WWFG Fishing Reports

Trophy Browns and Chunky Rainbows

High water or low water, it doesn't matter. Fishing from the shore or fishing from the boat has been great to the fishermen in our area. From a boat some people are catching some lunkers on black 1/16th oz. zig jigs. Others are throwing live redworms, and CD7 gold rapalas.

Helpful Hints: Brown trout are naturally a nocturnal predator fish. BUT, anytime a natural food source is on a hook the odds of catching a brown trout are much greater!

Fly Fishermen

High water fly fishing with red san juan worms, pink jigs, and peach egg patterns.

Straight from Hank:

Oct 30, 2009 - The Dead Bees Hatch. Fall brings colder temperatures causing terrestrial bugs to become lethargic or die by the millions Untold numbers end up in rivers and lakes providing food for fish. Bees, yellow jackets and wasps are among the first and most noticeable of the bugs afflicted by the frosty weather. The contrasting bands of color make these bus standout against the foliage or water marking an obvious target for a hungry trout. I've witnessed hundreds of violent trout-on-bee attacks. Trout will often swim just under a low flying bee or wasp then leap to snatch it from the air. Floating bee/wasp imitations are my go to flies for amazing mid-day and afternoon fishing. As you know from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. can be a slow time for the dry fly angler. A big floating bug can turn those hours into a magic time. I've hooked more 20 plus inch trout just this way than with any other method tried in over 50 years of fly fishing. This isn't delicate "finesse" fly fishing. Tippets should be no finer than 4X and 3X is better. A #5 or #6 line will carry your fly out in a wind. My favorite leader is a furreled 5 ft. long butt section with 3-4 ft of 3X tippet looped on. You should not be surprised to hook the biggest trout you've ever seen. So you'll be glad you have the stout tippet when it happens. Don't worry about spooking fish. I've fished this combination of tackle in some of the hardest fished catch & release waters in the country and caught big trout even when the locals swore the smart fish wouldn't even look at a fly size larger than a #24 on 7X tippet.

Oct 2, 2009 - Fly fishing high water below hydropower dams can seem impossible to most fly fishers. The river is 100 ft or more wide, five to twenty feet deep and flowing at 8 mph! Sounds difficult, right? In reality it's quite easy because most of the difficult stuff you do to catch trout while wading low water simply doesn't apply to high water fly fishing. No pin point casting to spooky fish, no worries about tight loops or straightening out long fine leaders or eye strain from watching a strike indicator. High water trout fishing has one rule. "Get the fly on the bottom." Not pretty deep, or near the bottom. Get it on the Bottom! Use enough lead or lead substitute to feel it bouncing off the rocks and gravel. Since the depth will vary hugely in one hundred yards of drifting, a strike indicator useless in this fishing. Example: Your indicator is set to hold your fly at 6 ft deep, then you drift over a drop off 14 ft deep. Your fly passes over that huge brown trout missing its feeding zone by 8 ft. How many fish do you miss because of that strike indicator? Well, you'll never know will you? Better to keep it tapping bottom all the time. Yes you'll snap off a few flies, but you'll also hook a lot more trout and probably some really big ones.

Please note that a trophy trout released can be replicated if you have the dimensions and pictures of the fish so that one day someone else can experience a great trophy trout as well.

It is rewarding to see the bait fisherman, fly fisherman, guides, operators and the public working together in the best interest of the White River and it's Trophy Trout fishing program. Just proves what a bit of teamwork will do.

Good luck with your fishing and take a buddy along to enjoy fishing also
and to make memories of a lifetime.

Ron & Logan