Colorado River Salmonfly Update – Thursday Morning June 12, 2014
June 12th, 2014
Wednesday saw a continuation of solid action on adult Salmonfly patterns, particularly in the afternoon. With good numbers of naturals still clinging to stream side willows and rocks, it appears as if there is still a decent amount of emerging insects coming out of the river daily. Again, it is nearly impossible to get a good sample of yet-to-hatch nymphs with the high water but, that continues to decline and may actually encourage an intensified push of emergence as the water recedes. This morning’s flow is 5,460 cfs with stable clarity at 2 feet.
Fishing remains technical, there are no easy drifts yet. Nymph anglers are getting a few fish throughout the day and that is the better plan in the am. Once the adults start flying mid-day, dry fly fishing really becomes the better approach. A repetitive, methodical effort. Just keep putting that dry fly out there on the water, you have to cover a lot of water in order to get the fish to see it at these flows.
We’re not sure how much longer this hatch will last but, we do think that there will still be a decent amount of adults present through the weekend. The safest bet would definitely be up into Gore Canyon itself. With the amount of water that has been in the river this year, access has been tough and has probably limited the amount of traffic up in the higher points in the canyon. That may be just the place to start. Make the effort straight out of the box and hike up at least 2 miles before even throwing a fly. There’s a good chance that fish up that far may not have seen too many casts yet this year.