Friday, July 31st, 2009

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Today’s Fish rating
Upriver: 6.5
Walk-In: 5.00
Key: 1 = Go fish somewhere else
10 = Rent a helicopter and get here now!

Today’s Weather: Mostly Sunny, High 100 Low 70

Up River crowd rating
2.0 No crowd
Walk In: 1.0 No Crowds
Key: 1 = Sleep late and fish where you want.
10 = Very crowded, get up early

Fly Fishing: Fishing has been reported as good, but not great. The fish are there, they just seem to be a little fickle over what to eat.

We did have quite a bit of traffic on the river last week and the fish have had a tuff work out. Anglers have been pounding the river banks pretty hard the past couple of weeks and the trout are on to the cicadas we have been tossing at them. They swim up to the fly then shy away.
Drifting the channel has been working well lately. Using a longer leader so you know you are on the bottom and a good amount of weight, the right choice of flies, well that aught to do the trick. I think all will be back to normal in a day or two. I will let you know what goes on out there in the next few days.

Walk in: The trick to this section is weight and drift. Get the right amount of shot and a good dead drift and you’re in the money. We did see a good amount of anglers in this section and most reported doing very well.

Reports are that it is fishing well from the boulder field all the way to the confluence. We are using the same patterns as up river. T

Spin Fishing: Fishing with glo bugs and San Juan worms on the bottom seems to be the trick. Also, the famed panther martin has been working overtime out there. Just cast it toward the shore with a slow retrieve.

BE SURE YOU CRIMP THE BARBS.

• 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

Lees Ferry Fishing Synopsis and Forecast by Terry Gunn 6/29/09

Visit www.leesferry.com for daily fishing reports and updates.

Recent Fishing Conditions: Summer arrived with the mild temperatures and calm winds, a welcome relief from our crummy spring weather. The weather has warmed of late and the cicadas are starting to sing and the fish are just now starting to key in on them. It is too early to tell what “kind” of cicada year it will be…every year is different. I have seen the bite last only 2 weeks and other years last well into late August. Our cicadas are unusual in the fact that they hatch every year, most places they occur every 7 or 14 years. I have seen 4 hatches that were so intense that the fish would come up off the bottom in the middle of the river to eat a cicada that has landed on the water. Watch our daily reports for up to date reports on the cicada hatch.

The water flows will increase in volume for July and August. These two months usually provide the best and most consistent fishing of the entire year here at Lees Ferry and they are also the least crowded. In the higher water most all of our fishing is done from the boat, drifting with heavy nymph rigs or casting big cicada dry flies into the rocky shores. The largest fish of the year are usually caught in the summer months and it is during these 2 months that the trout experience tremendous growth rates due to the high water transporting large quantities of food around.

For those who were fortunate to be here during the 8,000 constant flows in early July, they likely experienced the best fishing of their lives. There were many days where more than 100 fish were hooked per rod, fishing was off the charts (we rated it a “9” only because no fish over 10-lbs were landed). You may remember from my previous reports my mention of our prolific spawn of 2007 and that the river was full of small fish that disappear from the time that they reach 3” and reappear when they are 12” long…well, they showed up in mass immediately following the 8,000 constant flow. They are everywhere! For the first time in many years we are catching fish of all sizes, from 10’’ to 20” which is typical of a very healthy river. The only downside is that our average fish size has dramatically decreased; the river is still chock-full of big fish but the challenge is getting your fly past the smaller and not so smart little fish.

The current health of the river is outstanding…better than it has been in years. Last year’s above normal runoff into Lake Powell delivered and stirred up countless tons of nutrients into the water and this nutrient rich water is passing through the dam and into the river. Algae is everywhere in the river and this provides food and habitat for the aquatic food base that the trout depend upon. Lake Powell has risen more than 30-ft this year and is still rising which is good news for us and all of the people in the southwest who depend on this water for household use and electrical generation. The rising lake and the nutrient load will guarantee 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 increased nutrient load in the lake and river is evident this spring by the 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 increasing we will be spending more time fishing from the boat than wading. Fishing techniques have been mixed between using a “heavy nymph rig” which is a 9 to 12-ft leader, strike indicator, split shot, and dual fly rig, a “double tiny” rig with a long leader and 2 bead-head midges on 7X, or a dry and dropper rig. I have been using 6 and 7X 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.

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
The unregulated inflow into Lake Powell during June was 2.71 million acre-feet (maf) which was 88% of average based on the period from 1971-2000. The most probable (median) inflow forecast for June was 2.3 maf so the actual unregulated inflow for the month was 410,000 acre-feet above what was expected.

For this reason, the end of month elevation of Lake Powell for June is about 2 feet higher than what was projected in the June 24-month study at 3,640.49 feet above sea level.
Through the first 3 month of the April through July runoff period, Lake Powell has received 6.419 maf of unregulated inflow. The most probable (median) inflow forecast for July increased to 1.123 maf and combined with the unregulated inflow received thus far, the updated April through July unregulated inflow forecast for Lake Powell is now 7.55 maf (95% of average).
During July 2009, the scheduled release volume for Lake Powell is 800,000 acre-feet which will result in a daily average release of approximately 13,000 cfs. During weekdays, the afternoon peak release from Glen Canyon Dam will be approximately 16,500 cfs with morning lows of approximately 8,500 cfs. During weekends the afternoon peak release will be approximately 16,250 cfs with morning lows of approximately 8,500 cfs. The projected release volume for August is also 800,000 acre feet and daily fluctuations should be very similar to July.

Beginning on September 1, 2009 and continuing through October 31, 2009 the releases from Glen Canyon Dam will be steady with no fluctuations for power production (excluding system regulation and spinning reserves) for a steady flow experiment pursuant to the February 2008 Finding of No Significant Impact Experimental Releases from Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona 2008 through 2012. The projected release rate currently being targeted is 10,000 cfs which is equivalent to a monthly release volume of approximately 595,000 acre-feet in September and 615,000 acre-feet in October.

The water year release volume for 2009 is 8.23 maf pursuant to the Interim Guidelines. At the end of August, depending the remaining release volume required to achieve 8.23 maf, the release volume scheduled for September could be moderately adjusted which could impact the steady flow rate targeted for this year.

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, February and March measuring 95%, 75% and 65% of average respectively. In April and May conditions returned to a wetter pattern with precipitation estimates of 120% and 105% of average, respectively. Precipitation in June was well above average and estimated to be about 215% of average. The overall water year precipitation rate through June 30, 2009 is 105% of average.

The Climate Prediction Center outlook (dated June 30, 2009) for temperature over the next 3 months indicates that temperatures in the southwest have an increased probability of being above average while precipitation also has an increased probability of being above average in the Upper Colorado River Basin.

Upper Colorado River Basin Drought
The Upper Colorado River Basin continues to experience a protracted multi-year drought. Since 1999, inflow to Lake Powell has been below average in every year except water years 2005 and 2008. In the summer of 1999, Lake Powell was close to 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. As of June 30, 2009 the storage in Lake Powell was 16.1 million acre-feet (66 percent of capacity) which is still below desired levels while the overall reservoir storage in the Colorado River Basin as of June 30, 2009 is 35.5 million acre-feet (59 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

Copyright © 1996-2009 Lees Ferry Anglers and Flyshop
All rights reserved Lees Ferry Fishing Report

Terry Gunn
Lees Ferry Anglers Fly Shop, Guides, & Rentals
Cliff Dwellers Lodge
http://www.terrygunn.com
http://www.leesferry.com
http://www.cliffdwellerslodge.com
800-962-9755