On DeMark Lodge Fishing Report 05/07/2024

By: Craig DeMark

Foul Weather = Fantastic Fishing

Greetings from the canyon! Our favorite place on earth. Just got through the first week of May. Crazy, unsettled weather has been the pattern and it looks to continue this week. I’ve seen snow, hail, rain, and graupel (If you don’t know, google it. I had to), 40 mph winds and lightning (way too close for comfort). And that was Wednesday! Through all this the fishing has remained consistently outstanding. 

Take your pick. If you want to sit back, relax, and watch the indicator, the nymphing is great. If your game is watching for heads as they select Baetis stages or midges, you’ll have a blast. If you like all of it, nymph early. When you start seeing fish on the surface, change to dries. Slow fishing streamers has been productive at times, but a bit inconsistent with the changing weather conditions. We still aren’t quite in those conditions when the fish are aggressive and really chase streamers. Other forms of fishing are so good that I’ll wait to strip pump streamers.

I’ve been running my nymphs at various depths. Anywhere from 4 to 8 feet to the bottom nymph. Deeper is better above Craig. Deep in the buckets and the inside edges of the turns is where a lot of fish are still located. Scuds, sow bugs and baetis are all effective. Some run worms….we don't talk about them. As you get below Craig and into the canyon the shelfs and back eddies are where we are getting more of the nymph eaters. Down this way it’s mostly baetis nymphs. Tungsten jigs, all the various pheasant tails, and split cases are great choices. Sizes are 16s and 18s. Flows are still just under 4000 cfs so you don’t need a lot of weight. Sometimes none. It doesn’t matter what weather conditions are, the indicator fishing is extremely productive.

Midges and Baetis make up the surface fare right now. The changing weather changes the windows for dry fly fishing. The windy, sunny days are better late afternoon and evenings. Cloudy, calmer days give you targets from early afternoon till dusk. One rainy, snowy day last week we had heads up from 10 am till dark. It started in the morning with midging fish in the slower runs and pools. We started seeing Baetis duns around 12:30 and the hatch just kept getting stronger throughout the afternoon and evening. Those are the fun ones. Midge sizes are 18-20. Black with a highly visible white wing are what we prefer. Most fish are keying on individuals as opposed to clusters right now. Baetis duns with visible wings in size 18. I like tall winged flies like the Sparkle Flag so I can pick my fly out of the armada of bugs that we are looking at in the afternoons. 

The river is fishing well and in great shape this spring. I expect that to be the case throughout our season. We’re supposed to get a couple feet of snow in the mountains around us over the next few days, so that gives us a nice little bump before we get to summer. We have a few dates available during prime time in July and August right now. Get out here for that prime dry fly time. PMDs, Tricos and Hoppers!