Part 1 – 2nd Day Fishing – January 16th – Ashton, Idaho, 1050cfs
I was so stoked! As I headed north into Driggs on this bluebird day, the Tetons were looking magnificent! The clear skies were going to warm things up, or so I thought. The high was 23, but the sun did make you feel warm. The day did get off to a rough start though. I got to my usual spot and the lot had not been plowed and the snow looked very deep. I had to be winched out recently from a soft shoulder that I got stuck in and even 4 wheel drive would not get me out. So I thought I would try out another spot downstream. When I arrived a few minutes later, I saw that this spot had been plowed and I felt better about parking there.
This spot is popular in the summer, but I usually fish it from my drift boat. I knew roughly where the fish hung out in the summer, but had no clue if they would be around in the winter. I started with a nymph rig on my 4wt G2, my favorite nymph rig for all but the biggest of stoneflies. I wanted to do some hunting to find the feeding lanes. A frenchie for the point fly and a size 22 black zebra midge, or 3 dollar dip, which is my go-to in December – March. Over the next couple of hours, I carpet bombed the entire area, focusing on tail outs and structure, which is where I thought the fish should be. Nothing. So, I went back to the spot I had intended to fish earlier and found four trucks parked in the lot and from the bridge, I could see dudes in all of my favorite holes from the bridge. Feeling this was pointless, I went back to the previous spot.
Then I thought, what about the flat? Sometimes fish seek out the flat in winter so they don’t have to work so hard swimming against the current. The flat was big and relatively shallow, so I decided to swing a streamer through a large area. In winter, my go-to is a balanced leech, but they have a tungsten bead and tend to sink like a rock. Good for getting to the bottom, but is slower water, they dredge up a lot of bottom.
Last fall I was intrigued by a streamer pattern called the Drunk Drea on the Fly Fish Food website. It features a lot of marabou and a complex twist, using a Loon Clip, AKA D-Loop Tweezer. It is a nifty little tool and great to have on the bench. For $15, it is really cost effective! The pattern as tied in the FFF video uses “Thin Mint” colors, which is a popular wooly bugger pattern. I tied a few of the thin mint, but then also decided to tie them in the Creamsicle jig color scheme. The creamsicle jig is a good Stillwater pattern but it has a very heavy tungsten bead at the head. In winter conditions, lower flows, shallower water, you could be dredging bottom a lot. I really like the tan/ginger color scheme though in late fall and winter though.
So I decided to swing a large area of flat with the Creamsicle Drea. This fly worked really well for me. I noticed right off the bat that it suspended nicely in the shallow flat and the slow current. This was the same fly I used on December 20th on the private water, with excellent results! However today in this location, that was not to be the case.
Heading back to the other spot to check on the dudes and their trucks, I found most of the trucks gone and the guys who were in my spots, gone as well. Grabbing my streamer rig and heading back to the water, I went right to my favorite spot. Initially, I chose my 4wt because it does it all. It is my favorite nymph rod, but it also works for lighter/smaller streamer patterns and is an excellent dry fly rod too! I was really hoping for dry fly action today, but the midge hatch did not materialize. So not wanting to re-rig, I just started swinging my Creamsicle Drea through an area that I knew held fish. Even though I knew this hole had been worked earlier, that rarely dissuades me from fishing a spot. The fly connected with a nice brown on about the tenth cast. He fought well and this fish really made my day! After another 20 casts, working the entire area, I decided to pack up ago go home.
This is the big flat where I was swinging streamers:
Below, my usual spot where I caught the brown:
Part 2 – 3rd Day Fishing – January 19th – Swan Valley, Idaho, 965cfs
Since the Henry’s Fork was fishing so slow a few days before, I decided to head over to Swan Valley on Thursday the 19th. The drive for me from Victor is much shorter and I consider the South Fork my home water. Today I was really hoping for a midge hatch, even though the highs were only in the mid 20’s. I rigged my 5wt G2 which had newly installed Fly line and hoping for a midge hatch, I brought along my 3wt. The new line I went with is the Cortland “Big Fly” line. The line features an “aggressive taper, high floating tip and is fast loading”, all qualities I was looking for. You see, my 4wt G2 is the “Swiss Army Knife” of trout rods. It fails with the heavier flies however, big streamers and big foam bugs with droppers. I just don’t get the turnover unless I force it. This was the logic behind finding an “aggressive taper, fast loading” line for my 5wt. My plan was to have a line that could throw big flies long distances and I found it in the Cortland “Big Fly” line. It really casts a lot like a redfish line in salt water. Extremely fast loading and as a result, shoots very well. Especially when wading, lang casts can be very problematic. You may not have the clearance behind, but heavy flies with lots of line out will often hit the ground on the backcast, tre bummer! But, if you can shoot 30′ with only a 20′ backcast, muy bueno! This is what I discovered that the Big Fly line could do on this day. Using that same Creamsicle Drea I got a nice eat in the slack water inside the seam at my favorite wading spot. The line was performing well, and with the fast taper I found myself double hauling a lot! Easily making 60′ casts with the Creamsicle Drea. But, I realized that in the heavier current, this streamer was riding too high in the water column. The South Fork is known for deep, fast moving water which is perfect for sinking lines, or sink tip lines. But, I also knew a heavier fly like my balanced leech pattern would get me into the zone today as well. So I walked a little further up into the current, which was faster, just as the riffle was going into the tail out. On the third cast I hooked into a really nice fish. I knew right away it was a big brown. He took several runs out into the faster current and I was worried somewhat about my drag. You see at 25 degrees, you are picking ice out of your guides all day long and it is tough to do this with one hand moving the length of the rod and the other holding up the reel to keep it from dipping into the water. My drag was being inconsistent due to ice, formed thanks to me dipping it in the water. Ultimately I did win the battle!
Here is one of the wading spots I like on the South Fork. You can clearly see the riffle, where the tail out begins and the inside seam:
Here is brown I caught on the leech below:
On this day, I also nymphed the seam and the lower riffle/tail out extensively with a small baetis nymph and my go-to 3 dollar dip in a size 20. Nothing! I experimented a lot moving my indicator up and down and making sure my point fly was dragging bottom. No luck!
The one brown did make my day. When the South Fork is below 1,000 cfs, the fish tend to move around a lot. Meaning I knew if browns were present the streamer approach made sense, but I thought that the nymph rig would be perfect for the whitefish and the Cutthroats. On this day, they may not have been around, or they just weren’t biting. Who knows?
