Posted on August 05 2020
As they say on another blog "Apparently it missed us or it all soaked into the ground". When I looked at the WB last night at 6:30 it was a muddy mess. When I looked out the camp window at 17,000 CFS of orange/brown muddy water in the BR this morning there was no need to change the report. At 12:30 when I drove over 5,000 CFS of orange/brown muddy water in the EB, I almost went back to the camp to continue painting. When I got my first glimpse of the WB from route 17 just above the game lands, it was running low and clear. The WB was not crowded, there were some boats and a few wade fishermen who were here because it was there week to be here or they were local.
The fishing - Of course I fished, how else could I do the report. It wasn't hard to find a place to fish (it wasn't crowded), there were bugs (a modest hatch) and there were some rising fish (not like in a good hatch). Every fish in the "Sulfur Zone" now knows my flies and they no longer eat them. In fact, if the 9 inch juvenile rainbow I foul hooked in the bung hole is any indication they are pissing on them. When the afternoon sulfur hatch ended I had exactly two fish.
Decided I could do better than that and kept fishing straight through until 9:00. With a few olives on the water I switched to an olive and fished a few places where I haven't spent much time lately. Nothing came easy but I caught several 12 inch hatchery fish, a few wild two year old's and two nice big browns one 18 and the fish of the day a 19 incher. Almost made me forget that I gave everyone who reads the blog a bum steer.
Just so you know, all of the WB is in great shape and the UE will be wade able tomorrow although you may have to contend with some boats.
Sorry for the bad info on the WB, will try to do better next time.
Predicting the river conditions is like trying to forecast the weather or the stock market— you take your best estimate ,but who knows. I’d rather be given a heads up on possible messy or crowded conditions then make a long trip and be disappointed. Thanks