Updated:
January 21, 2012
(300
cfs) Fishing on the South Fork in January
can be described as slow, challenging,
boring and treacherous (the road down into
the canyon). Every day is different. One
day you will stare at an indicator all
day. The next day, you may have spurts
of dry fly activity here and there. Also,
if you are into beauty and solitude, winter
fishing is for you! Nymph fishing is going
to be your bread and butter this time of
year, but keep your eye open for noses
up on Midges once the sun gets on the water
(if it ever does?). If the temps start
to get up into the 40's (fingers crossed)
look for a small window of Blue-Wings to
come off. That being said, a big Stonefly
nymph followed by a standard nymph on the
bottom of a slower (walking pace) run should
produce fish. Might be a good idea to have
a couple of Scuplin in the box, too (hint,
hint).
Flies
you must have in your fly box when you
go: #18/20 Blue Wing Olive,
#20/22 Midges, #4/6 Stonefly Nymph, #14/16
Copper John, #8 Scuplin
(51
cfs) The fishing on the Owyhee in the
winter can be fickle, with a large portion
of the river frozen over. This creates
a tendency for anglers to pile on top
of each other. This little warming trend
we are in right now should open up some
more water. The Owyhee does have very
good hatches in the winter. Look for
a good Midge hatch around 1-2pm (weather
permitting) and maybe a few Blue Wings
mixed in. The nymph fishing can be tough
to do because of the lack of water flow,
but a dry/dropper set-up works well.
Swinging streamers to past-spawn hungry
Browns works really well.
Flies
you must have in your fly box when you
go: #20/22 Midges, #18/20 Blue
Wings, #18/20/22 Zebra Midges, #8 Zonker
Minnows, #6 Clouser Minnows
(485
cfs) The Boise in town is fishing pretty
slow right now. It always seems to do this
in January and February. It may be from the
absolute pounding it gets in November and
December. We recommend branching off from
the normal, well-known areas and move up
and down the river to find some new water.
You might find some new fish. Nymph fishing
is "the way" in the cold.
Flies
you must have in your fly box when you
go: #20/22 Midges, #14/16
Hare's Ear, #16/18 Pheasant Tail
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