Update on water
June 27, 2011
The water is still big. Most of our waters were on the down swing, but this last batch of hot weather actually spiked up again. Many of our waters are 3 to 5 times their normal average flow for this date and time. For instance, Tongue Canyon is normally around 400 cfs and is currently around 1520 cfs. That is high, but three days ago it peaked over 2000 cfs. Yes, that is Platte River size water crammed into a canyon. Not very safe or functional to fish. Our private waters are doing better, but not in shape yet. I think this hot weather has finally kicked us over the hump and we are on the down hill side of run off. I believe we are ahead of most other areas, so if you plans have changed elsewhere, we should have some decent fishing in the next couple of weeks. Our dry fly fishing is still about 3 to 4 weeks out. Yes that is the middle to end of July.
The fishing will be great this season, healthier fish, bigger fish and late hatches. Keep in mind the fish will have had an extra 2 months of no pressure this year so August, September and early October fishing will be ridiculous. Hoppers are starting to show up around the fields this season already, but the mountain hoppers won’t likely be around until August at the earliest. That does not mean the fish won’t take a hopper, it just means other flies will be better this season until the hoppers show up. I don’t expect the mountain hopper fishing to that good this year due to the late wet season. The drake hatches should be very nice and I expect some golden stones this season around 14 to 10 sizes mixed with all the other hatches.
People are nymph fishing the North Tongue now for about 14 days. I expect the Cutts to go into spawn any day now and they should be difficult to catch for about a week or two while they are spawning. Please avoid the beds and stepping in the beds for about 4-6 weeks after the spawn.
Most of the other fishing is slowly becoming more fishing friendly. The 8000 foot waters are still marginally fishing friendly. The lower you get the higher the water. I hope with this hot weather, we will see the flows drop significantly over the next two weeks. The 4th of July weekend should have some fishing available up in the mountains and in the lakes and reservoirs. By the end of the second week of July, I think the fishing water will be high but mostly clear. I don’t think the dry fly fishing will be starting up, but if the water is clear to slightly off color, we should be able to catch some fish on dry stimulator patterns. Nymphs and streamers are the focus flies for the time being.
This is all I have time for now.
Thanks for stopping by.
Roger
