Forrester’s Fly Bench Fishing Report 3/23/2018

|

The sun is shining and the trout are smiling while catching a few bugs in their teeth for the Salmonidae family photo. Or your family photo. :)

undefined

River Data:

River flow: 6000 cfs

Water Temp: 36 F

Bighorn Basin Snow Pack: 115% and holding steady.

Finally the real spring weather has moved in. Afternoon temperatures have been in the mid to high 50’s, the water is crystal clear and the trout are eating like they should be.

undefined

Hot Flies:

Nymphs: Sow Bugs, BWO Nymphs and midges

Method: 7.5 foot 4x or stronger leader to one BB and a B split shot. 1ft or so to the first fly and1ft or so to the second fly.

Size 14-18 Grey Ray Charles

Size 14-18 Tan Ray Charles

Size 16-20 Wonder nymph

Size 16-20 JUJU baetis nymph

Size 12-16 Natural Scud

Size 16-20 Black Zebra Midge

Size 16-20 Red Zebra Midge

Size 18-20 Tongue Teaser Midge

In the mornings fish the deep water spots and play around with your weight. The dense cold water can be play tricks on your drift when your targeting trout in deeper water. As the afternoon sun heats up the shallow water the midges and the baetis nymphs start hatching. At around 1:00pm the fish start moving into the shallows to eat the nymphs and catch some afternoon sun. This fish can be a bit tougher to catch on a nymph but a good ole’ dry dropper rig will do the trick just fine. My favorite dropper would be a size 18 bead head zebra midge or size 18 pheasant tail.

undefined

Dry Flies: Midges BWO’s

Method: 9 foot 5x leader to the top fly. 1ft or so leader to the second fly.

Size 18-20 Midge Patterns

Size 18-20 Griffith’s Gnat

Size 18-20 Midge Cluster

Size 18-20 Student

Size 18-20 Adams

Size 18-20 Parachute Baetis

Size 18-20 Cripple Thor

With the warmer weather the baetis are showing up more and more each day. Fish are still very concentrated subsurface in the mornings but it seems the entire fishing scheme changes in the afternoon. The majority of the feeding trout are moving to shallow water to eat the emerging midges and baetis nymphs. Look for them on the slower seam lines and in the 1-2 foot slower moving riffles.

undefined

Streamers: Pretty good

Method: 4-6 foot 0x or stronger leader to your first fly and 1-2 feet to your bottom fly.

Colors: White, olive, black, brown, red and yellow

Fish are in the riffles and shallow water in the afternoon. Because the water is so cold, trout have been sunning themselves in slow shallow back eddies and still water spots you wouldn’t expect to find trout. It’s definitely worth throwing a bright colored streamer into these spots to see if you can invoke a response from these trout. If anything it’s fun to watch your streamer cruise through the pod of trout.

Happy Early Spring Fishing from Forrester’s Bighorn River Resort!

Categories: