If you rely on the rely on the weatherman you will either get wet, cold, or sunburnt as you will be ill-prepared! My last report was based on long term forecasts and has gotten me into trouble. I was correct in the fact that the snowpack was diminishing quickly and a good portion of the melt had passed down stream. However the mild spring has been laden with days or torrential rains and even the ducks are complaining. The result is a swollen Elk River and raging tributaries. We need a drying out period so that it can settle down and clear up and we need it to happen soon. Well......The weather man says that the Fernie 14 day weather forcast is going to be drier that we have seen in the last 3 weeks and normal temperatures. This is good but will it be good enough to get us on the river to fisjh in the next week is going to be difficult to predict and I am reluctant to make that call based on my track record. What i will say is that should the weather continue to suck, we will have a contingency plan and find some fish that are eager to eat! Check out this big boy caught on Sunday.
Fathers Day Rainbow
The Elk is over 300 cMs and the discharge measuring device has failed to record over the last few days. The Morressey Ridge Snow pillow is measuring ZERO for snow water so we can blame all the rain for the high water levels on the river and not the snow pack. The tributaries are less muddy and will clear up first, but they too need the rain to stop if they are to get any improvement over the next few days.
Believe it or not, the golden stones are on the river and some of our paddle boarding and kayaking guides have spotted some cutthroat taking them off the surface of the muddy water. There were some die hards fishing opening day and both nymphs and dries managed to fool a few fish that saw the fles through the muddy water.
We have a great new selection of Stone Flies at the shop and hopfully I have purchased enough to go around. Stock up early so you get your favorite patterns as many of our tiers are behind on delivery this year!
Pray for the rain to stop, have patience, and hopefully we will be on the water in 10 days or less. I really think the levels will drop fast if the rain lets up!