Fishing Report

Don’t have much time. Ill make it quick. Bugs are weird. Main diet has been caddis lately. Fish will eat a Hendrickson properly as there are some in the drift. No crazy good consistent Hendrickson hatches. March Browns arrived on the big river yesterday which was weird. Trout don’t always eat them for a week or two. Fish are findable but with the current pressure and lack of bugs a good cast is needed. We’ve only found a few “pods” and are waiting for a big break in bugs. I think we are still jumping the gun. Lots of rain in forecast. Hopefully we don’t lose too many bugs during the high water. Fish below were taken on dry flies.

Today is April 16th 2025. Todays trip shifted back into the season so I am able to catch on on some computer stuff. We have passed the 20th trip mark this week for the 2025 season. So far the rivers have been low to medium with gin clear water. We haven’t had much of a streamer season do to the water being clear and low. The nymphing has been the primary source of eats for our clients. However, watching a bobber for over 20 days so far has gotten old (even on the 20 fish days). The wings are beginning to hatch and next week the system should be seeing noses break the surface in certain locations.

So far in my opinion the system is in great shape for what we are dealing with. Since the state is now on its 4th year of “fixing the aqueduct” we were very worried going into winter with reservoirs in the 60th percentile. However with the brutal winter and snow pack we have gotten the reservoirs up to 95% as I write this today! As long as we have a somewhat normal rainfall this spring we could have a great year and avoid ramifications of the 2024 drawdown.

Here are a few photos from the first 20 trips of the season. 3 of these bigger fish have come on dry flies. The new boat has already allowed us to access other water traditional Driftboat’s cannot. Clackacraft did a great job with the Headhunter II.