2009 Spring Fishing Outlook

With the temperatures hitting 70+ today (February 7) I thought it was time to take a look at what to expect for spring fishing on the North Fork of the White River.
As most of us remember last year epic floods moved through the area and at one point an Ark was handling the river better than my drift boat. All we can do is hope that this year those floods don't have as much of an impact as they did last year.

Gear-wise, your standard 9' 5wt is going to cover a lot of different scenarios on the NFOW. But those of us who enjoy using some lighter tackle Spring is a great time to break out a 3wt for swinging wet flies or tossing some dries. I have a tendency to use a long leader but 9' 3-5x leaders will cover all your bases there, while 4-6x tippet will do you well.

Spring-time is, of course, a great time for hatches. From Blue Winged Olives, Caddis, Mays, Stones, and on and on the hatches on the NFOW are solid. To match these hatches make sure to bring #14-18 Adams, #14-18 Blue Winged Olives, #12-16 Elk Hair Caddis, #12-16 Cracklebacks, and #14-10 Stimulators. A lot of the time you may run into one of these hatches and not see a single rise (or very few anyway) so also have in your arsenal some soft hackles, some general wet flies, and emergers to get the fish that are eating those bugs before they get to the surface...which is a super fun bite as well.

Nymphing is without a doubt the best way to fish the river any given day. When nymphing make sure you are deep, DEEP. I can't say it enough, if you are nymphing make sure you are deep enough that you are going to lose some flies--or at least come close. :) Probably the best rig for nymphing the NFOW is going to be a heavy stonefly with a smaller nymph as a dropper. The dropper can be one of an array of different flies like Princes, Hares Ears, Psycho Princes, Red Fox Squirrel Nymphs, San Juan Worms, and so on.

Fish Hard, Nymph Deep, and Tight Lines,

Brian Wise

Head Guide

River of Life Farm