Saturday Water Flows
8410cfs. That is good. For fishing that is. Dry fly fishing. Should be much better at these lower flows.
Will it get to 6K this month? Later maybe. July for sure.
But the flushing flows that many have wished for, all of us really, may not happen. So that is upsetting. Flushing flows are god. 3 days of water. Big water. 12-15K and beyond kind of water. That does not look like it will happen. Maybe next year. We hope.
Big water, lots of water, higher flows are one of the most important needs for ay river. Oxygen, hydration. Other creatures need both of those to survive as well. Big cold waters are important for life. Mother Mo thrives on water and oxygen.
So we do like these lower flows for dry fly fishing. And it keeps us on our toes here at the shop. Depth changes, bobber reduction (what does that even mean?) split shot dynamics, and of course fly pattern change can happen with flow changes.
I’m sure we will see more and more real flies creep into our repertoire. PMD nymphs and caddis nymphs will become the prominent bugs of choice starting today. So bulk up on more of these must have flies at the shop. Ninch and the gang will be happy to show you what is hot. I’m one of those guys that knows what does not work, and base my fly changes based on that. But everyone says that John is the Contrarian.
And he still is the leader in this department.
PMD’s are out. Cooler temps will keep them at bay. But storms bring them to the surface as well. PMD’s are not great emergers so any water surface lack of tension is much appreciated by the ephemerella infequens and inermis. So do not discount storm activity and dry fly activity. They can go hand in hand during the summer months.
Crips, emergers, spiners, and some dun activity is out there. Skittering caddis have been spotted. Trout spot them too.
Big weekend on tap here in Craig. See us for all things trout. The dry fly capital of the world. Craig MT. And we are happy to be part of it. Stop in anytime morning, noon, or night as we are open 7am-9pm. Longer hours coming oh so very soon…
Dry flies to continue through the next 2 months. A good time of year!
See you on the water!
2 Comments.
Great post, as always. But I didn’t follow this: “PMD’s are not great imagers so any water surface lack of tension is much appreciated by the ephemerella infequens and inermis…”
“Imagers”? Do you mean “emergers”? If so, how does surface water tension play a role? Thank you.
Surface tension keeps those shitty emerging PMD’s under the surface. It’s adhesion or cohesion or something Tom. And yes, the auto spelling computer, which usually saves my ass, incorrectly edited imagers from emergers!