The Fall River is another one of the lesser visited rivers in the Park during the summer;  for another in the same southeastern sector of the Park, see our Bechler River update post from yesterday.

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 incredibly low this late summer, almost at record levels.  Several guides we spoke with predicted 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 520 cfs this morning at 0845, with today’s average 739 cfs, and the 20% flow marker 564 cfs.  The Feds don’t report temperature recordings from this gauge station, but certainly the opinion of those we spoke with is that temps have been running dangerously high, particularly on the lower river. 

Don’t forget the Fall River below Rainbow Falls remains under a Park advisory - it is not to be fished between the hours of 2 PM and 5 AM.

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.

Temperatures are going to warm a bit through the weekend and early next week, so it still makes sense to get on the water early for the best shot; there are still some PMDs in the very early morning hours, though mostly at higher elevations. 

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 hopper - dropper rig.  Standard nymph droppers will work, though most folks are using smaller bead heads (BH prince/hares ear/your favorite) and Lightning bugs.
 
Hatches working include primarily include PMDs (mostly early AM) and Caddis (mostly after 2 PM), there might be a few midges earlier in the day.  As noted above, the higher you go, the better hatches and fishing are likely to be. 

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; Twisted Sister and Babies, yellow & red, chartreuse & tan/orange

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

Terrestrials:  Grand Hopper, tan; Parachute Hopper; Daves Hopper; Ants- variety: Beetles - foam, smaller

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

Technorati Tags: ,

Tags: River: Fall