CFS: 1900
Water Temp: 53 – 58°F
Dries: Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies, Green Drakes
Nymphs: Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Pink Worms, sz 8-12 Stonefly Nymphs
It seems like the salmon flies only popped out a few days ago, but here we are three weeks later, and now Rock Creek is better for golden stone and drake patterns. We are also quickly transitioning into our summer hatches of caddis and mayflies. My personal favorite for this time of year has always been the yellow sally from late June to mid-July:
In addition to Sallies, Golden Stones, Green Drakes, and attractors like Parachute Adams and Purple Hazes are great options. Some people still like to use salmon flies, but my recommendation is to keep them on the smaller side if you fish them here (bigger patterns will still work on the Blackfoot). And of course, the nymphing game is excellent right now; we’ve even seen bull trout caught on basic nymph patterns. The water is still big, so streamers are another good option too. I’ve had a lot of requests for white lately, so I’m cranking out some White Wonderbuggers currently.
We have one more week of float fishing until we become a wade-fishing only stream starting July. I always like to wait for that time of year as the pressure goes down significantly…plus, the fishing is better in the mornings and evenings (aka before and after work hours!) We are technically open from 7-7 most days, but we have been staying open late most evenings slinging beers and beverages to people finishing off the day. So whether you’re coming up or down Rock Creek, we hope to see you soon!