What's New

I'm sure all of you who have fished in April, May or June have already found out the bite is not the same as in past seasons during the same time frame.

If you want, you can blame it on the extended winter that filled most of our spring. The trout, as expected, were dominated by the extended cold that also brought with it rain, hail, snow and more crappy weather.
I left on my spring trip April l3th for Cypress Hills in Alberta, Canada. I wanted to see how well those monster rainbows survived the winter. The conditions I found seem to be present in all the lakes I fished from Alberta down through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada and my home lakes in Oregon. Most of the lakes became ice free only l0 days or so before I arrived. All had that tannic, coffee stain look to them which indicated the nutrients or chemistry of the water hadn't settled yet.

That put the vast majority of the trout out in deep water just off the bottom. You know what that means. The fish weren't feeding. Even though we tried, we found no takers on every lake we fished regardless of the line or pattern used. Most of the trout we caught were right on the shoreline edge.
On Armstrong Lake, Cypress Hills, we caught every fish within a foot or two of the shoreline edge. They were all unspawned females from 9-15 pounds. We had to work for most of them, but it was well worth the effort. The weather was awful the who time we were there with only brief periods when it wasn't raining, snowing or blowing 50 MPH.

After leaving Canada, we drove to West Yellowstone and spent the next nine days fishing the lakes in and around the area. The weather wasn't any better there than in Canada except for a few periods when the sun broke through.

Hebgen Lake was the most consistent even though it was half frozen when we arrived. We fished where the South Fork of the Madison comes in and although we didn't land any monsters, we had good numbers of rainbows and browns from l8-23 inches.

Henry's Lake was frozen just 2 days before the opener and we fished it on Sunday the following day. Water temperature was a frigid 40 degrees by mid-day and I landed 6 nice cutthroats from 19-24 inches, all spanners holding tight to shore. No strikes out more than 30 feet from shore.
Quake and Ennis Lakes were high, cold and dirty so we passed on them. Hard to get excited fishing cold, dirty water when it's blowing snow or rain.
Sheridan Lake were I do my clinic had just freed up from ice and had some fish showing but really wasn't fishing well yet. We caught fish, but it took lots of time and patience.

After our stay in the Yellowstone area, we headed for Piedmont Reservoir on the Guild Ranch near Fort Bridger in Wyoming. It was easily the best lake we fished on our three week tour through the Rocky Mountain area.
Rainbows to7 pounds, browns to 8 pounds, brook trout ran 18-23 inches and about 4-5 pounds, tiger trout up to 5 pounds, but much bigger ones landed prior and Hybrid rainbow/cutthroats to 6 pounds. Those were our numbers, but double digit rainbows and browns are common. Some days were more productive than others which is usually the case especially during spring weather if that is what we were getting. The lake was almost full, but again the majority of trout were out in the middle and just off the bottom and were off the bite.

The most productive fly was my new Stillwater Bug. It's a suggestive pattern and without much in the way of emerging insects showing except some midges, we fished it along with Seal Buggers most of the time.
If there was a lesson to bre learned on this trip, it's adjust your presentation to the conditions and how trout reacted to Mother Natures constantly changing weather patterns.

Now that the summer heat is here, you would think everything is back to normal. Not so! Most of the lakes in the western states are still behind schedule which means trout are not going to be where you normally expect them to be. It's a temperature think for the most part.

We didn't experience much of a spring, just went from winter to summer, but the trout are still a bit behind schedule. On the good side, fall fishing should be outstanding! There are always those exceptions, but anticipate a good fall period when the bigger trout will be on the hunt.

Tight Lines

Denny

What's New

My new book, "Stillwater Presentation" will not be out now until next summer. Just can't get the time I need to finalize the script because of the time I need to be on the water. I'm making progress still a lot of work to do; photos, captions, correct spelling and grammar etc. I'll keep you posted as we get closer.

I'll be doing the new Tying Patterns for Stillwater volume 4 in August sometime. The patterns I'll be tying and showing how to fish are the Stillwater Bug, Damsel, Shiner Minnow, Doctor John and haven't decided yet of the fifth pattern.

The Stillwater Bug has been an absolute killer pattern since its arrival last fall. This comes not just from what I've experienced, but based on all the feedback and orders I'm taking from those of you who have fished it last fall and this spring.

I'm hoping to have a new 10 foot clear Type 2 sink-tip line out by fall or for next spring for fishing emergers in Zones 2 and 3. It should prove to be a great river and stream nymphing line as well. It will come in line weights of 5,6 and 7.

With the price of gas being what it is, don't expect it to deep back down again. It's not going to happen which means those of you who cancelled trips this year because of the added cost are going to miss some great fall fishing on you favorite destination lake. Staying closer to home is fine if you have a quality water to fish. Otherwise, better figure it's going to cost a little more to play.

If you need help or any information about lakes in my area, call me. If the Dodgers, Rams or Lakers are playing, I"me not answering. but will return your call when the game is over. If we lose, it may be a day or two.

For Questions and Information Feel Free to Call: 1 (541) 381-2218