Lochsa

Articles Trip Reports & Travel
81

Yesterday, I saw the best evidence yet of hybridization between the Westslope cutts and steelhead in the Lochsa.

When I first looked at this guy, I didn’t even see the typical orange slashes. I had to look closely, and while the cutts were there ( and do show in the pic ), they were minimal and the faintest I have seen. This fishy doesn’t have the rainbow stripe down his side, but he does have spots that are characteristic of steelhead ( rainbows ) in the system, and atypical for a Westslope cutthroat.

John

82

… so it was a matter of pounding them up with the big salmonfly dry. I did fish a couple new spots today, and caught fishies at both. Always fun to find the spots, read the water, get the drift and get hooked up.

Here are some spots and some spots.

Spot one.

Spot one resident.

Had another spot one resident on for a good tussle and a good look. He was a bit stronger than the fish above, and a bit bigger - probably went close to 18".

Spot two.

Spot two resident.

This was one of the new places. Neat thing here - quite a few smaller fish, both cutts and steelhead. Bodes well for the future.

Spot three.

Spot three resident.

Picked up several more fish pretty much like the one above at this spot, and turned a couple more.

Today was the first day this year that really felt and looked like SUMMER. Won’t be long before the runoff will be over. Hiking shorts, short sleeve shirts, and wading sandals will be the order of the day. Along with the golden stones and hoppers, of course.

John

83

… with a big jump in flows, a leveling off, and a big drop. Kind of like this …

Wasn’t particularly optimistic when I took off just after lunch today. There was fresh snow still on the trees at Lolo Pass, and in several places at higher elevations it was obviously snowing.

There was some breeze on and off, and it was cloudy for the most part, but I was spared any precipitation and the water looked great.

Picked up one fish on the FEB Salmonfly and one on a rubber legs stonefly nymph at the spot above.

Fished one other place and had a good size fish follow the salmonfly for four or five feet downstream before breaking off his pursuit.

Next place, I caught the green drake hatch that provided most of the action a few days ago.

I think I was a little late to the party, but I did have good action for the best part of an hour ( and an acquaintance who came along got in on the action for another half hour or so when I turned over the fly and the water to him ).

Had one fish hit the FEB salmonfly before I started fishing the hatch with Duck’s Green Drake. That fish broke off the 5X tippet and went bye-bye. Tied on the drake dry, and it suffered the same fate as a trout hit it really hard and broke off.

Changed out to a 4X tippet …

… and proceeded to hook another seven or so fishies, landing four of them. ( My acquaintance had five fish hit the fly, and he hooked and landed two of them. )

One of them was decent enough to take the fly on the camera side for a change.

While there were no drake duns on the water, there were a good number in the air most of the time I was fishing. They are one big fly. Also saw a few baetis and a few March Browns. But the fishies did just fine with green drake dry.

John

84

Have you actually been seeing any salmonflies, or are the fish just hitting your version anyway?

85

… for your question, Patrick.

As of today, I’ve fished the FEB Salmonfly as my primary fly for thirty eight days, since May 1. During that time, I have only seen one or two adult salmonflies in the air or on the water. The Idaho Fish and Game enforcement officer on the Lochsa did tell me a couple weeks ago that he had been seeing them regularly for a week or two.

Today, the first fish took the salmonfly.

Had another cutt on it shortly after that. And then … the fishies were definitely selecting against the salmonfly and for green drakes, as in Duck’s Green Drake. I fished the salmonfly on and off over rising fish, and they would ignore it and take a natural green drake in quite close proximity simultaneously or shortly after the salmonfly cleared the feeding lane. More about that in the following post.

It has been a heck of a run with this fly. And it may still pick up some fish, but I do think it is time to concentrate on the drakes, maybe some other mayflies and small caddis, and start looking forward to the golden stones.

John

86

… or at least the primary fly.

For thirty eight days, the FEB Salmonfly has been the primary fly. Today, it got things started …

After another fish on the salmonfly, it was time to change. Put on a Duck’s Greek Drake and …

Rather than try to retype a lot of stuff I’ve already posted today, here are a couple more pix from the day followed by an editted copy of a post on the Fly Tying Forum that pretty much sums it all up.

"Worked out a couple issues … this morning and went fishing with the latest version ( of Duck’s Green Drake ) this afternoon. …

The timing for this fly could not have been better. … Today, the trouts were selecting against the salmonfly and for green drakes. They would ignore the salmonfly and simultaneously or quite shortly after the salmonfly cleared the feeding lane, take a green drake.

Which was just fine with me …

… 'cause they really liked Duck’s Green Drake.

Over the course of about two hours, in three different places, and on a real variety of water, from deep pools, to fast riffles, to almost still water, on seams, in the current, they consistently rose to the fly and took it without hesitation.

Like around eighteen fishies in hand.

The most striking thing was that there were no visible refusals, and the water and light conditions made it possible to see almost every fish before it hit the fly. There may have been a few refusals, but none that I could see.

The next most striking thing was how big a difference the change to the Dai-Riki hook made. Out of twenty fishies hooked, eighteen were landed, and the other two only came unbuttoned after something of a struggle, in very soft water, when I was messing with the camera. That kind of hook up and landing rate speaks volumes about the importance of the hook style for the fly.

Finally, the fly proved very durable. I had about fifteen fish on this fly …

… and it was still fishable, with nothing other than the initial application of floatant, when I lost it to some foliage on an errant backcast.

A second fly accounted for the rest of the fishies, and is back in the fly box for the next outing."

John

87

… so it was a mix of the salmonfly and the green drake.

Biggest water covered with salmonfly …

… gave up the smallest fish …

Medium sized water …

… gave up medium sized fish, although I did have a couple much bigger fishies hook up but come unbuttoned …

And the smallest pocket …

… held the biggest fish of the day …

Each of the flies accounted for about ten fishies hooked and five or six landed.

Pretty sure that I caught the big fish in the last pic on the green drake about half an hour after I caught him on the salmonfly - or I caught his twin. That little pocket provided a lot of entertainment in the late afternoon, with fish in hand, hits and misses, and several refusals, working it with both flies. Nice way to close out four hours of fishing hard.

John

88

I’ve been re-reading LaFontaine’s Legacy, (2008 ) by Al & Gretchen Beatty and stumbled on the EZ2C Caddis (page 47) which as it turns out was field tested on the Lochsa River. Absolutely the best fly they had and the fishing was “incredible” so good they didn’t eat - considering how far they would have had to go to get a dinner…and continued to fish the next morning without a real meal again, surviving on 3 old granola bars, one can of Coke, some No-Doze pills and several handfuls of thimble berries. (You can figure the time of year by the berries, right?) They had a few hours of fishing before they had to leave for Missoula where they were to meet Gary as they were working on the video series for him. Obviously I thought of you John and wondered if you had tried it - as well as a fly which should be in the boxes of our FAOL folks attending the Idaho Fish-In just down the road.

89

Deanna -

Not familiar with that fly. Since it was endorsed without reservation by Al and Gretchen Beatty, I took the time to “google” it - and came up empty.

If I find a source on the EZ2C Caddis, I’ll certainly take a look at it. In the meantime, I do have my own personal brace of original flies that work just dandy on the Lochsa ( and elsewhere ) from March through November.

John

90

John, here’s a few I found:

[http://bakslengen.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/ez2c-caddis/

[http://www.sdnovascotian.ca/?p=853

http://www.thebookmailer.com/Flies/DryFlies/Nymphs/ez2cCaddis.html](http://bakslengen.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/ez2c-caddis/)](http://www.sdnovascotian.ca/?p=853)

91

That EZ2C Caddis looks a lot like the Clarks Stone.

92

This one http://bakslengen.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/ez2c-caddis/ is the best match to the one in the book except the wing is more bright yellow calf tail.

93

Thanks for the various links. Quite a variation in what folks consider an EZ2C caddis.

Did find some interesting information on thimbleberries. A mid to late summer item.

John

94

… but at least the rain held off.

Not expecting anything in the way of a hatch, but I cast this guy …

… into this little pocket …

… and caught this fishy …

Actually, on my first cast, I had a hit but no hook up. On the next six casts I hooked up and landed six cutts. After that it slowed down. Took another dozen or so casts to get the next three in hand, on the same fly.

Headed on downstream several miles, fished here …

… and was rather surprised when this guy came up through some deep, fast water and intercepted the drake …

On downstream a bit further, I fished the FEB Salmonfly and caught several fish. Pretty slow, considering the action I have been having in those places. But, it was a gray, overcast, damp, chilly day so maybe the fishies were conserving their energy for tomorrow.

Back at the first spot, I fished the drake again, and picked up three more fish. One of them was wearing a lip ornament. Looked like it was being fished as a dropper, and still had a couple feet of tippet attached to the hook. Thinking that little guy was probably happy to have someone come along and remove that bothersome thing from his lip.

Tried the salmonfly again on the same pocket, and a really aggressive hit by a big cutt broke it off. About a hundred yards downstream, the last fish of the day ate the salmonfly out in some pretty stiff current.

Duck’s Green Drake had another good day, with one trout hitting it and no hook up, one jumping over it and missing it on the way down, another jumping over it and catching it solid, and another dozen fishies eating it. All thirteen that were hooked, were landed.

The salmonfly accounted for a half dozen fish, including the one that broke off, and took a couple more pretty good hits.

Not bad for a gray, overcast …

John

95

… after hiking several miles down Haskell Creek and up the Crooked Fork Creek drainage exploring the area, to fish on the Lochsa. The exploring in that area, by the way, is old hat. The trail we were on took us within about a quarter of a mile, maybe a bit less, of the place where Lewis and Clark crossed the Crooked Fork on their way east in 1806. The track of their 1805 westbound trail is several miles further away.

Lots of places in the general vicinity were named by Lewis and Clark for their experiences during their exploration. Crooked Fork Creek is one of the major tributaries to the Lochsa. When you hike back in that country, it’s clear why they gave it that name. The other major tributary is Colt Killed Creek. Where they slaughtered one of their colts to feed their men.

The stretch of the Lochsa in the pic below is several miles downstream of the confluence of the Crooked Fork and Colt Killed.

Anyway, fished the salmonfly to get started. For the first time since May 1, it did not take a fishy. One did come off the bottom and followed it several feet downstream before giving up on it, and that was it. In the meantime, a fish did jump completely out of the water out in the heavier current chasing a natural. And there were some green drakes around, so I changed out to a Duck’s Green Drake.

Covering the same water as I did with the salmonfly, I had five fish on and in hand and one break off in about twenty minutes. Pretty clear that they were selecting for the drake today. Can’t say that the salmonfly has seen it’s time this year on the Lochsa, but it definitely is time to move on to different patterns.

Also had another hatch of sorts. These guys were hanging out for well over an hour.

Even put up with some close up macro shots without moving out of the area.

John

96

What beautiful places you have to choose from. Thanks for giving us the pics.

97

Great shot of the butterflies…those can be REALLY HARD to get close to!

98

… sent the river surging a couple days ago.

Decided to start with the salmonfly, to offer the fishies something big enough to make it worth their while to come to the surface.

It was slow going, but a couple did come up for chow here …

One 13" cutthroat and this cuttsteel which went about 15".

These guys are always the strongest fish in the system, and this one was not an exception. I thought I had a much bigger fish on, until I got a good look and saw that his marking suggested more steelhead lineage than cutthroat. But I do suspect that all the cuttbows are first generation. Seems unlikely that a cuttbow would end up hybridizing with a cutthroat to produce a second generation cuttbow.

Fished another place with no fishies to be seen, or hooked, or landed.

Next place …

… gave up the biggest cutthroat of the day …

… and a while later, the only fish that took the Duck’s Green Drake that I fished briefly in a couple really soft water pockets. There were a couple light hatches taking place on and off, but no fishies up. There was a really small green stonefly in some abundance, small as in can you tie it on a size 20 or 22 hook ?? and a smattering of drakes for a short while.

The next to last cutt took the salmonfly as it ripped through here …

… just about at the end of the drift through a much more promising piece of water.

On the day, in about four hours, eight fishies ate the salmonfly and all came to hand, and one ate the drake, and came to hand. That kept the catching streak for drake intact and maintained the high hook to landing ratio.

John

P.S. The 2012 runoff is on the wane. There will likely be some further bumps as storms move through the area, but otherwise, it should be the long, slow slide to summertime flows.

99

Another cuttbow in hand today. Very distinct rainbow / steelhead spots and virtually no cutts to speak of.

John

P.S. After closely examining the pix of these “two” fish, it seems quite likely that “they” are one and the same. There seem to be some differences, but that may be a matter of lighting and pixel exposure. There are more similarities, and some patterns in the spotting that make it all but certain that it is the same fish.

100

… to get started. Fished here …

… wet wading in shorts and sandals …

… long enough for this little guy …

… to take pity on me and grab the salmonfly.

This can be a really good spot when the flows drop later in the summer. Today the water was furrrreeeeezzzzzinnnnng !! Fifteen to twenty minutes of that was more than enough. Glad I had a ten minute walk back to the car to get the circulation going again before I had to drive.

Fished a couple other spots on the Crooked Fork and then headed on down to the Lochsa. Left the camera in the car since you all have seen the places I was going to fish a number of times. Actually saw another adult salmonfly today, so I went with that. Besides, there were very few bugs around and no fishies up.

Hooked up with and landed seven or eight cutts in about an hour and a half. Most of them were near the edges in the pockets, but several were a bit further out. Fishing the water in these conditions is really enjoyable, and the fact it was slow just made it more satisfying when one of those guys did finally come off the bottom and eat the fly.

Had several of those classic, slow motion cutthroat takes, and one was a fishy that went right at 17" that came from 5-6’ down that I could see all the way to the fly. That was one strong fish, with an assist with some current that was really ripping just downstream of the pocket he was in.

Another take was quite different - out in the current and chasing the fly downstream for several feet before actually catching up to it and gulping it. Yet another was a very aggressive take just about out at the margin of my casting distance and the end of the drift. Couldn’t see the fish that time until he splashed when he hit the fly. There must be a good hole out there, 'cause I’ve caught one or two fish just about every time I can get a decent drift over that spot, which isn’t often with the flows where they are.

Not a lot of fishies today, but it sure was a lot of fun. Except for the cold feet, of course.

John