Report by: Jared Arnold
Sunday, March 29th, 2009
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Today’s Fish rating
Upriver: 8.0
Walk-In: 6.0
Key: 1 = Go fish somewhere else
10 = Rent a helicopter and get here now!
Today’s Weather: Sunny, High temp. of 71 and a Low of 44
Today’s Crowd Rating Up river
3.0 Weekend warriors and guides
Walk In: 4.0 Campers
Key: 1 = Sleep late and fish where you want.
10 = Very crowded, get up early!
Fly Fishing: The beginning of this week met us with hi winds and freezing temperatures as a cold front moved through slowing the fishing down and putting everything on the back burner. As the week progressed the warm temperatures have come back and we’re back into the 70’s! The warmer weather has put the fish back on! Yesterday, are guides had an outstanding day upriver! The fish seem to be switching modes finally, out of their winter slumber and keying on all aquatic life happening sub-surface. The fish are still eating midges, worms, and, eggs. Egg patterns should start to tail off here shortly, as the fish are finishing up spawning. With the warmer temperatures becoming more constant, midges should really start popping and create a bit more surface action.
Hopefully we will have a spell here with-out a cold front pushing through allowing the fish to settle into some sort of feeding pattern.
Walk in: With the summer approaching and spring breakers there have been a lot of people fishing the walk-in with mediocre to moderate success. The walk-in can go either way; it can be very tricky to fish with the fluctuation of water throughout the day. I personally went and fished the walk-in from 3pm till dark. I did very well fishing with San juan worms and a chromonid dropper with no weight targeting riffles anywhere from 2-4 feet deep. I used a large variation of colored beaded San Juan’s and orange and red chromonid 18-20.
Spin Fishing: Fishing with glo bugs and San Juan worms on the bottom seems to be the trick. Enjoyed reading your fishing report and always rely on it heavily for info, so please keep doing it. I wanted to let you know about the fishing Friday (the 20th). I was searching for what to use and tried everything. Started with Rapalas, Z-rays, kastmasters and only had a couple of hits. I then switched to a Black body panther Martin, # 9, with a gold spoon. Everything changed at that point. I was taking my son (15) with me and it was his first time and another one of my friends sons and we started hooking fish immediately. I caught 15 and had another 12 or so hits, my son caught 8 and my friends son caught 4, all in the afternoon. One of the catches was the biggest fish I have seen in the river in my 10 years of going up there. It was a 22″ German Brown that was way bigger than the length, it was very healthy and fat and was tough to get to the boat. What a day!
Anyway, the Panther Martin was the way to go. I wish I would have gone to it sooner.
BE SURE YOU CRIMP THE BARBS DOWN !!
Just wanted to give you some info, can’t wait to get back up there in April!!!

Thanks
Kevin

• If you have some news you would like to report about fishing lees ferry, the walk-in section or up river please e-mail your report to: anglers@leesferry.com Attn. Lees Ferry Fishing Report
• We would be happy to have your input, and pass it along.
-Ted Welling, Lees Ferry Anglers & Cliff Dwellers Lodge
Fishing Synopsis and Forecast by Terry Gunn 2/18/09
Recent Fishing Conditions: Spring has arrived at Lees Ferry, I have always considered Feb. 15 to be our first day of spring, not only is the weather warming but the sun is moving higher in the sky and once again flooding the canyon corridor with sunlight. As usual, the midges are responding to the arrival of the sun and the hatches are beginning in earnest and the trout have just this week begun to move into the riffles to feed on the emerging midge pupae. The last few days I have been drifting a worm and a midge in the deep tail-out of the riffles and 90% of the trout have been eating the midge.
The spawn is just trickling along; it started with a bang in early December and has been slowly increasing in intensity the last few weeks. I get the feeling that the fish are currently staging for a major push into a full blown spawn within the next couple of weeks. Although it is important to keep in mind that spawn of the past 2 years has been off the charts in intensity and survivability so the fish may take a break this year.
The current water flows are perfect wading and drifting flows for fishing Lees Ferry and these same flows will continue for the next several months. I expect the fishing this spring to be a banner year and likely better than the last several years. The average size of the fish is the largest of this decade; most of the fish that I put in my net are 16 to 17-in with many that are larger. I recently had a father and son get a double hookup and both landed fish in excess of 20-inches at the same time. It has been more than 20 years since I have seen this happen. A few days before, a client landed a substantial 24-in long fish and I’m seeing a bunch of big fish in the river. We are also starting to catch some of the “little guys” that were part of the mass spawn of last year and the year before, these 12-in fish are growing fast and I always remind everyone that it takes small fish to make big fish.
Is this a peak before another down turn in the fishery? No, this is the beginning of a trend that is set to continue for at least a couple of years, and if nature cooperates and gives us moisture in the Rocky Mountains, and Lake Powell continues to rise, this trend of healthy trout populations and good fishing will continue for the next several years.
The turning point and the beginning for the recovery of the Lees Ferry fishery occurred in 2005 when Lake Powell had the first above normal snow-pack and runoff year since 1997. Last year we had almost exactly the same conditions. The above normal winter snow pack and runoff into Lake Powell in 2007-08, stirred up a tremendous amount of nutrient laden sediment that had accumulated at the lake mouths of the Colorado River, San Juan River, and the Green River. Lake Powell elevation increased 43-ft. and the rivers flowing into the lake mixed the sediment and nutrients into the lake water. It usually takes several months before we see this mixing affect the nutrient load in the water that enters the river from Glen Canyon dam. The increased nutrient load in the lake and river will be evident this coming spring by the enormous and dramatic increase in aquatic vegetation and aquatic organisms throughout the river.
For those of you that remember what the fishing was like in 1999 and 2000…you should be as excited as I am about the current conditions and what the increased nutrient load should do for the fishing at Lees Ferry.
Lots of stuff happening at the Ferry and it is all good!
Recent Fishing: With the water flows once again fluctuating and lower flows; we have been fishing from the boat as well as wading the riffles. The best fishing technique has been using a “heavy nymph rig” which is a 9 to 12-ft leader, strike indicator, split shot, and dual fly rig. I have been using 6X fluorocarbon tippet and feel that the lighter tippet results in a much higher success rate than say 5X. Anglers might argue that they break fish off on such light tippet but my argument is that in order to break a fish off, you first have to first get a fish to eat your fly and you are going to get more eaters with lighter tippet than heaver tippet.
When wading the riffles you need long dead drifts. There are 2 types of drifts; perfect dead drifts and all other drifts. Perfect dead drifts catch fish at Lees Ferry; all other drifts don’t catch fish here. You get a dead drift by mending the line, then throwing slack line on the water. If your line is straight from your rod tip to your indicator or you move your indicator during the drift, then your drift is not perfect and will not catch fish. The key to success is to stay over fish, get the flies down to the bottom, and get a long, perfect dead drift.
Word has it that the “walk-in’ is fishing very well. There are times in the spring that this area actually fishes better than upriver. Look for this area to continue fishing well until the summer high water arrives.
The high flow experiment, 4/08, 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/
The experimental steady flows that occurred in September and October 2008 (12,000 constant) were beneficial to the river and are scheduled again for 2009. In years past, the flows in September and October have been the lowest flows of the year and have reset the “green line” to the 5,000-cfs level from the 12,000-cfs level of the summer flows. This has effectively reduced the food supply in the river by a significant amount. Then the higher flows of November and December arrive; but because of the declining sun angle and the shade of the cliffs, photosynthesis and aquatic production in the river declines and the areas of the river that were desiccated by the low flows do not regenerate until the following spring. This did not happen this year because of the steady flows in September and October the green line stayed high. The current fluctuating flows (7,500-cfs to 13,000-cfs) are continuing to keep the green line higher than in years past. There have been prolific midge! and black-fly hatches every day and it appears as though the scud population has a higher density than any time since 2004.
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. Last year we had 3 new guides join our team, though new to our organization they are not new to guiding. Luke Blaser, 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 has detected whirling disease in a very small percentage of Lees Ferry trout that were collected for a random sampling. A more 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
Glen Canyon Dam / Lake Powell
Snowpack conditions in the Upper Colorado River Basin have continued at or near average through the month of February and have entered March at 104% of average. One year ago, on March 1, 2008, the snowpack measured 126% of average so water year 2009 is shaping up to be somewhat drier than water year 2008. By this time of year the snowpack development season is about 80% complete and by the first week of April the snowpack typically peaks for the season. The Colorado Basin River Forecast Center‘s March water supply forecast for Lake Powell for the April to July runoff season decreased from 8.0 million acre-feet (101% of average) to 7.8 million acre-feet (98% of average). Based on this forecast, with the projected operations of the upstream reservoirs and an 8.23 million acre-foot release from Lake Powell, the March 24-month study would project the end of water year elevation of Lake Powell to be 3642.48 feet above sea level. This projected elevation is 3.48 feet above the Equalization Level for 2009 (3639 feet above sea level). For this reason, the March 24-month study is projecting that a shift in operations from Upper Elevation Balancing to Equalization will likely occur in April 2009 (see Interim Guidelines Section 6.B.3) and the projected water year 2009 release volume from Lake Powell is 9.394 million acre-feet. For April, if the forecasted April to July unregulated inflow to Lake Powell decreases by a significant volume (on the order of about 400,000 acre-feet), it is possible that the April shift to Equalization would not occur which would result in a projected water year 2009 release volume from Lake Powell of 8.23 million acre-feet. The monthly release volume for March 2009 is scheduled to be 625,000 acre-feet. Daily average releases during March will be about 10,300 cfs. Monday through Friday releases will peak each afternoon to about 13,000 cfs with early morning releases of approximately 7,000 cfs. Weekend afternoon peak releases will be about 12,750 cfs with morning low releases near 7,000 cfs. The currently scheduled release volume for April 2009 is 750,000 acre-feet which will result in an average daily release of 12,600 cfs. Afternoon peaks will likely be about 15,300 cfs and early morning releases will likely be about 9,300 cfs.
Upper Colorado River Basin Hydrology
The overall precipitation rates during October and November 2008 were well below average at approximately 55% and 80% respectively. In December, however, conditions improved significantly with precipitation measuring approximately 185% of average. Unfortunately this wetter trend did not continue with precipitation in January and February measuring below average at 95% and 80% of average respectively. The overall water year precipitation rate through March 5, 2009 is right on average at 100% of average. The Climate Prediction Center outlook for temperature and precipitation over the next 3 months indicates that temperatures in the southwest have an increased probability of being above average while precipitation has an increased probability of being below average in the Upper Colorado River Basin.
Upper Colorado River Basin Drought
The Upper Colorado River Basin is experiencing a protracted multi-year drought. Since 1999, inflow to Lake Powell has been below average in every year except water year 2005 and 2008. In the summer of 1999, Lake Powell was essentially full with reservoir storage at 23.5 million acre-feet, or 97 percent of capacity. During the next 5 years (2000 through 2004) unregulated inflow to Lake Powell was well below average. This resulted in Lake Powell storage decreasing during this period to 8.0 million acre-feet (33 percent of capacity) which occurred on April 8, 2005. During 2005 and 2008 drought conditions eased somewhat with net gains in storage to Lake Powell. On September 30, 2008 the storage in Lake Powell was 14.5 million acre-feet (60 percent of capacity) which is still well below desired levels. Reservoir storage in the Colorado River Basin continues to be below desired levels with the overall Colorado River system storage as of March 1, 2009of 32.7 million acre-feet which is 55.0 percent of capacity.
Check out: www.kutv.com/content/outdoors/default.aspx
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.
Lees Ferry Anglers - Fly Shop Specials:
“GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE!!”
*****CLOSEOUTS******
PATAGONIA- Women’s Stretch Jacket was $315.00 now $175.00
Call for all current sale items as they change quickly.
Cliff Dwellers Lodge:
Our lodge has rooms with cable TV (20 channels), in-room coffee, and the basic amenities. Choices of rooms are ONE king-size bed, TWO doubles and TWO queen-size beds. Also our group unit we call the HOUSE, sleeps six with two baths, dining area, kitchen, patio with a view, and cable TV. Rates vary with season. We are excited about the cool fall season and have some great “black board” specials planned. Patio dining is available. (Enclosed in the winter months)
Meet the Guides:
THE GUIDES AND STAFF OF LEES FERRY ANGLERS have thousands of days on this water, and over 100 years combined fish-guiding experience. Captains’ Terry Gunn, Jeff English, Skip Dixon, Rick Smith, Natalie Jensen, J.D. Miller, Luke Blaser and Tom Jones make up our guiding staff. Lees Ferry Anglers is proud of our fly-fishing guide team! Wendy Gunn, Sandy Willie, Ted Welling, and Kris Stoudt work in the fly shop to provide you with the best customer service in the industry.
Email: anglers@leesferry.com
Lees Ferry Anglers
HC-67 Box 30
Marble Canyon, AZ 86036
Toll Free 1-800-962-9755
Direct 1-928-355-2261
Fax 1-928-355-2271
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All rights reserved Lees Ferry Fishing Report
Terry Gunn
Lees Ferry Anglers Fly Shop, Guides, & Rentals
Cliff Dwellers Lodge
http://www.terrygunn.com
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800-962-9755