McCoy Creek - July 23

I spent Friday afternoon fishing on McCoy Creek, another beautiful Eastern Idaho stream. McCoy Creek flows into Palisades Reservoir and is comprised of small rim rock waterfalls and meandering flats. The fishing was pretty good for 6" cutthroats. I caught 20+ of these. I also landed one 14" cutthroat in a nice little hole below a willow bush. It was a really fun day but it would have been nice to see a few larger fish.

Hot Flies: Size 14 foam hopper (gray body) and size 16 bead head prince nymph

A few more pictures from the Blackfoot River

Here are a few more pictures from my Blackfoot River fishing trip:

Blackfoot River - July 17, 2010

I spent Friday evening fishing on the Blackfoot River and had a decent afternoon...nothing great but I ended up catching 10 fish. One was 15" and another 18" but the others were all 10" or smaller. All fish were cutthroats. The hot weather has heated the water up so fishing in the mornings and later mornings would probably be more productive. As often happens on the Blackfoot, I caught a fish on the very first catch which is just one reason why the Blackfoot is an Idaho fly fishing treasure. If you go, try the Stocking Ranch or the 8 mile stretch in the Monsanto property (you'll have to walk a lot!) for excellent fly fishing.

Hot flies: Size 10 and 14 gray-colored foam hoppers. My dad also caught some on size 16 bead headed prince nymphs

Pebble Creek - July 9, 2010

I went camping with my family at Big Springs Campground on Pebble Creek above Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. Friday evening I ventured out for about an hour and half to fish on Pebble Creek. Pebble Creek is a small stream with native cutthroat trout. Word to the wise - Pebble Creek is very brushy so casting is limited and you spend most of your time flipping your flies or doing small roll casts, but for someone who loves small streams it is a fun place to go. I ended up catching 9 fish - only one was 12". The rest were in the 8" or smaller category. I fishing a section that flows through a meadow about 1-2 miles downstream from the campground.

Hot flies: Beadheaded Prince Nymph (size 16)

Blackfoot River - July 15, 2010

After significant concerns over water flow this year, late spring rain storms have kept the Blackfoot River flowing at a normal rate which means outstanding fishing for native cutthroats. This last Tuesday I fished the Blackfoot River and caught 15+ fish, three were over 20". I also caught the largest cutthroat trout I have ever caught...a 24" bruiser that weighed in the 4-6 pound range. He smacked a grasshopper fly off the surface and then raced away downstream. After about a 1/2 hour of reviving, he swam away for hopefully another adventure in the near future. He was a beautiful fish.

Hot flies for Tuesday: Beadheaded Brown Wooly Bugger; Beadheaded Prince Nymph (Size 16); and medium sized foam or para hopper Grasshopper (grey or dark tan)