Great Day on the South Fork

[dal]

Since John Scott moved (Hi, John, hope all is well with you!) we're not seeing many posts about action on the South Fork so I thought I would recount my visit there Friday afternoon. Got there about 1:30 and parked near the gate east of the train tressel below the Heise bridge. The gate was open, for some reason, but it's posted so I didn't drive in. Walked through the gate, crossed the little bridge and immediately descended the bank and crossed the side channel at the narrowest part to a tiny "island" in the side channel. Not a soul in sight in either direction from the time I got there through the entire 5 hours I was there--a new experience for me on this stretch of the river.

I had sort of "inherited" an old Wright & McGill Eagle Claw "Favorite" model 8 1/2 ft 7wt glass rod with Pflueger Medalist reel and I wanted to see how they perform. I started with a brown rubber legs with a princes nymph dropper. First cast was to the deep runout by the bank. Found the glass rod a little heavy and the action of the fiberglass quite different than my Sages, as expected, but not too bad. Second cast the indicator disappeared and I connected with a chubby, feisty 12" cuttbow. A few minutes later, another cuttbow, about 10". Then, a small brown, about 8". All within about 10 minutes. Although there were fish rising, the tandem was obviously working so I decided to stick with it. A minute later, had a nice 10" cutt with beautiful coloring in hand. This was going to be a great day!

I had planned on moving down towards the tressel but changed my mind and decided to move upstream a bit and cross to the main channel. On the way, however, I stopped and fished the lower section of the side channel near the north bank. I've never had much luck in this quarter-mile long side channel, even though it looks like there should be fish in there. However, I immediately connected with a brown, then a rainbow, then a cutt, all about 10" and all in quick succession. Having even more fun now!

Crossed the island to the main channel and started at the south end. Over a couple hours, worked the quarter mile or so up to the east end of the island where the side channel starts. In that stretch, caught about 10, pretty much all browns and cutts, all 10-12". Also hooked up with several that tossed the hook, 2 or 3 of which were obviously chunkier than the others I'd been catching. Every fish in hand and all those I was able to see that got away, to that point, had taken the princes nymph.

At the east end, just below the start of the side channel, there is a smooth section in the main channel just above some riffles. Waded out about a third of the way and cast quartering upstream, which permits a long drift. Connected with the first of about half a dozen whitefish during the day.

Next cast, the indicator went deep and when I set the hook I could tell it was a very nice trout--heavy and full of fight. Took a few minutes to land him. Once he was in hand, I saw that he was a very darkly colored, hook-jawed brown, about 20" (longer than my forearm), the only fish in hand all day that took the rubber legs. Definitely the best fish of the season for me so far, and maybe my biggest fish on a fly rod ever.

After catching a couple more whitefish, the sun was getting low so I made my way down the side channel, not expecting much based on past experience. The upper part of this channel doesn't lend itself to wading because of the steep, rocky bank so I just flung the tandem in from up in the tall grass and let 'er drift through the middle of the channel. My luck in this section must have changed because I caught and landed about 8 more trout, mostly cutts or cuttbows, and 1 rainbow, all 8-10", plus several 10" whitefish. Had about as many hookups that threw the hook. By the time I reached the lower end of the side channel I was back to where I had started. I tried the first hole of the day but had no takers so I crossed and headed back to the car and home for dinner.

This was my first trip to the South Fork this year. I've been breaking in the "new used" Sage SLT 3wt I bought from Jeffnles1, and the new Orvis reel I bought myself as a Christmas present, on Birch Creek, Warm River, the Teton and Rainey Creek, and having a lot of fun. But I think this is the best time of year on the South Fork and it definitely won't be my last this year. No complaints about the Eagle Claw "Favorite" but the Pflueger reel is a little klunky and the drag is pretty useless. The weight and action of the rod definitely took some getting used to, especially after fishing almost exclusively the 3wt this year. However, I'm still thinking about building a 7wt. I think it would be lighter and my bad shoulder wouldn't get quite so sore.

They say a bad day on the river is better than a great day in the office. Well, this one, especially since I had it all to myself all day long, was a GREAT day on the river and was definitely better than my best day ever in the office.

Tight lines, everyone....

http://s401.photobucket.com/albums/p...w&t=1255851815

[kglissmeyer]

dal, nice report and pics. Gotta love the South Fork this time of year. My son and his buddy fished it yesterday just below the Great Feeder diversion and had a great day with some good fish. Both hit a South Fork slam with Cutts, Bows and Browns. Glad to hear you had a great day. Keep 'em coming.

Kelly.

[JohnScott]

Dennis -

Wow, your report sure took me back to water I know well in a hurry. Thanks for that.

I did get out to take a look at that stretch and a little further downstream when I was in Rigby last week. Massive changes to the river between the Big Feeder and Twin Bridges over the summer with the sustained high flows.

One thing I always enjoyed was exploring that stretch in the fall when the flows dropped - like finding a new river to fish. Sounds like you are on top of that part of it.

John

P.S. All is going well with the move. Should be settled in the new house by Thanksgiving ??

[dal]

Well, things change quickly here in SE Idaho. Tried the same place today as last week but luck was way different. It was about 20 degrees cooler today than last Friday and mostly cloudy so I thought it might be a good day to try some streamers above the tressel. However, either the river has changed since last fall or the flow needs to drop a bit more before that section is safe for wading. Had to stick so close to the bank it was really not possible to get a streamer out very far. So, went back to the same area I fished last week. Started in the same place and cast a couple of different streamer patterns (squirrel zonker and one that looks kind of like a muddler minnow with an orange body) but after about 20 minutes, no action. Decided to go back to what worked last week, rubber legs with princes nymph dropper, and over about a half hour caught maybe 15 whitefish. Crossed to the main channel and started working up. Caught about 10 more whitefish and exactly 1 rainbow and 1 cutt, both about 12" (2 rainbows if you count the one that escaped as I was bending over to pick him up).

Tried several more streamer patterns (another zonker, marabou, and wooley bugger) but again, no takers. I think I just don't understand the technique. So, since most of the fish had been going for the rubber legs I went back to that and quickly caught another whitefish.

Strangely enough, about 3/4 of the whitefish were not hooked in the mouth. They were snagged near the mouth, in the belly, in the dorsal fin, and even in the tail. Same thing happened last week. Although I have occasionally snagged a fish, I've never experienced this quite so consistently. I wonder if they are spitting the fly but not getting out of the way quickly enough or if they are just bumping the fly and getting snagged.

Anyhow, continued up to the beginning of the side channel with no more action. Well, just a little action, maybe. When it was time to head back to the car I tripped over a submerged limb and got a little submerged myself. Last time I did that was about 8 years ago below the Ashton dam. Anyhow, the bath and the little drizzle that was beginning were a pretty good hint that my day on the river needed to be over. I'm sure the best days on the South Fork are not yet finished.

[JohnScott]

Dennis -

The trick is to TARGET the whitefish. That way, you can always succeed during the winter on the South Fork !!

What you described in the way of snagging does sound odd. In my experience in that stretch of water, mostly nymphing with a large rubber legs stonefly nymph, it is not unusual to have an occasional snag on the body or more likely the head, and often around the eye, for some reason, but most of the time the fly is in or around the mouth.

With the temps dropping the way they did, maybe the trouts headed for the deeper, slower water, while the whitefish continue to hang in the shallower, faster water. Although the browns should be in prespawn or spawning mode by now and that can put them in some pretty shallow and fast water.

From what I saw of the flows when I checked out the river last week and then on the USGS, and from what Jimmy told me last time I was in the shop, it looks like the flows will be a lot higher this winter than last ( somthing like 1700 CFS compared to about 900 CFS last year ).

With all the changes in the stretch above and below the trestle, it would be a grand time exploring this winter. Hope you get out and do it for me !!

John

[dal]

Thanks, John. One other odd thing you might find interesting: On the bank of the main channel, 3-4 feet from the water's edge and more than 12" above water level, there was a large pile of fish eggs, maybe the equivalent of 2-3 cups. I was really surprised at the amount of eggs. They were in their gelatinous material, as though a redd had been created and the eggs deposited by a large female before the water dropped. They were a little dried out but not entirely. I don't think they were there last week. I find it strange a bird or animal hadn't already made a quick meal of them. Given the size of the pile the female would have been pretty big. Maybe a fisherman caught the large female and decided to keep her but stripped the eggs first. Don't know, but to me, it was an interesting mystery.

[JohnScott]

Dennis -

Check the link and note the flows in CFS for the past week:

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/id/nwis/uv...cd=00065,00060

With stable flows at Heise Cable and on the Big Feeder for at least a week before your outing, no way could a spawner create a redd and deposit eggs where you found them.

Your guess that someone caught a brown and stripped her eggs is almost certainly right on the money.

John