Water Conditions: Good

Flows are  57 cfs as of  5/13

Temperatures have stabilized but the water is still cold and with the snowmelt the water is off color, especially below Hot Creek.

Fishing Conditions and Hatches: Fair-Good

The water is now dirty below the Hot Creeks (it braids out into 4 channels) and clear above. Yes, the Cutthroats are moving up but not in large numbers. If you like the idea of quality fishing with increasing numbers of fish there are some very important facts to consider. 1) Unlike the rainbows the cutthroat spawn below the ranches. 2) They also spawn later so they are actively moving up after opening day. Actively spawning fish are in the shallow tailouts between the holes so any fish in these areas should be left alone. You should also refrain from wading through these areas, try to stay at least knee deep and preferably waist deep to avoid crushing the eggs. One of the big problems is that fish hooked on the redds will quite often release their eggs/ sperm during the fight or while being released. If you're going to fish during those times the best place to fish the dropoffs below the shallow water. A lot of fish will be sitting there picking of the food dislodged by the spawners digging out the redds.

Not much new to report, a few Tricos early along with the midges in the morning. Small mayflies and caddis midday and then caddis in the afternoon.  The fishing has definitely slowed so a lot of the fishermen have moved on to greener pastures making it a lot more peaceful. That and the river below the bridge has opened with good but vague reports about good nymphing and slow on dry flies.

The fish are starting to move into the shallower faster water to feed so don't get hung up on just the slower deep pools. The bite is getting earlier now so beat the crowds and get the first grabs. There are some really big fish eating caddis on the surface but it's inconsistent and hard to time it. The resident fish have been keying into the mayflies and midges, so we suggest trailing a midge (#18-24) or mayfly (#16-22 )  behind an attractor nymph to keep the action rolling between each lake fish. There have been some sporadic but heavy hatches of larger mayflies coming off mid-day. On calm afternoons the dry fly fishing can be productive but be ready to throw size 18 through 22 dry flies. Streamer fishing has been OK.

DRIES: Griffiths Gnat #20-24 | Parachute Extended Body BWO #18-22 | Elk Hair Caddis #20-22 | Para Caddis #16-22 | Missing Link #16-20

NYMPHS:  Zebra Midge #16-22 | Prince Nymph #12-16 | Copper John #14-16 |Tungsten Jig Baetis #18-20 | Harrop's Surface Emerger #20-22 | Roza Pink Tag Jig #16d | Clearwater Emerger #18-20 | S&M Nymph #20-22 | Medalion Midge #20-24 |Bling Midge #22-24 | Jiggy Caddis #14-16

STREAMERS: Shock Collar Leech #10 | Woolly Bugger White, Olive, or Brown #6-14 | Punk Perch light or dark #10-16