Weather/Water/Fishing Conditions:
Saturday ended up being a much nicer day than forecast, instead of 50 and broken clouds, we had 60+ and sun all day. Fishing Saturday was pretty good, but not great. The deep nymph was the ticket in the bright sun. When the wind would lay down a but, and a cloud rolled over, fish would be up instantly on midges. But once the sun came back, down they went. We did see a fair number of Baetis that day, although the fish weren’t really keyed in on them. If the fish were up though, a midge cluster would get them, or perhaps an Adams. To really get them, you could drop one of many things off the back; zebra, green LB, etc. The short leash to rising fish is lethal. If they are rising, this will get em. 12-18″ to the first fly.
What a difference a day makes! Woke up Sunday morning to a trace of snow, 28-degree temps, light snow and light wind. Didn’t see a single beatis on Sunday, but there were plenty of fish up on midges. Again, the short leash was the way to really wreck shop. But we hunted up plenty of heads. Best dry was a 16 or 18 beatis cripple, which most fish would pick up on the first good cast. We tried the streamer for a bit as well but only moved a few fish.
Hatches:
Midges are definitely out and about, the Baetis fishing should be cranking up this week – especially on the overcast days.
Thanks to one of our great guides Jeff Johnson for this updated report.