Just a quick report from our 2 days on the river. Fished Friday and Sat. from the Birchdale area to about 2 miles past Pinewood on the Canadian side. We boated approx. 20 fish in the 2 days, with only 2 of those on Friday. We concentrated mostly on gravel/rock areas that have been very productive over the years. Our most productive area was an area of rock & wood (donated A LOT of jigs). The current drift was about 1.3mph, which is a bit faster than I like, so we slipped at about .6-.8mph. This seemed to make the difference for everyone we talked to. Water temp on Fri was 34.5 and 35.2 on Sat when we left.
All of our fish came on 3/8 Fireball jigs, pink/chartruse with rainbows seemed to trigger the most bites. A lot of short bites and several fish that came unbuttoned kept things interesting. Biggest fish of the trip was a healthy 24″ and we kept 5 16-18″ fish for the fryer. Our results were consistent with the better reports when talking with the CO’s at the landing, and yet some were reporting no fish at all.
The clarity right now is good, a solid 2 feet, and there isn’t much at all for debris. Water levels were dropping daily, and with the sun, the river should warm up a degree or more each day. I’m betting by Thurs it will be “on fire” on the river!
Saw one 60″ sturgie caught and most guys fishing for them seemed to be doing very well.
Make the trip if you can guys – should only get better til the end.
of Thursday morning sitting in the boat dotting “eyes”! Safe travel to all heading up and we will see you on the water. We will be fishing between Frontier and Vidas till Saturday. Good Luck!! 