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St. Joe River, Day 2; 8/9 (Dry Fly Fish Idaho)
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I started early into the canyon that I located the previous day at Milepost 60. The shade was still on the water and my tie-on fly was a Gray Hatching Emerger #16 (dry fly fish Idaho) that would imitate the large gray mayfly I’d seen the day before. After hucking a fly to holding water for 10-15 minutes, it wasn’t the right fly to lure the cutties out of bed. So I changed to a #12 Bullet Head Hopper (dry fly fish Idaho) and began slapping it down in the riffles. The fish liked the bug; and even though there are a lot of false takes, I was hooking a lot of nice fish also. I decided to size down into a Tan Stimulator #12 (dry fly fish Idaho) thinking the fish would eat that fly a little more readily. The Tan Stimulator (dry fly fish Idaho) proved to be very deadly fly in hard riffle so I fished between two successful riffle runs with good success.
I entered another stretch of great hopper water with steep grassy edges, southern exposure and rocky. This time I tied on the larger #8 Bullet Head Hopper (dry fly fish Idaho) and began delivering it to the soft holding edges along the slope of the river bank. The fly would float splayed out along the gentle edge and a cutty would show up out of nowhere and bang the bug.
For 5 hours that scenario repeated itself. I caught a lot of fish, but I still had not hooked anything larger than 15”. The river was producing fish, but I felt like there should have been bigger fish there. I hiked up out of the canyon and broke for lunch. After huckleberry French toast and ham, it was time for the afternoon fish.
I had staked out a couple of riffles along the road for filming purposes, so we devoted the balance of the afternoon to filming and fishing. It was a cool place to film because the clarity of the water and the angle of the viewing from up above. I went back to the #14 Bullet Head Hopper (dry fly fish Idaho) pattern in the riffles and spent the remaining time hooking feisty cutthroats. The one mistake I made was not planning more time on the Joe. There is a ton of fishing water and not near enough time to fish it in two days. I never did land a giant fish, but a lot of 12-15” fish; but I know with more time, I may have figured out a recipe to hook a bigger fish. It’s an awesome river, a fantastic environment (must view Hobo Cedar Grove Botanical Area!), and very scenic!
 Check out the Hopper! |
 Hobo Cedar Grove Botanical Garden |
Flies that caught fish:
Beetle #12
Bullet Head Hopper #12, #14
Tan Stimulator #12
Black Ant
Cinnamon Ant
Red Ant
Black Gold #12
Emperor Caddis – Green
Gray Hatching Emerger #16
Beetle
The most realistic beetle pattern available. It has a peacock belly, a sculptured body, and exactly 6 moose hair legs. DFI beetles are killer flies in almost all waters.
$1.80
Bullet Hopper
$2.35
Tan Stimulator
The perfect fly when fish are feeding on that large tan caddis or bright golden stones in larger sizes. You'll love fishing this fly, always bone dry and riding high. Sizes #16, #14, #12, #10. This was our #1 fly on the Metolius River in June, 2010 and has proven deadly in its testing period over a large variety of water.
$1.95 — $2.25
Ants
An enormous percentage of a trout's diet above 6,000 feet is ants. Fish cruise the edges under the canopy in search of these crunchy, high-octane morsels. The four ant patterns displayed are the ultimate weapons in the most prevalent color selections. They have tightly wound oblong body segments, beautifully crafted wings, and present themselves exactly like the natural. They have no deer hair shells over the tail so they are tough and won't fray or break like many commercial flies. You will catch more fish with less refusals using DFI ants!
$1.80
- Color:
- Black, Cinnamon, Red.
Black Gold Stimulator
$1.95 — $2.25
Emperor Series
Our #1 fishing fly for 2009 was the “Emperor” caddis series. We fished this series of flies at all elevations, from May through September and they are truly super flies. We featured the “Emperor” black caddis in a video we shot in the Idaho Wilderness called “Fishing the High Country,” and it took the place of our Black Flying Ant as the #1 fly for alpine lakes. Every place we fished, these flies it put on a show!!!!
$1.90
Hatching Emerger - Black or Brown
These emergers come in only #20 hook.
$1.80
- Color:
- Black Brown