It’s September and the fishing has been amazing. The honey ant hatches have been strong and the fish are rising to them as well as this old memory can recall. Current flows out of the Island Park Reservoir are 519 CFS and the lake is at 63% full.
Box Canyon
The Box continues to fish very well. Take a golden stone for a swim and you'll find a few players to eat. Make sure to include some hoppers in your big dry selection. As for nymphing, the usual beads will do the trick, with the red neck leading the charge. Roza’s pink bead is also a great choice. It’s basically a hare’s ear with an oversized pink bead. Maybe it's because it gets down quick, maybe it’s the pink bead, who knows, but it is a favorite of trout everywhere! Keep a few in your box.
Ranch
The Ranch fishing is the best I have seen in years. I know I keep reporting that but it’s the truth. If I needed to bitch about something it would be that I am not getting in there enough! I did take an ass kicking at the wood road the other day and I have nobody to blame but myself! I found three good fish sipping dries and promptly went Elmer Fudd on the first one. I walked right up on him thinking to myself, no way that is a good fish! Turns out it was a great fish and off he went! The others I spotted were not real interested in what I had to offer. Solid ass kicking! A better angler would have probably changed flies and not been so dang bullheaded! If you find yourself in the Ranch in the near future I would have hoppers, honey ants, callibeatis, mahoganies and tricos..
Warm River to Ashton
School has started back up and with that the rubber hatch has slowed way down. The long weekend will most likely be busy but past that, this section should start to pick up. The tried and true hopper dropper rig will work well and I would not be afraid to cut the dropper off and look for a big brown or rainbow tight on the bank. While it’s true there are a lot of smaller fish in this section there are also some truly large trout. Water temps remain favorable but get those fish landed quickly. During the release spend a little time with them and make sure they are fit to be back in the saddle and ready for another day.
Ashton to St Anthony
The aquatic vegetation in this section is starting to die off making fishing a little on the difficult side. Cleaning off your fly is a must after almost every cast. Temps are actually falling so plan on seeing more of that over the next week or two. The water temps from St Anthony on down are climbing into the danger zone for all trout so avoid fishing down there. If I was fishing that section I would go early or late. Hoppers and streamers would be my call down there. Use the heaviest tippet you can get away with and get those fish landed quick!