We are in the rollercoaster ride of spring flows right now, seeing flows fluctuate 50-100 CFS any given day. These flows are peaking in the afternoon and dipping to their lowest points in the middle of the night. This is typical of any freestone this time of year and the fish know the routine, not often missing a beat to feed during these months. In fact, you could say it’s just the opposite, they are certainly making the most of these rising flows becoming less discriminate on fly selection with a larger variety of bugs in the system right now. The warming water temps make the fish more active than just a few weeks back. The key is fishing deep enough, using enough weight, understanding what a good drift looks like and

being able to identify the correct holding water. Fly selection will come pretty far down the list of important factors for success.

With the storm systems pushing through the area last week we saw 6+ inches of snow drop here in town. These late season storms tend to come and go, and the snow didn’t even last until the end of the day, melting quickly with the long days and high angle of the sun. This did little to change the conditions on the river, other than temporarily slowing the runoff a bit. Overall conditions are very good right now, with the water remaining clear and not too high. Yes 900 CFS at Farad sounds like a lot of water, but for a river that often sees flows over 3k during spring runoff, this is very manageable and still allows for a lot of really great holding water for the fish. At these flows, the canyon section of the river will be a better bet due to a greater abundance of deep buckets and larger pools, making for more soft water.

As previously mentioned, fly selection is not the most important factor right now, but it is undeniable that there’s certainly some value in it. We’ve been playing the game of big fly little fly, meaning when indicator fishing, we are using a larger attractor nymph such as a stonefly, worm or egg as our top fly and something small(ish) as our bottom fly such as a perdigon, blowtorch, Duracell or the likes as our dropper. With the water being clear despite the increase in flows, we are having the majority of our luck on the little fly. The larger offering remains important to bring attention to the setup, add more weight, and provide the option of the big meal for the more aggressive fish. With the euro nymph fishing really picking up as the fish start to move into some slightly faster water, we are doing the same idea, but just reversing the fly position, bringing the big fly to the bottom of the set up and adding the necessary weight to get your set up down. We have also begun to have some luck with the jig streamers on the euro nymph rig, which is such a fun way to fish this time of year!