The Fall River is one of the lesser visited rivers in the Park during the summer;  it and its cousin the Bechler probably deserve more attention that they receive.  For the angler willing to put some miles on your boots, this is fly fishing in one of the most remarkable areas in the West. 

Like the Bechler, its remote setting also makes it a bit harder for us to obtain reliable updates -  we’ve talked to a lot of folks in the area trying to find current information for you.

The overwhelming theme of the information we’ve been able to garner in the past few days is that the Fall River is running at much better flow levels than in several summers past, and fish are hungry and hatches have come on strong in the 10-14 days.  The mosquito armies are out in full force, come prepared for battle. 

There is only one flow gauge on the Fall that is continuously monitored, it’s on the river outside the Park border, above the Yellowstone Canal near Squirrel, ID.  The river was flowing at 248 cfs this morning at 0645, with today’s average 245 cfss.  The Feds don’t report temperature recordings from this gauge station.

Go to hatches at this point are PMDs (mainly morning) and Caddis in the afternoon and evening; there are a few Golden stones and Green Drakes around too, and it’s possible to see some baetis during the summer too.   
 
The overwhelming concensus is that for the bulk of the day you have two best choices for prospecting when the hatches aren’t active - a terrestrial dropper rig (hoppers, beetles and ants are working, generally smaller sizes) as well as a smaller attractor - dropper rig.  Standard nymph droppers will work, though most folks are using smaller bead heads (BH prince/hares ear/your favorite) and Lightning bugs.

If you have been in and fished the river, we will gladly credit you for information we can post in an update, please shoot us an email!  As we get more data, we’ll provide better information to you.

If you’re new to the site, check our How to Best Use This Site Page.

Flies to Have in the Box

Dries:  PMDs - parachute, sparkle dun, sprout, cripple, CDC Emerger, PMX - yellow, peacock, royal; Drakes - Paradrake, gray, green, olive, life cycle; Parachute Adams; Caddis – EHC, X Caddis, Electric Caddis, EC Caddis, Spent Caddis – tan and olive; Golden Stone;

Nymphs:  BHFBPT; SF PT; Copper John;  Caddis - Mangy, Pulsating/Electric, Super Pupas; Prince / MegaPrince / BH Prince; Lightning bugs, gold, silver;

Streamers / Others:  Woolly Buggers, brown, black, olive, blue; Sparkle Buggers, same

Terrestrials:  Hoppers, ants, beetles

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