The overwhelming theme of the information we’ve been able to garner in the past week is that the Fall River continues to run incredibly low this late summer, almost at record levels.  Local guides are still predicting the Fall’s flows will tumble to record low levels before the seasonal rains in September and October.

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 465 cfs this morning at 0645, with today’s average 683 cfs, and the 20% flow marker 497 cfs.  The Feds don’t report temperature recordings from this gauge station, but certainly the opinion of those we spoke with is that water temps have been running dangerously high most of the summer, particularly on the lower river.

There is a bit of better news - the Park released all restrictions on Park waters effective the 22nd.  We’ve also had a much cooler week in the region than for the two months prior, night temps in particular are beginning to cool a bit. 

All that said, this is still a river running through one of the most fantastic areas on earth, and there is fishing to be done.

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 an 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. 
 
Summer hatches have about moved on from the region - though there are still some midges in the mornings, and a few caddis later in the afternoon and evening.  There are some Tricos beginning to show on the cooler mornings, with the spinner fall mid morning, though with warmer temps due at least over the weekend, we’re not sure you can count much on this.

As noted in weeks prior, the higher you go, the better hatches and fishing are likely to be.  If I were fishing this river today, I would plan to hit it when the sun had warmed it well and pound away with a hopper / dropper rig.

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:  PMX, red, yellow, black and lime; Parachute PMD;  Electric Caddis, olive; Emergent Spakle Pupa; Parachute caddis; X Caddis, olive, black; Poly Wing Caddis;  Your attractor package; Tricos - may be early?

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

Terrestials: Hoppers - Grand, Whit, Dave’s, Carnage, Kicking, Hoppinator; Beetles- Fire, Foam, HiVis, Sam’s;  Ants - Chernobyl, ParaAnt, black and cinnamon, CDC Flying ant, black, brown, cinnamon; Epoxy, same colors

Streamers / Other:  Black Bugger; Bow River Bugger; Girdle Bug; Orange/brown rubberlegs

Technorati Tags: ,


 

Tags: River: Fall