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Archive for September, 2010
Harriman Ranch Section (Henry’s Fork of the Snake) 9/25-26 (Dry Fly Fish Idaho)
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I’ve always found that late September on spring creek-type water is the most difficult time to fish, and the Ranch was no different than expected. The large hatches of mayflies were winding down to the point that the fish were not keying on them, and the fall hatches had not begun. The major problem though, was the salad floating in the river and the difficulty with keeping your fly free of floating debris. You could almost not fish the main current because of dense foliage covering the surface. But all issues aside, we had a pretty good fishing trip, averaging about 25 fish a day. Some of them pushed over 20 inches. We lost a lot of larger fish because they would make ridiculously mad runs to the center of the river, and your line would accumulate pounds of salad to the point where the fish would outrun your line and straighten or break off the hook. Because the hatches were mostly small bugs, our ties were on small hooks, which made landing fish extremely difficult. We found the Ranch to be a spectacular fly fishing location, but you’d be better served to fish that section of the river at a different time of year.
On the second day on the section of the river between the highway bridge to Riverside takeout, we did encounter a large midge hatch that brought the giant fish to the surface. Using our Caddidge ( dry fly fish Idaho) pattern, size 22, we hooked some pigs, but we didn’t have time to stay on the hatch because of darkness.
Here’s the selection of flies we hooked fish on:
Black Gold #14, #16
Caddis – Green #18
Midnight Caddis #16
Emperor Caddis – Black #20
Emergers with White Wing #22
Tanatalizer – Green #18
Hoppers – #8
No Hackle Mayfly – Mahogany #18
Black Gold Stimulator
$1.95 — $2.25
Adams Caddis
A gorgeous high-floating fly tied in body colors gray and dark olive with the classic grizzly and brown collar. Fish him in fast water and very aggressively. He floats like a cork and catches fish like a worm.
$1.95
- Color:
- Gray, Green.
Midnight Caddis
Midnight Caddis the absolute perfect sundown to dark caddis fished on sheen water. It has awesome visibility and can be fished aggressively in heavy riffle. This fly was created to match the large black caddis hatch in the high country, but recently it has sparkled on low elevation rivers in twilight hours. It's a party animal after sundown!
$1.95
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, they put on a show!!!!
$1.90
$1.71 — $1.90
You save $0.19 (10%)!
Emergers
$1.65
- Color:
- Black Wing Black Emerger, White Wing Black Emerger, Blue Wing Olive Emerger, Brown Emerger, Gray Emerger, PMD Emerger,
Tantalizer Series
The “Tantalizer” Series of emergers maybe the most significant break through in dry fly fishing in years. This fly has tested magnificently over every species of trout at every elevation. It’s a super fly that was so successful we featured the Pink Tantalizer in a video we shot on the South Fork of the Snake River last fall.
$1.90
Bullet Hopper
$2.35
Mahogany No Hackle
$2.05
You see the darnest things on the river…9/24 (Dry Fly Fish Idaho)
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You see some very odd things while dry fly fishing Idaho on the Boise River in town. Check out what Ken M. photographed while dry fly fishing on Friday September 24, 2010:
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South Fork Boise River 9/15 (Dry Fly Fish Idaho)
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Totally and completely surreal!! If you haven’t fished the South Fork (dry fly fish Idaho) recently you have to put that river on the agenda. There are hatches continuously, the river is the perfect flow and there are enormous hog rainbows patrolling the surface.
My tie-on fly of the day was a Black Searcher #16 (dry fly fish Idaho) thinking that would be the perfect fly for the hatch that comes off this time of year. On about the third cast of the day over a large feeding fish, bingo! he eats the bug, and I put the first big fish in the net at 11:00. I landed one more fish with the Black Searcher (dry fly fish Idaho) then a beautiful hatch of baetis began popping on the water. I changed into a #18 Green Tantalizer (dry fly fish Idaho), and wow! was that the ticket. After wearing out one tantalizer and having another chewed beyond recognition, I put another dozen fish in the net. After fishing through the glassy bottom of the run and systematically hooking the feeders, I reached the faster riffle of the top end of the run. I was having trouble floating the tantalizer (dry fly fish Idaho), so I decided it was “Hopper Time.”
On the first cast with the Bullet Head Hopper (dry fly fish Idaho), another giant fish rolled up on the bug and that set off a run of 8 fish almost back to back on the #8 Bullet Head Hopper (dry fly fish Idaho). I finished the run at the very tippy top in the shallow riffle by hooking another fish that took me into my backing down river and I had to chase him to land him.
In the first run of water I fished, I’d landed over 2 dozen fish; and some of them were in the 20” range. I moved onto the next run of water down river.
I slipped in under a beautiful foam line tight against a steep boulder edge. I still had the Bullet Head Hopper (dry fly fish Idaho) on, so I served it just off the edge of a large boulder and bang! another big fish on. I landed that fish and looking up through the foam lines, I could see numerous large fish sipping emergers on the foam line. I immediately changed to a Pink Tantalizer #18 (dry fly fish Idaho), the perfect fly for a soft foam line. On the first cast I hook a fish, chased him and finally landed him down river 40 yards. The fish were stacked off the edge of the current to soft water and I could see at least a dozen fish almost in a line ahead me. I started at the bottom of the chain and picked them one after another up through the run. I only lost one of the nine fish I hooked because almost every fish was hooked deep in the mouth. They were seriously eating the bug.
I played that group of fish until I reached the hard riffle at the top the run, then switched over to a #18 Adams Caddis Green (dry fly fish Idaho) because of its ability to float in hard water. It worked perfectly and I finished out the run with five more fish.
It was approaching 6:00 so I decided to fish my way back to the car. I tied on the Bullet Head Hopper (dry fly fish Idaho) and landed four more fish before I reached the car. One of the fish jumped numerous times, ran me down river into my backing and I finally landed him 150 yards down river from where he was hooked. Night was creeping in when I reached the car, but I had one hole in mind.
I tied on the Midnight Caddis #14 (dry fly fish Idaho) and made a final run on a riffle below Cow Creek. I positioned in the river so the sheen light would create a backdrop to see the fly, and there were dozens of fish feeding in the glow. So I started casting to heads. The fish were feeding on a small mayfly I could not identify in the darkness and they weren’t that excited about my caddis, but there were so many fish, all I had to do was keep serving it; and sure enough, one would take. After landing four more fish; I could no longer see my feet and decided it was time to call it a day.
It’s a rare occasion on the South Fork of the Boise River (dry fly fish Idaho) to land 40 fish in a day, but when I thought about it, that’s all I did all day was hook and land fish. There were no lulls, the hatches were on the water into darkness, and all the conditions were perfect.
Do not put your rod away; and if you go fishing the South Fork, here are the flies that caught fish:
#18 and #16 Pink Tantalizer
#18 Green Tantalizer
#18 Green Adams Caddis
#8 Bullet Head Hopper
#14 Midnight Caddis
#18 White Emperor Caddis
Tantalizer Series
The “Tantalizer” Series of emergers maybe the most significant break through in dry fly fishing in years. This fly has tested magnificently over every species of trout at every elevation. It’s a super fly that was so successful we featured the Pink Tantalizer in a video we shot on the South Fork of the Snake River last fall.
$1.90
Bullet Hopper
$2.35
Midnight Caddis
Midnight Caddis the absolute perfect sundown to dark caddis fished on sheen water. It has awesome visibility and can be fished aggressively in heavy riffle. This fly was created to match the large black caddis hatch in the high country, but recently it has sparkled on low elevation rivers in twilight hours. It's a party animal after sundown!
$1.95
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, they put on a show!!!!
$1.90
$1.71 — $1.90
You save $0.19 (10%)!
Owyhee River 9/3 (Dry Fly Fish Idaho)
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It was in the sheen light of dusk maybe half hour until black dark, I positioned directly across the river from the glow of the sunken sun. It spread a perfect glisten to see the tiny #22 Caddige (dry fly fish Idaho) fly on the surface. I had targeted a giant fish and dead drifted over him several times without a take. On the next cast I over shot him about 18 inches and swam the caddis in front of his trough. When the fly intersected the fish there was no take; I continue to move the bug and suddenly I see his nose, there’s a big white mouth crush down on the caddidge (dry fly fish Idaho). I set the hook gently and the fish absolutely went nuts. He ripped across the river in one big zing and searched the far bank for obstacles to hang me on, then roared off down river to my backing. After a dive in the moss bed 3 more big runs I net the fish at black dark.
I’ve caught some giant fish on “O” (dry fly fish Idaho) this year, but I think this big dark male won the prize. I measured him on the net which is 24 inches long and he was just a little larger than the net, but his true size was in his girth. The little Caddige (dry fly fish Idaho) fly was in the top of his mouth and it looked like a tiny speck in the enormous white inner mouth. I admired the fish for a long time while I revived him, and then watched him disappear into darkness.
The fly was badly water logged, but I could still hear and see fish feeding in front of me. It was black dark, but I had to make another cast. I hucked the Caddige (dry fly fish Idaho) into a cluster of fish and began chigging it through the feeders. It was my first cast after landing the giant and toward the end of the retrieve…BANG another large fish eats the Caddige (dry fly fish Idaho). I can’t see anything and the fish is ripping and roaring through the hole like a maniac. The only way I have a clue where the fish is is the direction he’s yanking my rod. I finally hear the knot to my butt piece slide through the top eye; I raise the rod and net the fish. It was the perfect ending for a day on the “O” (dry fly fish Idaho). I revived the fish and clipped the fly, because I couldn’t see to remove the hook.
It was a pretty good day overall. In the early portion of the day, I had good success on the Gray Searcher (dry fly fish Idaho) size #16. We’ll have this bug in stock next week and I highly recommend this pattern in gray and mahogany this time of year. I also landed a half dozen fish on our Gray Tantalizer (dry fly fish Idaho) #18. I continue to use our new Midnight Caddis (dry fly fish Idaho) when the sun goes down and I picked up two big fish on that bug below the Ginger Bread house. Fish this bug in hard riffle, twilight to dark and you’ll be amazed at what comes calling. Before I tied on the Caddige (dry fly fish Idaho), I caught one nice fish on our little Blood Midge #22 (dry fly fish Idaho). The Caddige was the show stopper for the day. In the last 45 minutes of fishing, that fly caught six fish—and they were all large.
Flies that caught fish:
Midnight Caddis #16
Caddidge #22
Searcher – Gray #16
Blood Midge #22
Tantalizer Series – Gray #18
Midnight Caddis
Midnight Caddis the absolute perfect sundown to dark caddis fished on sheen water. It has awesome visibility and can be fished aggressively in heavy riffle. This fly was created to match the large black caddis hatch in the high country, but recently it has sparkled on low elevation rivers in twilight hours. It's a party animal after sundown!
$1.95
Caddidge
Introducing--the "Caddige." It's a brilliant wintertime midge fished in the soft foam lines, and it's a dynamite early-spring, dark caddis. I have seen it land giant fish in both seasons. Tied on a Tiemco #200R hook, it will hold that big guy. Take your time!!! Size #22 only.
$1.90
Searcher Patterns
The new world of dry fly fishing challenges the belief that you need a hatch. Fish this bug with NO hatch in holding water, and you'll be shocked to see what's calling. The fish will suddenly appear and eat this pattern. DFI has designed the new generation of of "searcher" flies built to sustain at least two hatches; in this case, a mayfly and a caddis, and get fish to take on their preference. It's a concept that catches fish!! One size; 6 different colors.
$1.90
Blood Midge
$1.65
Tantalizer Series
The “Tantalizer” Series of emergers maybe the most significant break through in dry fly fishing in years. This fly has tested magnificently over every species of trout at every elevation. It’s a super fly that was so successful we featured the Pink Tantalizer in a video we shot on the South Fork of the Snake River last fall.