Salmonflies! Salmonflies! Salmonflies!
Let the madness begin. The adult bugs showed up in force on Sunday and I must say it has been a pretty impressive hatch to start. The big bugs are spread out from the Ora Bridge down to the Chester backwater. Below Chester there are a few bugs around and there have been a few adults spotted as far up as the Warm River. The hatch will steadily move up stream and should reach the Box Canyon around the Memorial Day weekend. I have always felt that I have had my best dry fly fishing a few days to a week after the hatch had passed through an area.
Box Canyon: Fishing in the Box could best be described as very good to excellent with the added bonus of solitude. With most folks down on the lower river chasing Salmonflies almost no one has been in the Box. It is pretty much a nymphing situation with double rigs of rubber legs and a San Juan or a beadhead trailer.
Warm River to Ashton: The flows are a little higher than normal for this time of year but the water clarity is good. Most of us feel that the higher flows make for better conditions when fishing the Salmonfly hatch. Some of our favorite adult Salmonfly imitations include the Drowned Salmonfly, Flutter Bug, Widow Maker and Pat’s CDC Stone. The interest in the adult imitations is just beginning so don’t give up on the double nymph rigs or a dry/dropper set up.
Ashton to Chester: This is still the money section on the lower river. The main Salmonfly hatch is going on here. However, in spite of the presence of a large number of adults, nymphing continues to produce the most fish. Rubber legs, San Juan Worms and beadheads fished in tandem under an indicator is the name of the game. Fish a black, brown or coffee/black rubber legs with red San Juan Worm or a Green Drake nymph imitation trailer for best results.
The Last Chance Bar and Grill is now open starting at 7 AM for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We look forward to serving you this holiday weekend. We still have a few rooms open in the lodge and a few guides still available if you want to chase those Salmon flies.