The Late November Report

Snake River

We are creeping into the cooler time of the season with winter just around the corner.  The most consistent activity for native cutthroat starts close to noon with some surface action starting around 1pm.  Nymphs fished shallow – two to three feet of tippet from lead fly to suspension device  - it getting into fish on shallow riffles and riffle pools, troughs, ledge rock pools, and seams.  Dry fly action has been almost exclusively on midge emergers and adult patterns in the same water, but also in slow current eddies.  The whitefish spawn is waning a bit earlier than average over the past decade or so. Nonetheless, roe patterns are a still a decent bet, particularly in riffles and troughs.

Streamer action has waned some compared to a couple of weeks ago but can still be worthwhile in the afternoon when targeting banks and structure with slow currents, troughs, and seams.  Go with small baitfish imitations – Baby Clousers, Slump Busters, Seal Buggers, etc. – and fish these on floating lines or short sinking tips (6 to 7 ft.) in the INT to 3ips range.  Slow to moderate retrieves are a must.  Throwing in hesitations in your line strips are a good idea as well.

South Fork

Decent to good fishing on the upper reach in Swan Valley and the lower reaches from Wolf Eddy down to Lorenzo.  Nymphing is your best bet for consistent action.  However, some pretty  surface action is occurring from around noon until 4pm most days as fish feed on chironomids in riffles, small eddies with moderate to slow currents, on seams, and at the tail of side channels near their confluence with main channels. If fishing nymphs, target the same water, keep your leader/tipper length rather short, and give your offerings a wee bit of movement from time to time unless you are using roe patterns, which should be dead drifted in riffles and flats primarily.

Streamers are producing in a wide variety of water types with slower currents producing best.  Action is decent in the morning but gets noticeably better from around noon until just before dusk.  Faster currents can be worth targeting as much as slower water after 2pm.  As on the Snake, small streamers are your best bet.  Go with floating lines, hover lines, or INT tips that are no longer than 12 feet in length.  Slow to moderate retrieves.