River Conditions: 4/20/17

Water Clarity: All of the place right now, lots of the streams are dirty, some of the smaller ones are fishable though

Water Temperatures:  Temps have ranged from upper 30s all the way up to 51

Hatches: Black Stoneflies

Suggested Patterns: White and Black Wooly Buggers, Montana Mouthwash, Sex Dungeons, Dream Catchers, Zonkers, Yellow Marabou Muddlers, Black Stoneflies(#4-10), Copper Johns(#12-14), Pink San Juans, Egg Patterns,

Still pretty dirty and messy in our area. The rain we received yesterday didn’t help at all. The bigger rivers are shot right now and some of the smaller streams are too. Water conditions may improve on the smaller streams over the next few days as long as the rain tomorrow and Saturday don’t produce much. Heard a few reports of fish being caught out of the Willoughby and we’ve also heard that the fish are now jumping the falls. Water temps up there are around 40 degrees. The fishing on the Lewis has been pretty good as well. Lots of suckers down there now but the steelhead are still hanging around. A few smallmouth bass will probably show up in the next week with the majority running once May rolls around. The fishing has gotten better over in NY in the past couple of days as well. Bob’s clients yesterday stuck 15 fish all of which were drop backs. With the higher flows the drop back fish will stay in the river for a while before shooting back to the lake.  Water temps over there are still in the low 40s which is great! Over the next few days fishing in our area will be the most productive in the smaller streams. Because of the cool temps the fish will still be found in the slow deep water. Fish smaller wooly buggers with a #12 or #14 nymph dropped off the back of it. You can fish this style by dead drifting with a small indicator or by slowly stripping the fly back in. Be sure your flies get down! The stillwater fishing will also be picking up in another week 0r two. Water temps are going to be on the rise and most of the lakes are now ice free near us. Usually when they hit 50 degrees or so it’s game on! The pike may need a little more time before they get done spawning, once they are done though fishing for them can be a lot of fun! We just got some sweet pike flies in from a local tier, come check em out! Good luck to anyone getting out this weekend!! Be safe.

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