Dally’s Fly Fishing Report: 12-15-16

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Paul Brown’s first White River streamer brown _ Steve Dally image

‘It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas’ 

Christmas is just around the corner, and there are important Seasonal Questions to consider.

Ham or Turkey?; Plum Pudding or Bread Pudding; Is an ‘official Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock truly the best Christmas gifts of all time?

Christmas wishes are many and varied: our streamer guides are doing rain dances weekly in Mississippi Johnson’s backyard to get the lakes topped up; if you are a midge fisher you will probably take the flows of the back end of 2016. Our local TU branch want more big Bonneville cutties showing up; Bill Thorne wants all the TU Boat Raffle tickets sold. The Aussie is hoping everyone gets through the Holiday season without getting any extremities stuck to the flagpole.

For one of customers last Saturday, after apologising for getting going late was looking for water where he wouldn’t have to be shoulder to shoulder. Given the air temps were in the low 30s with some windchill and he was the first customer of the day, you might forgive out mirth.

For a lot of people, the winter months aren’t for fishing which is kind of nice as know we all get to go fishing. Sure there is some whining and complaining about the cold from certain parties but normally the fishing is good enough to forget for a while at least.

And if you want to taste a little solitude, peace and quiet and no shoulder to shoulder trout park fishing this is the time of year to get it done.

Let’s talk about what’s been productive this week.

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Jarrid Matthews, first White River brown _Steve Dally image

White River:

For the most part, we have still had wadeable water this week, though the markedly cold air Wednesday and Thursday triggered higher flows..

Nymph fishermen can still expect to have excellent success with midges (rootbeer and rainbow size 18), devil jigs (red and copper in sizes 14 & 16), and pheasant tails (in sizes 14, 16, & 18).

With a little higher flows, olive wooly buggers and small baitfish are working very well. As the flows continue to increase, smaller 6” streamers like Schmidt’s Double Deceivers, Tommy Lynch Drunk and Disorderlies,  Schmidt’s Viking Midge, and Dally’s Twerkin’ Minnows are performing.

Norfork River:

We have had some awesome wadeable water on the Norfork these last few days, but as usual, the water flows will get higher as it cools down.

A number of nymphs have been working well, but for the most part, the most successful flies have been midges (root beer, black, and purple zebra in sizes 16 & 18), pheasant tails (size 16 & 18), and hunchback scuds (size 16 & 18).