Today’s Fly Fishing: There are so many locations to catch fish right now. We are working back eddies, deep runs, and riffles. About the only time to consider wading is during the early morning hours.  Otherwise plan on drifting along the outside seams and through deep runs with a weighted nymph rig.  As of late the best bite is zebra midges. They have stopped taking to the scud and san juan worm, I am still using these patterns for attractors however. The trout are bumping large patterns at the surface, which I see as great news. I heard a couple cicadas buzzing during the afternoon on Friday. Any day now! It’s my favorite time of the year! Our season for cicadas starts typically around the third week of June. If you’re looking for some the best top water fishing our river has to offer, make the time to fish with us from the third week of June through the second week of August! Call# 800-962-9755 for more information and details about our guide service and lodge.

Summer weather has finally arrived at the Ferry. Our spring was much cooler and windier than normal and the cooler than normal temperatures hung on until recently. The midges and black flies are hatching in abundance and fish are eating these small offering despite the high water. I do not recall any time in years past that there were such prolific midge hatches in the summer. This could be a result of our cold spring (delayed hatch) or another example of the increasing heath of the river.

Lake Powell has been rising since early March; recently there have been days when the lake rose a foot or more in a 24 hour period. So far the lake has risen 35 feet and the final forecast calls for the lake to rise a total of 50 feet by August. So, why is this important for Lees Ferry? The streams that flow into Lake Powell (Colorado River, San Juan, and Green River) have been raging and stirring up all the accumulated sediment at the stream entrance. This sediment is nutrient laden and the suspended nutrients will be distributed throughout Lake Powell. All these nutrients will be transported and arrive in the river below the dam in a few months and the river will explode with algal growth and there will be lots of food for the fish. The last time this happened was 2005 and this set the stage for the dramatic increase in the health of the Lees Ferry fishery and aquatic food base.

Recent Fishing: With the arrival of the higher flows we moved out of our waders and into the boat. The higher water makes wading difficult and in higher flows the fish typically hold in deeper water so drift fishing out of the boat is much more productive than wading. The fish look good…really good! They are in better condition than I have seen in many years and they are growing fast. The high flows move a lot of food around and the fish are obviously taking full advantage of it. We will be drift fishing for the remainder of the summer until the lower flows arrive in September.

Don’t forget that the cicada hatch normally begins in early July and if you like to catch fish on BIG dry flies, this is the season for you. Our cicada hatch occurs every year (to a greater and lesser extent) and usually peaks around the middle of July. Every year the cicada population is different and some years the hatch lasts into August while other years the hatch will peter out before the end of July. We are booking up fast for this time so you should plan your trip soon to take advantage of what many call the best cicada dry fly fishing in the country.  

Lots of stuff happening at the Ferry and it is all good!

Important Note: Due to the higher than normal runoff conditions and the desire to equalize Lake Powell and Lake Meade, water releases were increased on April 14. The projected increase amounts to more than 600,000 acre feet of water to be released between 4/14 and the end of the water year in October. This means that water flows will be higher than normal for the months of April, May, June, and July. Steady flows are planned for September and October. Read below how I predict the increased flows will affect fishing.

The trout spawn began in early December which we have not seen in several years. It was a good strong spawn until the start of the experimental flow. Immediately following the high flow experiment the trout spawn began in earnest. It looked like every fish in the river was spawning at once and was the strongest spawn that I have ever witnessed. It was an inspiring sight…fish spawning everywhere and in areas that I have not seen them use in years. The spawn occurred in mostly deep water (up to 40-ft. deep!) with very little shallow water spawning taking place. The deep water spawn should translate into a “bumper crop” of fry and the survival rate will likely be off the charts.

Here is a quick overview and prediction.

The high runoff will provide the river with a huge nutrient load that will result in tremendous growth of aquatic organisms and plants (trout food).

The current trout population is healthy and the fish are larger than we have seen in years. These fish will grow rapidly to a larger size with the arrival of the nutrients and food. The current average 17-in fish should grow at least a couple inches and we have a bunch of fish that are bigger than that. We will see lots of 20+-in fish in the river next year.

The 2007 spawn survival rate was substantial; the river is currently full of 7 to 8-in fish and the increased productivity of the nutrients should arrive just in time to stimulate growth of these juvenile fish. These fish will be 12-in and larger by this next fall and be catchable. The nutrient load should last at least a couple years even if next year’s snow pack is below normal. One strange phenomenon regarding juvenile fish at Lees Ferry is that once the fry reach 3-in long, they “disappear” until they reach 12-in and then suddenly they reappear and populate normal fishing lies. We’ll be seeing these fish this next fall and winter.

I have already told you about the trout spawn from this year. The number of trout fry will likely be off the chart and the survival should be good. The river conditions should be perfect for survival and growth of these young of the year fish and they will show up as 12-in or larger fish in the fall of 2009.

Higher water flows always provide better health and growth rates for trout at Lees Ferry. Due to the projected run-off and the desire to equalize Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the planned release volume from April to October is being increased from 8.23 million acre feet of water to 8.88 million acre feet, which is an increase of more than 600,000 acre feet of water. To help put this into perspective this increase is more than all the water that was released in the month of April. This is the first time since 1997 that there has been a release larger than the minimum of 8.23 million acre feet. For those of you that remember what the fishing was like in 1999 and 2000…you should be as excited as I am about what this higher water and increased nutrient load should do to the fishing at Lees Ferry.

The high flow experiment was basically a non event as far as the fishery is concerned. It came and went with few visible changes to the river or the fishery. For more details and to see my complete comments go here: http://coloradoriverconservancy.org/

For details on Lake Powell conditions and snow-pack, go here: http://lakepowell.water-data.com/

For a real time graphic view of water releases and ramp rates go here: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/az/nwis/uv?09380000

New guides at Lees Ferry Anglers. The last couple of years we have had several long time guide staff move on to bigger and hopefully better things. This year I’m proud to introduce 4 new guides, though new to our organization they are not new to guiding. Luke Blaser, Nick Gibb, Tom Jones, and JD Miller have joined our team. They bring with them a couple of decades of combined guiding experience on various waters around the world, college degrees, and an enthusiasm for guiding that is contagious. I’m proud to introduce these fellows and I’m sure that you will agree that they are a great addition to our team.  

The AZ Game and Fish Department recently detected whirling disease in a small percentage of Lees Ferry trout that were collected for a random sampling. A recent sampling turned up no sign of the disease, which may mean that it was a “one time” exposure, where the disease was not established or that the disease is present but at a very low prevalence.  Anglers should still use caution in cleaning their equipment both before and after they have fished here or in other waters. For more information visit: http://www.whirling-disease.org 

I have had some people that are fishing on their own (unguided) tell me that they are having a difficult time catching fish. The fishing has changed from the peak of 2000 and many people are not adapting to the new conditions. The current fish population is lower than it was in 2000 and there are not fish “everywhere” in the river like there were several years back (this is probably the reason that we are seeing better conditioned and larger fish today). Just because you might have been successful in one spot on the river in the past does not mean that particular spot is always good. There are many times of the year that the water flows, or conditions are not right to hold fish at “famous” spots such as 4 mile or Dam Island. It is often challenging, even for a good guide, to stay on top of where the fish are and what they are eating; but we do have the advantage of spending a lot of time on the water.   

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