So Fork American

[Frank Roepke]

Fished the So Fork American yesterday afternoon. I took a “First timer” out and he had a blast. Unfortunately he didn’t land any fish but saw me bring in a few so his interest was high. I was going to head up river some but noticed my friend was having a hard time wading through the river so we stayed close to the starting point. I landed a nice 12” Bow that gave a nice fight and several other smaller Bows’. It was raining up river some by Kybers and the river seems to have a stronger flow. Clarity was better also, about 8 out of 10.
I tried a nymph set up with a dropper but had no luck so switched over to a dry and did much better. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong Nymphing, I have always landed fish with this set up but can’t seem to make it happen on the smaller rivers, ie…Rubicon, SFA & NFA. I’m deep enough, hense loosing some flies off the bottom. I usually have a Prince or Hairs ear bead head, size 16, then have a copper Jon, or other similar fly as dropper size 18 to 20.
Any suggestions would be great.

Frank

[Rick_Berry]

I do pretty well on the Silver Fork using a Hopper / Dropper setup. I'll use a #10 Yellow Stimulator and drop a tungsten BH Prince Nymph (or a Red Copper John) off the hook bend. That river is shallow enough where it gets the nymph in their line of sight so they'll move for it. I love tungsten beads, since they get down so fast.

Hope this helps.

- Rick.

[Frank Roepke]

Thanks Rick,

I will give the hopper a try, never thought of that. Are they hitting the simulator or dropper?

Frank

[KJE]

I've got to agree with Rick - the hopper/dropper is the ticket on streams like the Silver Fork and S. Fork American.

There's a plethora of grasshoppers on Caples and the Siver Fork right now, so I've been using a foam hopper and a small Dark Lord or Prince dropper. You'll get hits on both your top and bottom flies. A Stimulator is always a good bet and I'd be using one if there weren't still real hoppers around.

[Rick_Berry]

They'll sometimes hit the top fly, but when they hit the dropper, there's no mistaking it. You'll miss very few strikes, unlike straight nymphing.

Good luck!

- Rick.

[westslope]

Hi Frank,
Nymphing can be hit and miss on the South Fork in the canyon. I typically focus on nymphing the deeper pools and runs with varied success in the shallow pocket water. I use an indicator to achieve a dead drift but always complete each drift with a full swing until my line stops directly downstream. I tend to pick up fish using both techniques and sometimes try multiple flies before getting takes. The classic attractor nymphs (prince, copper johns, etc.) can be good but one of the best flies I have found to date on this river is the poxyback golden stone. This produces all season long and I caught fish on this fly this past weekend. There have been a few October Caddis on the water from late afternoon till dark. Hopefully the hatches will get stronger in the next couple of weeks. Drop me a pm if your interested in any info, I'm always willing to share beta with folks interested in the south fork canyon.

Todd Gillihan
West Slope Outfitters
www.westslopeoutfitters.com