Bass On The Fly

I had the chance yesterday to participate in the second annual Jackson Hole Bassmasters event on Ririe Reservoir, in Southeastern Idaho. It's an unlikely event situated in the heart of trout country, organized by local bassmaster Kevin Brazell. It was a blast! Seventeen teams of two fished from 8 am to 4 pm looking for the five heaviest fish they could find. An aerator in our cooler kept the fish safe and healthy until the 4 pm weigh-in. The fishing was great. We had excellent topwater action with medium sized poppers. I've always heard about the good smallmouth fishing on Ririe Reservoir, but in all the years I've lived here, I've never been. Scott Smith asked me to be his teammate and I gladly accepted. We actually placed 6Th, to my surprise. A pair of Victor, Idaho ladies took first place and the $1000.00 purse. There were some heavy fishing hitters there, including Will Dornan, Jeff Currier and Carter Andrews. I'm already looking forward to next year! As far as local trout fishing, the Firehole continues to fish well. I spent the day fishing there with good buddy Stan Czarniak on Tuesday. We did well on streamers and nymphs in the morning, and PMD's on top by mid-afternoon. The water is still fairly high, so be cautious when wading. I guided a pair of regular clients today on the lower South Fork...it was lackluster. Although the water level has come down, it is still murky. There is not a whole lot of visibility yet. The recent heavy rains (including today) are not helping. We struggled with streamers and netted a handful of smaller fish on stonefly nymphs. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks, we'll see some dryfly action begin. Here's a couple of shots of me and Will Dornan with some typical Ririe smallmouth. More soon!