May 8, 2008
Three words: tall, dark and ugly. The water is high and brown. Turbidty is about 4" (I estimate it to usually be 30" or more).
Flows are at 300CFS (average flows for the best fishing in summer is around 100-130CFS), so we are at nearly 3X the best flows. Historically (~90 years of record keeping) show that the peak of runoff is May 5, but this year we are just barely getting started. The rain we received yesterday and today certainly aren’t helping things.
No stoneflies or stonefly exuviae yet (I checked at the mouth of the canyon and a couple of miles up), so the salmonfly hatch hasn’t started yet. It seems to be running a bit late this year. I’ll have to check my notes (if I can find them).
See pix of stonefly nymphs below.
I’ve noticed on wet, cool years, the stonefly hatch can be pushed back a couple of weeks. On the Ogden, on normal years I will find them hatching around May 15. If it’s been unusually cool, I find them between the 15th and the end of the month. Some years, because of high water, it is almost impossible to fish.
Same story on the Blacksmith. I couldn’t find my real records (stored in the attic somewhere after our move last year), but I did come across two journal entries. May 20, 2000 I wrote it was the end of the salmonfly hatch and May 12, 2001 I wrote it was the beginning of the hatch. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it pushed back a couple of weeks this year. I’ll try to monitor once a week and scout some areas that might be fishable in high water.