I fished the South Fork. Parking at the Cress Creek nature area, I crossed the bridge across the canal and hiked down a couple hundred yards. The river has dropped significantly the last week. From 7k cfs to 4.2k cfs, which is still actually fairly high for this time of year. Access was easy as where there was previously fairly deep and swift water, was no water.
I saw some rise forms in a hole behind a drop riffle and having the rigging on from my last outing on the Portneuf, a pair of Frumpy Grumpies, I decided to try dries. The Grumpies produced a couple of hits but no hook ups, proving that grumpies will attract fish even in the middle of a snowstorm. I switched to a size 14 bead head pheasant tail and a size 18 zebra with a small sinker.
A few minutes in the hole saw me tied into 1 fish that spit the hook and landing a white fish on the zebra. I suspected that the hole was entirely populated with whitefish and decided to move up stream. The best decision of the day.
I hiked upstream about 100 yards and found a deep hole below a drop riffle, fairly tight against the bank, with some deadfall at the top of the hole. A fishy place if I ever saw one, and on my second drift my indicator stopped dead and then changed direction. I never did see this fish but from the way it fought and the power in its pull I can only surmise it was a large brown. We fought for about a minute when he headed for the snarls of the deadfall at the top of the hole and I put some pressure on him to turn his head. Well it didn't work.
The next 10 drifts saw me into a 14 inch brown, a 20 something inch brown, a whitefish a 14 inch rainbow and another whitefish. I was hoping to pick up a cut and complete the trifecta of trout species in the SF.
Oh did you see the inclusion of a 20 something inch brown....... There is one redeeming feature about fishing without a camera in the middle of a snowstorm. My cell phone takes ok pictures. He didn't fight as hard as I would have thought a fish his size could have fought, but he was in full fall colors. Picked him up on the PT.
In all it was a good day on the water. Would of been nice to be able to spend more time in the second hole, but as I had a commitment for later in the evening..... When you are catching fish every other cast it is hard to leave.
4 comments:
Scott,
Best time for Cutts on the SF is now and anytime. It depends more upon the stretch than time of year. Having said that in the winter it is very wadable and nymphs great with the occasional opportunity to catch them on dries.
The best time to catch Cutts on dries on the SF is th first few weeks of July during the salmon fly, golden stone, yellow sally, pmd, and evening caddis mega hatch. I have had days where I have picked up 20+ fish on a pink pmd in the same riffle in under an hour, then a gain on a good day you may see 200 fish working a riffle. I have also been in riffles full of rising fish on the SF in July and only had a couple of hook ups as my pmds lacked the pink that the fish seem to key in on during SF pmd hatches.
You are always invited to come up and fish (assuming I can get the time off). I am heading up to the HF by this weekend and may sneak back out for a couple of hours on the SF early this week (like today or tomorrow).
Kevin
Forgot to add I float the SF several times during the big hatch in July and always try to invite everyone I can, though few seem to take me up on my offer as I invite a mainly Utah crowd. Plan on a SF July trip and we can float the river, the SF is not very wading friendly in the summer.
Just so you don't start telling fish tales you should take a ruler with you. J/K Let me know when you are going to go fishing sometime next spring. I would like to go too.
beautiful brown! i hate fishing without my camera cause i know if i forget it that's when i'll get the monster
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