South Fork

[raposaNegra]

Flows on the South Fork are down to 1600 cfs. Prime fall fishing is soon upon us. It appears that the flows are dropping on thursdays and fridays so I expect fthe final drop to under 1200 cfs this coming week. Wading is now possible in some areas and will become easier as flows drop below 1200 cfs. The weather has been cold and mucky, so good beatis hatches with lots of fish in the riffles. I am thinking of sneaking out of work early on wednesday afternoon for 4-5 hours of fishing either in the fall creek or twin bridges areas. I have heard that the browns are staging in the flats directly below the dam. If you know of any other areas where they stage please let me know.

If you want to know fishing conditions send me an e-mail after wed.

[Jonny{UTAH}]

Man, im so jealous. I wish I could have this river out back door.

[raposaNegra]

while it is currently 27 degrees in Salt Lake.... it is 15 degrees at my house. Brrrr. Where are my wool socks?

[raposaNegra]

flows are below 1200 cfs at Irwin. Let the wading begin!

[Jason B]

I want to do a trip down South Fork. Send me an e-mail on what it would cost me and such. Thanks

[raposaNegra]

I'm going FISHING! Will be out on the South Fork this afternoon in the fall creek area. Flows are under 900 cfs currently. The weather is overcast and mucky. I expect great things for BWOs.

E-mail if you want a report.

[Trav]

I dont want to hear about it... ;-)

[Teewinot]

i want to hear how you all are doing on the southfork. i might be taking a trip up there thanksgiving weekend to try out the new drift boat my dad bought.

[raposaNegra]

is very low. You can still float it but it also very wadeable. Current flows are a little over 800 cfs. I fished right below the dam for a couple of hours and then down by fall creek. If you drift it I would put in at Irwin North as the water below the dam is less than knee deep in the flats.

[raposaNegra]

nice and sunny. Fished well.

E-Mail if you want info.

[raposaNegra]

as they (Idaho Fish and Game) are asking us anglers to harvest all the raibows we catch on the South Fork, tonight we dined on a 17" bow. Stuffed him full of onions, cillantro, bell peppers, garlic and tomatoes, covered him with olive oil with a little vineager and lemon juice and let him marinate over night.

Cooked today for 35 minutes at 375 degrees.

Excelent!

[raposaNegra]

Caught some of every species of trout you find in the SoutFork today.

E-mail me if you want details.

[Jason B]

shoot me some info, i am trying to pry myself away for a trip.

[BrianID]

Catching chubs, shinners and whitefish is difficult task to accomplish in one day but I have done it once at the South Fork. To bad there aren't any trout in the South Fork. LOL

What do you think about the rainbow/hybrid policy the F&G has for the the South Fork and do you think the policy is helping reduce the number of rainbows?

I think it is good to help out the cutts in the Southfork so I wacked most of the rainbows I caught in the South Fork this year. I would still rather hook into a rainbow because they fight better. I don't have anything to back it up beside personal observations but I would guess that only about half the rainbows anglers are catching are being kept. The policy is helping but I don't think it will drastically reduce the number of rainbows. I know that the "flush" that was done this spring didn't move many of the rocks around the rainbow redds below the dam but we will have to wait a couple years to see if a big "flush" every spring will keep rainbow numbers down.

[raposaNegra]

I caught rainbows, cutts, and browns. The prettiest was a cuttbow. The colors on him was amazing. The largest was a nice bow. And yes I caught more white fish than anything.

As to the new policy about killing or keeping the bows..... it is weird for me to toss fish on the bank and not release them. I keep the big bows that I catch. They are quite tasty, but the little guys I have been tossing up onto the bank. I feel guilty every time I do this... and have to remind myself that F&G is asking me to do it. They (the bows) do fight better than the cutts..... but the cutts are more willing to take a dry fly. I hope it helps fortify the cutt popultation. Only time will tell.

[BrianID]

I feel guilty keeping the rainbows as well. Keeping one or two doesn't bother me but when I'm keeping more than I know I will eat that night it starts to bother me. Cutthroats are the reason I fish the South Fork so I hope that the effort the F&G is making pays off.
I'm surprised we don't see more "South of the border fisherman" on the South Fork considering how many of them are fishing other places in Eastern Idaho. Don't let them know about the average size of fish that you catch on the South Fork or that might change. (I hope you guys can take a joke) I think most of them don't fish it because it is difficult to wade and the South Fork tends to have a larger learning curve than other rivers in the area.

[Stoney Clarke]

If we are camped by the eagle nesting areas (PC3) we usually donate any rainbows we catch to them by placing them on the bank by their nests. That way I don't feel as guilty.

SC