Salmonfly Dries Now Working Above McAtee
The water has cleared enough now that the the fish can see through a good distance of water, they are looking up, and are hitting salmonfly dries. There were a lot of salmonflies in the air today between Ruby Creek and Storey Ditch. This nice brown was caught on a dry just downstream from the Beartooth Fly Shop, above McAtee Bridge.
Big, dark nymphs, as noted in Dan’s report below, were also working. As the river continues to clear and the salmonflies move upstream, things should continue to get better, even maybe get really good.
Brad
Week including July 10, 2011
The river is decidedly more dirty towards Ennis and shows better clarity as you go up towards Quake Lake. This week more folks explored up and down the river and found fish. The flows are down some and the clarity is improving daily. There is still faster than usual flows and debris coming down with it. Please use caution wading and getting under the bridges on the upper river. The majority of the activity continues to be on wet bugs even though the Salmon Flies are in the neighborhood. The hot flies lately have been #4 and #6 Delektable Stoners, Pat’s Rubberleg Brown, and Golden Stones as the top bug with a variety of Caddis nymphs, and Yellow Sally nymphs as the trailer. The big bugs are in our back yard and as the water gets more clear, you will see more activity on the dries but it is not happening just yet. We are days away from the dry or die action. Nice fish have been caught but all of them from wet flies so far. The pictures show it all.
Dan
