Monthly Archives: June 2015

Sometimes, it really takes patience!

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Mary Ann was on the river guiding today so I went out on my own.  I hit a favorite spot on the Salmon River, and had the hardest time finding any fish willing to look up for dry flies.  The water looked good, and there were olive stoneflies, caddis, and golden stoneflies out on the water.  But, I only managed a entice couple of 10″ rainbows to my dry flies.  Whitefish were very happy to take nymphs, and I picked up 12 or 14 on stonefly nymphs and prince nymphs.  After 4 hours of fishing I was just about to call it a day.  But, instead, I worked upstream to deeper water, still trying the same dry flies that I had been trying earlier in the day.  Surprisingly, from 3:00 PM to 3:45 PM when It was 98 degrees, I picked up 6 nice cutthroats on a #12 olive bodied Elk Hair Caddis and a #8 Yellow Crystal Stimulator.  I’m not sure why I had this success late in the day, but I was certainly happy to finally find some cooperative Cutties!  Here are a couple of photos for my day:

Slower, deeper water upstream by the rocks.

Slower, deeper water upstream by the rocks.

A nice cutthroat that took a yellow crystal stimulator.

A nice cutthroat that took a yellow crystal stimulator.

 

Golden Stonefly Pattern – The Chubby Junior

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I’ve been using this fly here in Central Idaho with great success.  It seems to be a good imitation for adult golden stoneflies.  I can’t take credit for the invention of this fly…I found something like this a fly shop here…I don’t remember which one or what the original version of this fly was called.  But, I’ve modified it a little to match the smaller adult golden stoneflies that we’re seeing in late June.  Mary Ann has been calling this pattern the Chubby Junior…even though it has no resemblance to a Chubby Chernobyl…the name sounds fine to me.  Here is the recipe:

Hook:  #8 2X long

Tail:  Tan Calf Tail

Body:  gold dubbing with 2mm tan foam on top

Wing:  12 strands of white crystal flash, with tan calf tail on top

Head/Thorax:  2mm tan foam

Leggs:  Brown Rubber

Hackle:  brown

Top View

Top View

Underside View

Underside View

Fly Fishing Nymphs on Bear Valley Creek in Idaho

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I hit my favorite small creek here in Central Idaho yesterday, Bear Valley Creek, to see if the fish would cooperate.  It was a blustery day with high clouds and just a little sun.  The bugs didn’t seem to like the wind, and I didn’t see a single fish rise all day.  I saw a few Blue Winged Olives and Yellow Sallies flying around so I went surface with representative nymphs.  In between the 12 or 14 whitefish I caught, I managed to pick up a few nice 15″ cutthroats.  Here are a few photos from my day:

Bear Valley Creek, Idaho

Bear Valley Creek, Idaho

A #14 Tungsten Yellow Sally Nymph and a #18 Psycho Mayfly Nymph.

A #14 Tungsten Yellow Sally Nymph and a #18 Psycho Mayfly Nymph.

A beautiful Bear Valley Creek Cutthroat

A beautiful Bear Valley Creek Cutthroat

 

 

 

Underwater Fish Pictures

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I was playing around with a few underwater fish pictures with my waterproof Olympus camera the other day.  Usually when I try it, they don’t turn out very well.  But, here are two that worked out quite nicely.  I’m sure the clear water in Bear Valley Creek helped.  Both cutthroats were about 15″ long, and took small nymphs drifted through shallow riffles.

A nice release of a native cutthroat.

A nice release of a native cutthroat.

Another nice cutthroat.

Another nice cutthroat.

 

 

 

 

 

Fly Fishing on the Salmon River in Stanley, Idaho

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Mary Ann and I are now in Stanley, Idaho for her summer guiding season on the Salmon River.  We’ve been out on the river the past 3 days checking things out.  We drifted on Friday, did some walking around and wading on Saturday, and drifted the river again Sunday with our good friend and fellow fly fishing guide, Verlon.  Lots of bugs were starting to hatch….PMDs, yellow sallies, caddis, and golden stones…so the fish are starting to look up.  Here are a few photos of the past few days.

Mary Ann and I getting ready to hit the river.

Mary Ann and I getting ready to hit the river.

 

Mary Ann on the oars...a great rower!

Mary Ann on the oars…a great rower!

My first cutthroat of the summer season. Not a big fish but a healthy native.

My first cutthroat of the summer season. Not a big fish but a healthy native.

Trying our luck at swinging streamers with our bamboo switch rods.

Trying our luck at swinging streamers with our bamboo switch rods.

A big whitefish putting a good bend in my 8' 3" 5 wt bamboo rod.

A big whitefish putting a good bend in my 8′ 3″ 5 wt bamboo rod.

Mary Ann and Verlon with a nice Cutthroat that took an #14 olive elk hair caddis.

Mary Ann and Verlon with a nice Cutthroat that took an #14 olive elk hair caddis.