Clicking on the links will take you to a map. Use the “Terrain” button. Zoom in to get more information on creek and road names. Zoom out so you get an idea of where the water is located. If a map has lines and pins, click on them to get more information about the fishing there. You will have to figure out access points on the maps that don’t have lines and pins (or email me and I’ll see if I can help).

• Blacksmith Fork River (Hyrum) map
  • Left Hand Fork
  • Rock Creek map
  • Curtis Creek map
  • Sheep Creek - private; if you get access, there are some fun Brookies to catch map

Hoppers to the Rescue – Blacksmith Fork Report

Last modified on 2009-05-02 12:33:06 GMT. 15 comments. Top.

I finally got some hopper fishing in. Heck, I finally got some fishing in—I’ve been extremely busy with school work. At the beginning of the school year I spending time assessing where my 70+ students are at in reading and writing. This generates a ton of paperwork. So, I’ve been bringing a lot home instead of fishing.

So yesterday it was some hopper action on the Blacksmith Fork River. I fished my favorite lower section that has been posted as “No Trespassing” for the last two years. But with the new access laws, I entered at a public access and fished right on through. The river topography has really changed in those two years, with some old holes and riffles gone and new ones formed. Seems like fewer cutthroat too. In fact, one year I caught the same 18″ cutthroat three times in three weeks out of one of the now missing holes.

Six browns, one cutt. All of them in the 11″-14″ range caught with a hopper.

Blacksmith Fork River – June 16, 2008

Last modified on 2008-07-11 13:19:49 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

I Thought I’d trya spot I have rarely fished because it just doesn’t produce much in the way of cutthroats or surface fishing. I was up close to Hardware Ranch between mile marker 20 and 21 (I hopped in where the grass hay fields are). I’ve talked to others who like the area, but it hasn’t been my thing. (see my next post for a longer discussion)

I fished from 9:15 AM – 11:45 AM. Not a single rise in 2 1/2 hours except at my fly. Some holes were on and most were off. I did land around 15 fish. I was disappointed because they were all browns. They were all in the 9"-12" range (mostly 9"-10").

The water color was a shade off. There were plenty of midges on the water and sporadic sightings of a very long-tailed, orange bodied mayfly (I really need to bone-up on my bugology).

I caught the first ten on a beetle pattern, my favorite attractor pattern when there are no rises (thanks Dan!). The last five were on my Splayed Salmonfly pattern (the fly formerly known as Foam Cross). I thought it would be interesting to see if the fish were still keying in on salmon flies. Funny thing, I don’t think the salmon flies hatch that far upstream (I don’t ever remember them that far up, nor did I see any exuviae).

Blacksmith Fork River – Salmonfly Hatch – Over! June 8, 2008

Last modified on 2008-06-21 12:50:46 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

June 8, 2008

I took a ride on my motorcycle up Blacksmith Fork Canyon today. I stopped at six locations from the bridge at the mouth of the canyon to Hardware Ranch. How many adult salmonflies did I see? Zip. Zilch. Nil, Nada, Zero, Zed. None. Done. Finished. Complete.

I looked for about five minutes in each spot I stopped, trying to be as observant as possible. I hereby officially declare the Blacksmith Fork River Salmonfly Hatch of 2008, over. I would imagine there may be a couple of more days of big bug action possible if you’ve a mind to try it.

On the lower river I did see a couple of mayflies (they were to far away, but maybe BWO?). The upper river had a fair number of #18-#20 dusty-brown caddis.

TWater clarity lower river about 20". Left Hand Fork looks great. Rock Creek is in fine shape. Curtis Creek is a bit high and adding much of the color to the Blacksmith. The Blacksmith above  Curtis Creek had clarity of 30"+.

Anybody else out there fishing it? Keep us posted if you are.

Blacksmith Fork salmonfly Hatch – May 30, 2008

Last modified on 2008-06-09 03:44:10 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

May 30, 2008

The Salmonfly hatch continues. Dan and I hit the river about 2:30. We jumped in right at the old dam (someone was fishing the spot below the dam I fished on Wednesday). Plenty of Salmonflies. The fish were active on the Foam Cross (my name for the pattern I tie?). In the first 30 minutes I landed 3 browns and 2 cutts and lost two others. In fact the first fish on broke off the best of the three flies I tied last night.

The action slowed down and in the next hour I caught about three more and lost/missed about four. The last hour I was using the worst of the three flies. I caught one more brown and saw about four fish come within 6" of the fly then do a quick about face. I’m not sure if it was the fly, river location or time of day (or combination thereof) that caused the slow down. I did see some boot prints that looked fresh, that could have added another factor.

Dan hooked into some nice fish too. He had fewer strikes, but he was using a more traditional "swept wing" pattern. His flies seemed to have less orange too. I’m not sure how much this affected the fishing.

Something interesting of note was that all of my fish (landed, missed and strikes) were on the far bank except the last two refusals. 80% or more of the action was close to the bank in or near the shade in slower water. I did have one nice strike and one take in the current away from the bank.

Salmonfly Hatch – Blacksmith Fork River – May 28, 2008

Last modified on 2008-06-05 16:20:47 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

May 28, 2008

I was able to sneak away for about an hour of fishing last night (May 28) from 5:30-6:30. I tried a stretch I’ve never fished before, about three miles up from the bridge at the canyon mouth (near mile marker 10). I was 100 yards or so downriver from the old dam. Lots of salmonflies!

I hooked into mostly browns (one cutt). I landed four and missed about 6 (three were on for several seconds). Not sure why so many misses, possibly the quickness with which they hammer the big flies and my slow reaction time. Did miss one because I was unwinding my float line from around my reel (I hate that) and the fish took, I tried a weak roll cast and felt him on for a second, but gone. The biggest fish was a 17" brown, but one I missed looked bigger still. Caught a couple of 12" and one 10".

The fly I use is my design. After spending several days and about 15 hours of filming hatching, mating and on-the-water salmonflies, I realized most patterns are not indicative of the flies on the water. As soon as the salmonfly is on the water, it’s trying to get off and it flaps its wings furiously. As you know, a stonefly has wings that are perpendicular to its body. Most patterns have a swept back wing, that’s a stonefly at rest. So I tied a "spent" pattern (of course, the stonefly isn’t spent, just trying to get the heck out of there). The following is the actual fly I used last night (it was my last one, have to tie some more). I tie it like this plus with a elk hair swept back wing, but as I was tying it on my line, that came loose (haven’t used that exact fly for two years – surprised the whole thing didn’t fall apart).

Here’s the fly:

Getting the wings to stay stretched out is tough because they are so long, they like to fold back along the body. I find that I have to shake it off pretty good between casts, even with flotant on.

Blacksmith Fork – Water Report – Salmonflies – May 28, 2008

Last modified on 2008-06-05 16:21:14 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

May 28, 2008 6:30AM

The Salmonflies are hatching!

There is finally some movement on the river. I checked at the canyon entrance bridge and about a half mile beyond that. There are some pictures below.

The water is a bit high still, but it is clearing slightly (turbidity is about 6"). Color is more off-green instead of brown. If you can find some slower spots near the banks, a Salmonfly dry may work (will hopefully try tonight). Nymphs along the bank should be working too.

Blacksmith Fork – report

Last modified on 2008-06-05 16:47:15 GMT. 2 comments. Top.

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.

Blacksmith Fork – Report

Last modified on 2008-06-05 16:50:11 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Blacksmith Fork River

April 12, 2008

Dan and I fished the Blacksmith Fork yesterday. The cutthroats were plentiful and most of them looked pretty healthy. I imagined we would be the first to fish this particular area, but I noticed some old footprints in the snow along the far bank of the river (only way to get there is by wading the river). So someone else probably was there within the last several days.

The fish were rising when we first arrived (about 12:45) in still pools. These cutts spook fairly easy so we probably put down more than we caught. By about 3:00 most of the rising had stopped but there was plenty of feeding just under the surface.

I used my trusty modified Sprout midge emerger to catch all the fish today. I caught two browns (promptly "harvested") and eight cutts (missing many more than caught—the only thing I don’t like about the Sprout, it’s too small and about 30% of the time I can’t find it on the water).

We were pretty disappointed about the number of "Private Property" signs that have popped up in the past year on the lower portion of the river. I’ll have a post about property rights and trespassing one of these days.

On our way out, crossing the bridge at the mouth of the canyon, we saw a prolific hatch. We turned around and parked to inspect it a little closer. At first I thought they were mayflies, but it was a nice hatch of caddis. I don’t think I have ever seen that kind of caddis hatch on the Blacksmith before. I’ve seen nice salmonfly hatches though. Anyone heading up in the next day or two might want to take a supply of 12-16 caddis patterns.