June 7th, 2022 – 30th day fishing
First day on the water with my new boat decals!!! An early June day when it would be reasonable to expect a baetis hatch or an evening caddis hatch. My plan was to launch late, between 1-2pm thinking I could be well behind the flotilla of guide boats that are chartered every day in late May and June. Late May is a good bet for the salmon fly hatch and mid-June is a good bet for the green drake hatch. Other mayflies like BWO’s could hatch at any time.
My Hyde Montana skiff launched at 1:30 and was underway at 1:45pm. It blew me away that as I rowed into the second section that there were several guide boats posted up on the long run. It speaks to points. First, the guides were either a half day hire or second, the guides really like the top couple of sections and to make the timing work out, take out at Vernon..
I worked the top section pretty hard, started by nymphing. The deep runs are perfect for nymphing. But there could be dry dry fly action too if the hatch is on. Anyway, on to the second section was full of posted up guide boats. I posted up too but decided to swing soft hackles below them. Unfortunately, no luck with the soft hackles and the hatch never materialized. Imagine being a client sitting stationary for two hours and eventually having to push on without a hatch. It might mean nymphing the rest of the way down, but what a downer. Mostly because you are paying for it.
Since I had my heart set on dry fly action, I decided to take an easy float down to the last run before the Chester backwater. This run has big fish in it. Mostly rainbows. But they don’t get into the action unless there is a good quantity of insects on the water. These can be recently hatched or dead, like spinners. It could also be caddis swarming, which usually happens later. My early expectation was trico spinner or similar. If it is a larger baetis I usually tie on a rusty spinner or similar. Today was not that day. There were a few rises, but extremely sporadic and I was unable to coax an eat. Later, I slid down aways to where the caddis action usually is. The last hour of light s really good. However, my drive back toward Tetonia winds through farm country and right after dark deer are frequently found right off on on the road. So I like taking out right around sunset which gives me an opportunity to get through the deer section before dark. Anyway, it was slow and I only landed one or two. Only one was large enough to photograph.
