatching producing decent fishing with adult and spinner imitations. We have had a couple of days of good PMD and caddis hatches and the flav’s appear to be just starting. The presence of these hatches has produced good fishing. Cripple, emerger and spinner patterns along with dark bodied caddis imitations have worked best.
The “Ranch”/Harriman State Park: Recent PMD, flav and caddis hatches have provided fishermen with some very good fishing. The one bummer has been the wind. If the wind comes up in the afternoon you will be restricted to morning and evening fishing unless you know those spots that have some protection from the wind.
Warm River to Ashton: Still producing lots of fun fishing. This is the time of the season to fish dry flies. PMD, caddis, golden stone and yellow sally hatches keep the fish looking up. This is also the time of year to break out the attractor patterns like Chubby Chernobyl’s, Trudes, Renegades, Purple Hazes and Royal Wulff’s. I like fishing a double dry fly rig with a Royal or Golden Yellow Chubby with a Trude, Renegade or Purple Haze trailer.
Ashton Dam and below: The fishing down on this part of the river is still holding up due to higher than average flows and lower water temperatures. The fishing is not as productive as it was a week or two ago but there are far fewer people and there are still PMD, caddis, golden stone, yellow sally and gray drakes hatching. As the day time temperatures inch up into the 80’s I don’t expect the fishing to hold up too much longer.
The Madison River (Montana): In spite of the large crowds the fishing on the Madison has been lights out over the past week. The main attraction has been the salmon fly hatch. Along with the salmon flies there have been heavy hatches of PMD’s, caddis, yellow sallies and golden stones. All this hatching activity has produced excellent fishing with dry flies and nymphs.