Now that almost nobody is fishing, the PM received another batch of steelhead and with this weather what a wonderful time to be on the river. I’m afraid that all the rain has just missed us, therefore the river is getting low and clear.
Smolt have maybe been outproducing eggs and Walt reports doing well on Pheasant Tails.
This summer like weather has me thinking that there’s probably some pretty good mousing to be had.
Steelheading on the PM is holding on by a thread and is actually pretty good in some areas because there is so little pressure on the river. I was the only boat in the section I fished yesterday and we only saw a couple trout fisherman walking the banks.
The whole river is getting low and clear and the fish are acting spooky as you would expect. It’s made a big difference to make that first couple casts count, the steelhead have been quickly catching on that somethings goofy.
Nymphs have been holding there own with eggs. The Spring’s Wiggler has been my top choice the past several days.
I went from having one of my best days this past Friday to having that followed by a tough weekend, though certainly a ton of people on Saturday didn’t help.
I’m hearing that other area rivers have filled with fresh steelhead the past several days, hopefully this also happens on the PM.
Water levels are getting low and clear in the fly water, though there is still a stain in the Rainbow/Walhalla area.
Steelhead are often egg crazy. You know the old saying, you can fish any fly you want for steelhead as long as it’s an egg. So it has been fun to see the steelhead off eggs to some extent, eager to take small stones, mayfly nymphs and even some big black buggers.
This past week showed the best steelhead fishing of the year. It also had the highest water, over the banks for a day or two. Fish numbers were down today, though I’m guessing and hoping that a big pile of steelhead are heading up stream following this high water.
The water is a little high with color in the Flies Only section. Walhalla is still high with a lot of color and sand.
Steelhead have been jumping in the net with about everything in their mouths, you gotta love high colored water. Top fly choices being orange and pink eggs, anything that looks somewhat like a smolt, small black stones and Ted’s HealthCare Caddis (I’ll put a post up soon with this one).
