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Fly Fishing Newsletter
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Hope everyone is doing well. Looks like we are heading into fall. The nightime temperatures are really cold. It was 33 degrees at Henrys Saturday morning at 7am.
Henrys Lake
Henry's is still singing a strange tale this season. The lake is being inconsistent and slow for the most part. Recently it has showed some signs of improving with some people finding and catching fish. Some fishermen have been reporting some good numbers with some also reporting some larger fish being caught. However, you had to fish with a lot of people too. Most of the action has been around the Howard Creek area. If you can get into the sweet spots it will treat you well. Just when things get going and start to get exciting the winds came and storms hit and it's chocolate once again. We will have to wait and see if the good fishing continues once the mud settles. We have had times promising times before and then nothing. So we will be waiting to see what happens next. If the wind this summer is indicative of what will happen in the fall we might be in trouble getting days on the lake to fish. The water temperatures are coming down and this should help the fishing a lot. Flies to use are the Mity Mouse, Henry's Lake Renegade, and Halloween to name a few.
After this weekend I felt I needed to throw in a word of caution for those traveling to Henrys Lake from other areas and a reminder to those locals. The lake can get reallllllly nasty when the winds hit. I met a person at the state boat dock this past Saturday. The winds were howling and the waves crashing. I mentioned that this was a lake not to be messed with when it's really windy. After his reply of my boat has been on Puget Sound and this boat can handle anything speech. I wished him well and walked off wondering if I should call the Sheriff's department. I guess there isn't a law for being dumb. I wasn't so concerned about him with the attitude but worried about his little 6 or 7 year old boy. We watched for a while and about half way into the lake we seen him turning around and headed back in to shore. I included a picture of the lake for a visual reminder. It was not a picture of this particular day but a day this August.
Be safe and be smart to fish another day.
Henrys still is not fishing like it should and if you are planning trips this way have some alternatives planned as well. One day you can catch some fish and on other days you can't. The Lake makes it kind of scary to plan around. We have been able to change some trips to Sheridan Lake. Some trips we moved to the fall. I don't like being out fishing when things are not good let alone take someone under those conditions. Most fish being caught right now are the one, two and three year old fish. Some big ones are turning up still from time to time.
There are still a lot of theories but no real hard facts as to why the fish are doing what they are doing this year. We are trying to figure out what is going on with the lake but have not found the golden key to unlock the gate. We are in good company because no one else has either. There have been some really good fly fishermen fishing the lake and have not unlocked the lake.
There has been some fish kill on the lake in a variety of places. The Fish & Game are looking into the possible causes. My best guess goes along with the unusually hot water temperatures this summer and the water just getting to warm. Talking with Damon Keen the lake manager stated it may be approximately a thousand fish.
We will keep searching along with others to figure out what is going on with the lakes inconsistent fishing. Damon Keen the lake manager of Henrys Lake is helping in this process. He has been awesome to work with along with the other members of the Fish and Game team.
Stay tuned for more news!!
Sheridan Lake
Sheridan has been the bright spot with fishing being red hot on some days, good on others days with a few fair days mixed in. The water temps have risen and have started to have some impact on fishing and at times have slowed things down on some days. We haven't had a day yet that you could say was a bad day so we are very happy about that. We had a great Damsel hatch which lasted about 6 weeks this year. Currently we still have Callibaetis coming off and you get some Gulper action. Timing the hatch is consistent with the water temperatures. Towards the end of the Damsel hatch and when the Callibaetis were really coming off strong it was Callibaetis from 8:30 to about 12:30 and Damsels from about 10am to 2pm. I can tell you catching the Kamloops on a dry can be ohhhh so fun!
Most damsel patterns will work with some being more affective than others. It sometimes depends on the day, some days they like a brighter damsel pattern like the Flash Olive and other days they like something a little more subtle like the Cheeter Damsel. The Callibaetis cripple patterns seem to be working best with maybe some spinners working early then moving to the cripples as the hatch move on through the morning. Before the hatch gets going strong you can use some Hares Ear, Pheasant Tail and Callibaetis nymphs to get you going early. It's been so much fun on the dry's we have not used the nymphs as much. Currently we are still getting some Celibates hatching but the lake is making its changes into fall. We are seeing more fish being taken with the big stuff like Leeches and Zonkers with blacks, browns and olives being the best.
Fishing around the weed beds and shallows have been the most productive but the fish are moving into deeper water.
Island Park Reservoir
IP has shown some signs of life in July and August. Some folks are catching some decent fish (19” to 23”) with most fly fishermen fishing the west end. We will be spending more time on IP in the coming weeks and will have more information coming up.
Lynn Scott
For the latest and greatest information on fishing conditions check out the fishing report and our newletters.